Open Carry, HB 910 Substitute, in Texas Senate now

By Dean WeingartenOpen Carry Texas Jan 26 Austin

Dean Weingarten
Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)-
HB 910, the Texas licensed open carry bill, passed the House by 2/3 margins.  The bill went through the Senate State Affairs Committee, where the Dutton amendment was stripped from it.   Now, being debated on the floor of the full Senate, the debate is whether to put the Dutton amendment back in.   The Dutton amendment specifies that peace officers may not detain open carriers simply to ask if they have a license, but must have probable cause to suspect criminal activity, just like they need for any Terry stop.   The amendment is designed to protect open carriers from police harassment.  Here is the text of the amendment:

CERTAIN INVESTIGATORY STOPS AND INQUIRIES PROHIBITED.   A peace officer may not make an investigatory stop or other temporary detention to inquire as to whether a person possesses a handgun license solely because the person is carrying a partially or wholly visible handgun carried in a shoulder or belt holster.

The second amendment supporters of open carry, represented by C.J. Grisham, have said that the amendment is not important, because of precedent that guards against this type of stop in any case.   Others say that it is useful, because it will prevent the flood of lawsuits that will be required to enforce the judicial rulings in Texas.

A potential advantage for bringing the Dutton amendment back, is that the bill can be restored to a duplicate of the House Bill 910.  Then it does not have to go back to the House for a vote.   It can be engrossed after the Senate third vote and sent to Governor Abbott for signature.  The progress of the bill is being followed closely, with knowledgeable debate on procedure and fine points, on Texasguntalk.com.

The Senate has now postponed debate until 6pm, an hour and a half from now.
c2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten;

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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StevenB

It is the 27th of May. What is the status of this bill? It seems that the ‘final’ bill passed the House last week. When will the Senate vote on this bill? And, finally…when will our Governor sign it and when will it become effective? . I hope the law is translated from “legalese” into practical text, with specific definitions for all of us who are CCW permitted. . I want to be able to carry in the hot months of summertime without fear of punishment if my handgun ‘prints’ through hot weather attire. As it stands now I rarely… Read more »

Craven Mooerhead

If the governor signs, it won’t become law until January 2016. Remember you have to be licensed to carry a handgun.
Get use to saying licensed open carry.

Jonathan

The Senate has passed the bill WITH the Huffines Amednment (Dutton Amendment).

Open Carry is now the law!

Well, once the governor signs it, which he will!

djh

The so called Dutton Amendment in the House will be the Huffines Amendment in the Senate. It was put back in HB-910 by the Senate and HB-910 PASSED the Senate and will now go to the Governor.

With the Huffine Amendment adopted both the House and Senate bills are identical.