No quick draw on open-carry in Texas

Published 11:00 am Thursday, January 7, 2016

FORT WORTH — Even in a city that calls itself the place where the West begins, you can look all afternoon and not see a pistol-packing civilian, despite a new state law allowing open carry of firearms in Texas.

“I’ve seen exactly two people,” said Savannah Read, who runs a sidewalk photo concession opposite a popular tourist spot, the historic Stockyards watering hole where Sheriff “Longhair Jim” Courtright and Luke Short, owner of the White Elephant Saloon, had Cowtown’s last gunfight in 1887.

Read said the open-carry couple, exercising their rights under a state law that took effect Jan. 1, were husband and wife.

“Everybody was looking at them funny,” she said.

Colliding winds of gun control are stirring up in Texas this week. As open-carry becomes law of the state, President Barack Obama issued executive orders tightening background checks on gun sales nationwide. 

The fact that those with the required training and paperwork to openly carry handguns are a scarce sight doesn’t signal Texans’ agreement with Obama’s plans.

Gov. Greg Abbott decried the president’s move, saying in a statement that executive action “trampled the purpose and substance of the Bill of Rights.”

Texas permit-holders may be up in arms over Obama’s orders, but for now that’s still just a figure of speech.

Tim Ryle, director of the Texas Police Association, said he’s seen no uptick in gun-related incidents since the open-carry law took effect.

Steve Westbrook, director of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, said the law hasn’t caused his members alarm.

“It’s as quiet as a church house mouse,” he said.

With some exceptions, including college campuses, the law authorizes permit-holders to openly carry handguns in the same places where they’ve been allowed to carry concealed sidearms in the past.

Ryle called it a “calm transition.”

“I’m seeing more on the news about it than anywhere else,” he said.

To educate people about the change, law enforcement agencies have issued public service announcements and used social media.

Ryle said 911 operators have updated their usual line of questioning.

“Years ago, when somebody called and said somebody had a gun, that was very different,” he said. “It should not be as shocking now.”

Now, Ryle said 911 operators ask: What is the person doing with the gun?

Steve Harless went out Sunday specifically to see if he could find anyone at a Fort Worth Wal-Mart or Home Depot openly carrying a sidearm.

If anybody was, he figured, those would be likely places.

“Far as open carry, I ain’t seen nobody,” he said. “Open carry’s not going to be popular.”

A former Navy gunner’s mate, Harless is now general manager of his dad’s store, Fort Worth Gun Emporium, across town from the northside Stockyards.

A nickel-plated, .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol was clearly visible on his right hip as Harless sat behind a glass display case, answering the phone and talking to customers.

Blue-steel Colts and black Glocks filled the display.

While Harless calls Texas’ open-carry law a Second-Amendment victory, he also keeps his pistol concealed outside the store.

“Open carry doesn’t blow my dress up,” he said. “In the store, it’s more of a deterrent. The last thing we need is for a gun store to be robbed and these things be used in a crime.”

Meanwhile, back in the Stockyards, opposite the White Elephant Saloon where Read waited for tourists to take photos with her black-and-white longhorn, Outlaw, there was still no sign of Texans packing six-guns.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t there, of course.

Read completed her handgun training and obtained a permit when she turned 21 in December. She bought a .45-caliber Glock.

She doesn’t carry the pistol openly, but does she carry it concealed?

“Could be,” she said.

John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Contact him at jaustin@cnhi.com.