Pa. Patriot
State Researcher
imported post
Curious when Texas lost open carry...
Curious when Texas lost open carry...
What a great history lesson. Thanks, Doc!Actually, the right was lost much earlier than the enactment of the current law. In fact, it was lost in 1871 with the passage of a law entitled "An Act to Regulate the Keeping and Bearing of Deadly Weapons Law of April 12, 1871, Ch. 34, Sec. 1, 1871 Texas General Laws 25", a product of theTexas Reconstruction Act of 1871. This law prohibited the carry of a firearm except in the case of personal protection from an immediate and imminent threat and any claim of such a threat had to be shown and proven as a valid claim. Violation of the law was punishable by a fine of $25 - $100 and forfeiture of the firearm. In addition, the law contained a mandatory arrest clause, meaning an officer was to arrest on sight without a warrant. (Incidentally, the law required that a person carrying a firearm under the exemptionclausehad tocarry the firearm openly.)
This law remained in effect following the adoption of the current Texas Constitution in 1876 and was thecharge Dallas police used against Franklin P. Miller in the landmark capitol murder case of 1894 that ultimately led to the Miller v Texas U.S. Supreme Court casewhich, among other things, challenged the laws constitutionality under the second amendment. In this case, SCOTUS upheld the Texas law banning the carry of weapons as well as the other provisions of the Texas Reconstruction Act.
Since the enactment of this law in 1871, Texas has maintained a law against the carry of handguns in one manner or another until the passage of concealed carryby th1995 legislature.
Doc