laws to open carry

Various rules regulate how people can bear and walk with their arms in public. For example, the United States of America has two main laws about how people can carry a handgun or some other weapon. Open carry and concealed carry regulations are examples of these laws. Open carry laws require that firearms be visible to the police, while concealed carry laws require that people who own handguns shield them under their coat or jacket when out in public (Bishop 907).

Shift from Concealed Carry to Open Carry Laws

Initially, several states in the United States used concealed carry legislation for firearms. However, there has been a gradual shift to the open carry laws in the recent past by some States including Texas. The differences between the two laws have been a bone of contention regarding how the guns should be carried in public by the citizens. Though both open and concealed carry laws have been advocated as a means to deter crimes in Texas, I strongly believe that the former is the most effective method than the latter.

Support for Open Carry Laws

Researchers and scholars have continually supported the open carry laws in the United States basing on various constitutional interpretations. The primary reason why open carry should be allowed in colleges is that it deters criminals from committing crimes. It is commonly known that before thugs get to attack a place, they send a scout to survey the region. In this regard, it should be noted that an area with publicly armed citizens is less likely to be attacked unlike the areas where citizens have concealed their firearms (Bishop 907).

Also, since most carjackers, robbers and rapists are opportunistic individuals, they will probably attack areas or people who seem unarmed; justifying the importance of open carrying of weapons. Moreover, open carrying of weapons is the most effective method for an unexpected attack because it is easy for the owner to locate the gun and stop the attack. However, open carry of guns and other weapons may be scary to the public. Most of the people are used to seeing police officers only with guns and so an armed citizen is always associated with the robbery. Also, open carrying of weapons in public may make individuals to be victims of theft since the thugs might be interested in attacking them to secure the weapons (Meltzer 1846).

Arguments Against Open Carry

On the contrary, some scholars and researchers advocates against open carry laws where they demand citizens to conceal their weapons as they walk in public. Concealed carry may be a tactical way of dealing with a crime since the attacker may not be aware whether an individual is armed or not. The other advantage of concealed carry is that it prevents a citizen from the police harassments because they cannot see the weapon. Moreover, the concealed carry maintains the perception of the public regarding the weapon owners. Hiding weapon also increases the confidentiality of the owner when walking in public. The concealed carry keeps criminals in the dark about the nature of their targets hence broadening deterrence of crimes. However, people practicing the concealed carry may be slower in times of attack since it may take them a lot of time to locate their gun in the bid to stop a crime (Wolfson et al. 930).

Preference for Open Carry

From the above arguments, I would prefer the open carry to concealed carry laws for the citizens and students in Texas. Open carry allows the owner of the weapon to walk comfortably and improves their mobility because it is out of the body unlike when concealed inside the cloths or around the waistline. Also, open carry reduces the cost of relying on private security and the occurrences of crimes since the firearms are publicly visible to attackers. In this regard, most people would respond positively to open carry because they are assured of safety in whichever place they are with an armed citizen. Lastly, I support the open carry laws in colleges because it is a strategic way of normalizing weapons to the public. When the weapons are desensitized, the people will not be alarmed at the sight of citizens having guns.

Conclusion

Although the concealed carry laws and open carry laws have both pros and cons, I confidently suggest that open carry laws should be implemented by all colleges in Texas. This is because it offers the best option of how citizens should carry their weapons. People should not base their arguments that open carry laws make individuals more vulnerable to attacks by robbers as there is no evidence to prove that these citizens are targets in a crime scene. Instead, all citizens who own valuable items are prone to attacks from thugs. Therefore, the government of United States should allow their citizens to exercise their constitutional rights by enacting the open carry laws, especially in colleges. The open carry laws will also foster understanding and politeness between the citizens of the States.

Works Cited

Bishop, James. “Hidden or on the Hip: The Right (s) to Carry after Heller.” Cornell L. Rev. 97 (2011): 907.

Meltzer, Jonathan. ”Open Carry for All: Heller and Our Nineteenth-Century Second Amendment.” Yale LJ 123 (2013): 1486.

Wolfson, Julia A., et al. ”US public opinion on carrying firearms in public places.” American journal of public health 107.6 (2017): 929-937.