We Love Our Guns In Texas

I am blessed and privileged to live in the great state of Texas. Texas is the only place I know where you can see cowboys driving cattle down the street in a large city. (It actually happens in Fort Worth and Dallas and maybe some others as well). The downtown cattle drives are great, but one of the things that I love most about Texas is the way we love our guns. Not only do we love our guns on the personal level, but we love our guns on the state level as well.

The gun laws in the state of Texas are extremely relaxed compared to most other states. Being that I have not always lived in the state of Texas, (I came back as soon as I could) I was not aware of all of the laws pertaining to gun ownership. Upon my return to Texas I had to look into any laws that might affect my ownership of firearms. I was fortunate enough to make friends quickly with a local law enforcement officer who informed me of the laws. I did not have to register my firearms when I moved back because Texas does not require its citizens to register their firearms.  This was one less hassle I would have to deal with and one less set of fees we would have to come up with the money for.

This year with the passage of The Motorist Protection Act, citizens have full rights to carry a loaded weapon with them in their vehicle. There is also the “Castle Law”, which gives Texas citizens full right to defend their home from any threat to their home or its inhabitants.

Concealed Handgun License is still required to carry your handgun on your person, but there is a big push on state legislators to pass an open carry law.

To purchase a firearm or obtain your CHL you must pass a quick background check and show a state issued picture ID. In the case of my last firearm purchase, it only took a short time while browsing around the gun shop for more items to put on my wish list.

Many states limit what kind of firearms can be owned by the citizens of said state. “Assault weapons”, suppressors and machine guns are legal to own in Texas. Texas follows the gun laws set forth by the federal government and figures that is plenty enough restrictions for anyone. If you can legally own it by federal law, then you can own it in Texas.

Side note: I never have understood why they label certain firearms “assault weapons”;  one can assault someone with a pencil, so wouldn’t that make pencils an “assault weapon”?

Another nice thing about Texas is that we don’t have to drive very far to find a gun range. I can be at either an indoor range or an outdoor range within 20 minutes (it takes that long because I live out in the country) from my home or even less time from where I work.  The outdoor range I frequent offers ranges from 30 yards to 100 yards along with multiple skeet and trap fields; they even offer an archery field to hone your bow and arrow skills.