This bill died in committee last session, but I actually hope it passes this time around:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 38290.html

On the other hand, I'm really more concerned about the so-called "Parking lot" bill, since that impacts me directly now as a county employee; local regs say I can't park on county property with a firearm of any kind inside my vehicle. It effectively disarms me during the work-week, since I comply with the regulation. I used to carry a Taurus Tracker .44 mag (but loaded with .44 spec) in my glove box 24/7, and an SKS in the trunk in a canvas rifle bag filled with loaded stripper clips, but can't anymore with my current job.

Ironically, when I used to work for a Texas state university, the campus police told us they didn't care what we kept in our cars in their parking lots...they were kind of "DADT" on that topic...just don't carry on campus, i.e. into campus buildings. I complied, but did the above referenced "car carry". So in aggregate I had fuller 2A rights then than I do now.

I admit, I've gotten kind of lax in my carry practices...I sometimes remember to carry if I go walking at night after dark, but during the day...sometimes I carry and sometimes I don't. If I'm going into Houston proper, depends on my destination. If my destination allows CCW, I will carry. If it doesn't, I won't. I also haven't been to a shooting range in way WAY too long. There are few more IDPA options locally than a year ago when I last looked, but I still haven't gotten off my duff to participate yet.

At night when walking, I usually just carry my Taurus 651 bodyguard snubbie, because it's easy to clip on my belt and go...I wore my Glock 23 last week for a change the first time in a long time.

I live in a sleepy, quiet Suburban neighborhood with low crime rates, though we have sometimes had freakish driveway car-jacking incidents, mostly happening to elderly people who got followed home from the store, etc.

I feel the most discomfort when a Sugar Land police cruiser rolls by, or a county sherriff's deputy cruiser...because then I become very self-conscious about making sure I am properly concealed, that I'm not printing, etc.

I remember once being subject to a pedestrian stop in Denton a few years back because I was out one Sunday morning taking photographs around town, including near a bank. I guess the investigating officer thought I might be "casing" the joint and stopped to ask me questions about what I was doing. Dispatch radioed back that I was a CHL, which I confirmed, and the officer asked if I was carrying, and I confirmed, saying it was on my right hip. He asked what I was carrying, and I advised my snub .38 revolver. He seemed satisfied that I was harmless, thanked me for my cooperation and bid me good day.
(I had in fact been photographing an unusual Eagle sculpture on the bank's lawn).

There's a whole lot of Legislative crazy on the front burner in Texas right now, but the parking lot bill and campus carry are not actually crazy (but get framed that way by my fellow lefty Dems who are ignorant about firearms issues, because of who is sponsoring said legislation).

--John R.

'I live in a sleepy, quiet Suburban neighborhood with low crime rates, though we have sometimes had freakish driveway car-jacking incidents, mostly happening to elderly people who got followed home from the store, etc.'

'I used to carry a Taurus Tracker .44 mag (but loaded with .44 spec) in my glove box 24/7, and an SKS in the trunk in a canvas rifle bag filled with loaded stripper clips, but can't anymore with my current job.'

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Guess with that SKS and bag-fulla clips you like a bit of an advantage over that rare jacker targeting old folks on the streets of your sleepy town.

I can't speak for the gen pop, but I can for myself (and my friends/acquaintances): when I was an immature hormonal binge drinking undergrad I would have had no business carrying on campus.