I am not a big fan of people who conduct open carry demonstrations like dick heads (I’ll do a video on this soon). From what I saw, these guys weren’t dick heads. I read the Texas disorderly Conduct statute and its your typical over-broad and ambiguous language to allow room for interpretive advocacy.
The statute lets cops treat disorderly conduct like Supreme Court Justice Stewart treated his view of pornography, “They know it, when they see it”. The statute is alarmingly open to interpretation. The fact that I can be charged with a crime because of someone else’s unique sensibility is pretty ridiculous.
Many people are focusing on the, “displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm” language. Calculated to alarm means what exactly? What’s the standard? Is it an objective or Subjective standard? Where do you draw the line between demonstration and calculated to alarm? The open carry law and disorderly conduct statutes seemingly contradict themselves.
How can I be allowed to open carry my rifle, yet be subject to a charge of disorderly conduct for open carry? There’s an unwritten rule in Texas that it’s ok to open carry in rural areas, but the city is a different story. How someone who just moved here is supposed to know about an “unwritten rule” is beyond me. Either way you slice it, these guys did nothing wrong.
