‘No open carry’ signs are likely to trigger next Texas gun debate

AUSTIN — The next tussle over Texas’ new open carry law is likely to come over one of its more mundane requirements: signs.

Starting in January, licensed Texans will be able to openly carry handguns in belt or shoulder holsters. Business owners who want patrons to leave their weapons behind will have to post one new large sign and revise one they already have.

No one considers the new rules to be a monumental burden, but some worry property owners could be caught off guard.

The signs must meet strict rules on appearance, wording and text size. And with some gun owners eager to take advantage of signs that aren’t exactly correct, critics of the law fear that businesses will bear the brunt of battles over the measure.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Rep. Poncho Nevárez, an Eagle Pass Democrat who pushed unsuccessfully this year to make the signs easier to post. “The intent of the business owner is disregarded.”

Many open carry supporters consider the concern, like many others, overblown.

Business owners, regardless of what signs they post, will still be able to orally tell gun carriers they are not welcome. And some boosters argue the vast majority of gun owners in Texas will honor businesses’ request — even if a sign isn’t exactly to spec.

“Most gun owners respect private property rights,” said Open Carry Texas leader C.J. Grisham.

The new rules were mostly glossed over in the Legislature’s passionate open carry debate, which centered on Second Amendment rights and public safety. But the sign discussion dates back to the implementation of concealed carrying in Texas in the mid-1990s.

As part of that law, hospitals, schools, bars, sporting events and other locales were deemed off-limits to guns. Private property owners were also given a way to provide notice, if they so chose, that their properties were gun-free zones.

Faced with the prospect of all manner of “no guns” signs, state lawmakers of that era standardized the requirements.

The concealed carry signs — dubbed “30.06,” thanks to the section number in the state penal code — have to feature contrasting colors. Text must to be at least an inch tall. And a 38-word message has to appear in both English and Spanish.

Those standards mean the signs end up being quite large. Critics say that’s to discourage businesses from putting them up. Backers say it’s to ensure that gun owners can receive proper notice of the business owners’ desire.

“You’re talking about minimal effort for them to print out an appropriate sign and put it up,” said Rep. Larry Phillips, a Sherman Republican who wrote the open carry bill that Gov. Greg Abbott signed this month. “Over the last 20 years, it just hasn’t been an issue.”

But as Texas prepares to require new such “no guns” signs — one specifically for open carrying, another, revised one for concealed carrying — the notices remain a topic of high interest.

For instance, a website identifies businesses and other locations in Texas where guns aren’t welcome. The site, Texas3006.com, features a “Wall of Shame” of the stores that are most likely to have such a sign.

Russell Jones, the site’s creator, said he’s not out to do the businesses a favor. Rather, he wants to make sure that gun owners don’t inadvertently break the law, while also steering firearms enthusiasts away from businesses that don’t share those views.

“I dislike giving my money to a business that doesn’t believe in my right to protect myself and my family on their property,” said Jones, who lives in the Houston area.

The website has also become a venue for the Texans who like to play what Grisham called the “whole ‘Missing a Word’ game.”

Some users input detailed descriptions of whether signs meet the state’s prescriptions, such as whether the letters are less than an inch tall. And if the signs aren’t exactly right, some see that as an opportunity to bring guns into those places anyway.

In part because of that kind of maneuvering, Nevárez worked with the Texas Association of Business this year to push for more business-friendly signs. Instead of a large block of text, their proposed signs would’ve featured a pictogram.

But in the GOP-controlled Legislature — where the gun lobby is a powerful force — that proposal went nowhere.

And with the passage of the open carrying of guns, business owners who want to ban guns will instead have to post two new large signs instead of one. Beyond that, lawmakers also reduced the penalty for trespassing against those signs.

“At the very least, it’s annoying,” said Texas Association of Business chief executive Bill Hammond. “I don’t understand the reason for either one of them. … It baffles me.”

The “30.07” open carry sign — which features the same kinds of requirements as the 30.06 sign — had been expected. But the revision to the existing 30.06 sign resulted from a quirk in the open carry law.

The legislation took the state’s existing concealed handgun license and made it just a handgun license, so the wording on the 30.06 sign had to be updated to reflect that fact. The current signs will technically no longer be valid come January.

Phillips, the open carry author of the bill, said property owners with the old signs should update them if they still want to bar guns.

But, he said, “Responsible gun owners, if they see the old sign, they aren’t going in.”

Follow Tom Benning on Twitter at @tombenning.

Sign specifications

Requirements for the signs that businesses must post if they want to bar the open carrying of handguns:

— Must appear in contrasting colors with block letters at least one inch in height.

— Must be in both English and Spanish.

— Must be displayed in a “conspicuous manner” at the property’s entrance.

— Must say: “Pursuant to Section 30.07, Penal Code (trespass by license holder with an openly carried handgun), a person licensed under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code (handgun licensing law), may not enter this property with a handgun that is carried openly.”

Source: Dallas Morning News