CJ Grisham Senate Testimony 7 April 14

Senator Estes, Senator Uresti, Senator Hegar, Senator Hinojosa, Senator Schwertner, and fellow Texans, thank you so much for the opportunity to testify about this very important topic. This hearing comes less than a week after the recent shooting at Fort Hood, in which a disgruntled Soldier armed himself with a .45 caliber handgun and shot 19 of his fellow troops before turning the gun on himself. I’d like to take a quick moment to talk about that day because I was there.
At about 4:30pm, I had just let my Soldiers go home for the day a little early. Shortly after that, while I was closing up my shop, I heard the “big voice” booming over the postwide loudspeakers. The “Big Voice” is our notification system when there is an emergency on Fort Hood. Similar to the tornado sirens you may have heard, the Big Voice tells us if there is a weather or terrorist type emergency. When the first siren went off, I thought it was a test because the weather a sunny and breezy.
I moved closer to the window to listen to the message as it was repeated. “TAKE SHELTER TAKE SHELTER…LOCK ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS…TURN OFF VENTILATION SYSTEMS, HEATERS, AND AIR CONDITIONERS…TAKE SHELTER TAKE SHELTER TAKE SHELTER.”
I immediately began the process of getting accountability of my Soldiers to make sure they were safe and not affected. I had no idea where the shooting was taking place since the big voice doesn’t give specifics. Everyone had ducked into the closest building near them and the post was put on lockdown. I then got a text from a buddy that troops where he was were trying to climb a fence to get away. SOLDIERS RUNNING AWAY FROM GUNFIRE. Senators, Soldiers aren’t trained to run away from gunfire; we’re trained to run INTO it. It’s a shame when the very people who are trained to take out an armed attacker are unable to take out an armed attacker. My Soldiers and I didn’t know whether or not we had just locked ourselves in a building with the shooter. What if one of the people in our building WAS the shooter, as happened in November 2009 when Major Nidal Hassan mowed down 30 Soldiers unopposed because Fort Hood is a so-called “Gun Free Zone.”
I have never felt more helpless in my life and I was nowhere near the shooter. I felt no more safe or able to protect my Soldiers that day than my fellow Texan Suzanna Huff felt the day her parents were murdered 13 years ago. Have we learned nothing?
When you disarm law-abiding citizens, you empower criminals, whether on the largest military installation in the country or in the smallest convenience store in Texas.
In 2012, after returning from Afghanistan, I took my family on vacation to visit several national parks in the northwest. It was the best vacation of my life, visiting Yellowstone, Yosemite, Arches, and Garden of the Gods National Parks. We went through seven different states over the course of our two-week vacation and in every single one of them, I was able to carry my sidearm openly. Yet, when I returned home to the greatest state of them all, I had to hide my pistol as if to be ashamed of it. In seven
different states, what I was doing was perfectly legal and acceptable, but that same act, had I done it here, would make me a criminal.
Right now, in America, 45 states allow some form of open, whether licensed or unlicensed. Of those 45, 30 are unlicensed open carry. Of those 30, 5 recognize the constitutional right to carry open AND concealed without a license. So, it begs the question here in Texas, why are we one of five states that doesn’t recognize a simple principle that our forefathers enshrined in our constitution that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
In fact, Texas laws against open carry put our gun rights on par with anti-gun states like Illinois, California and New York, as well as the District of Columbia. Is the home of the Alamo and Gonzales really content with being associated, gun-wise, with states from which people are flocking in droves BECAUSE of their gun laws, only to be confronted with the reality that we aren’t as gun friendly as our reputation would suggest.
As the laws currently stand, the ONLY way to lawfully carry a handgun is with the permission of the state with the application and issuance of a license and then only after paying over $250 in 2nd Amendment taxes - $140 for the license, about $80 for the class, $10 for fingerprinting, $10 for a passport photo, and then paying between $20-30 for ammo for shooting proficiency during the class. Prior to getting stationed at Fort Hood, near my birthplace Temple, I was stationed at Redstone Arsenal in northern Alabama. In order to carry a concealed handgun, I went to the sheriff, forked over $10 and waited about 30 days for my background check to come through and I had my license. No training requirement. No registration through fingerprinting and photographs. And no requirement to sit for five hours while someone tells me about laws I can learn myself on the DPS website.
And if you can afford to pay the steep Texas tax on 2nd Amendment rights, you then have to walk on eggshells to keep your permit. The rules are oppressive against those that jump through the hoops for permission to defend yourself with a firearm. God forbid you get charged with a Class B misdemeanor or higher. The moment you are merely ACCUSED of committing an offense classified as a Class B misdemeanor, your ability to carry a concealed handgun is suspended and if you’re CONVICTED, you LOSE your CHL for 5 years.
What is a Class B misdemeanor in Texas? Here are just a few examples:
 Highway racing, defined as, among other things, a test of physical endurance of the operator of the vehicle
 Graffiti
 Using someone else’s computer without their consent
 Disrupting a gathering through a verbal utterance
 Burning the Texas or American flag
 Getting a body piercing if you’re under the influence of alcohol
 Tossing a lit cigarette on the road
 Removing the serial number from your private boat
 Blocking a sidewalk
These are a few of the thousands of Class B misdemeanors on the books in the state of Texas. Not a single example I listed above is a crime involving guns, violence, threats, or intimidation. Yet, every single one of them will prohibit you from exercising your right to keep and bear arms in Texas because when you lose your ability to lawfully carry a pistol concealed, you lose your ability to carry a pistol for self-defense. Once you lose your CHL, the only self-defense option you have is to carry a rifle or shotgun.
Last year, on a windy day in March, my son, Chris, and I set out to begin the process of earning his hiking merit badge. It was the only merit badge he needed to earn his Eagle Scout rank. The badge required that scouts complete five 10-mile hikes and two 25-mile hikes. Chris planned the route to begin and end at our home on the outskirts of Temple, Texas. Because we live out in the country and we’re surrounded by pastures and fields, I always carry a rifle or shotgun with me to deal with wildlife that may be a threat to me or my family.
The rest, shall we say, is history. Halfway into the hike, I was approached by a police officer who tried to take my firearm without cause. I was breaking no law and harming no one. I wasn’t carrying my firearm in a populated area or in sensitive areas. I wasn’t point it at anyone or threatening anyone. Yet I was arrested because I refused to voluntarily surrender my gun since I wasn’t breaking any laws. For the first time in my live, I was thrown in jail and had to find $2,500 to earn my freedom. My case is currently under appeal.
This experience taught me that law enforcement and the general public were ignorant about Texas gun laws. I’ve never broken a law before and never considered myself an activist. I’ve always been an advocate of gun rights, but this incident changed all that. I recognized that merely writing about gun rights wasn’t getting us any closer to actually achieving gun rights in Texas.
That is why I started the educational non-profit, Open Carry Texas (OCT), in July of last year. Our mission statement is fourfold: 1) educate Texans and law enforcement about our gun rights in Texas, 2) condition Texans to feel safe around guns because the overwhelming majority of gun owners are law- abiding citizens, 3) encourage our elected representatives to pass less restrictive gun laws, and 4) to foster a positive working relationship with law enforcement to minimize negative encounters like the one I had to endure. My goal was simple: ensure that NO ONE ever again had to endure what I went through on the side of the road that day.
Over the past 8 months, OCT has grown to over 12,000 members from every part of Texas. We have branched out into more than 34 local groups that have conducted over 400 walks and rallies around the state. We span from El Paso to Beaumont and Harlingen to Amarillo and all points in between. We have
done so with a major emphasis on education, awareness and most importantly safety. We have proven that the sight of a gun isn’t something to fear. We have challenged the narrative that people who carry scary black rifles like AR15s and AK47s are nothing more than mass murderers. Again, we have proven that an armed society is a polite society.
Everywhere we go, we make a concerted effort to be civil, kind, cordial and approachable. We WANT people to approach us and ask questions, which they do. When a private business allows us to enter their establishment, we are mindful that not everyone is comfortable around guns. We work hard to help them feel at ease. We smile. We converse. We eat. We pay. We leave.
But make no mistake, our laws are broken. The Disorderly Conduct statute is interpreted around the state to mean what the police officers want it to mean. The statute reads that if a person knowingly or intentionally carries a firearm in a manner CALCULATED to cause alarm, he is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. It’s probably not a surprise to you that some people aren’t used to seeing firearms in their towns or neighborhoods and only know that the media wants them to know. Understandably, some of these people will call police and say that they are scared or alarmed.
In fact, one of the anti-gun hoplophobe groups behind me today, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense In America, actually TELL their members that if they see one of us in public to call police and report that they are alarmed. They are trying to use the law against us, even though the law at least APPEARS to obviously state that the violation isn’t a result of how someone FEELS about the sight of a gun, but the intent with which the person is carrying the gun. In other words, it must be carried in a manner CALCULATED to cause alarm. Naturally, because Texas is so diverse, there are police officers who don’t think citizens should be allowed to lawfully carry a firearm the way we do. They interpret this statute to mean that if someone calls, we’re guilty of a crime.
The problem with our gun laws in Texas is that it would appear, at least on its face, that many of them violate section 23 of the Texas Constitution Bill of Rights. Section 23 states, “Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.” So, in order to continue banning the open carry of pistols, members of this committee and the legislature as a whole would have to prove that banning the practice prevents crime. Please allow me to answer that question right now: No, it doesn’t. In fact, because Texas does NOT allow open carry, more crimes are being committed as a result. A recent story out of Kennesaw, Georgia recently highlighted this. Two carloads full of armed thugs were about to rob a Wafflehouse in the sleepy town. They positioned their cars behind the store around 5:30 in the morning and sent in a scout to make sure the coast was clear. The scout walked in and
immediately noticed that two men were armed with pistols openly holstered on their sides. The scout went out to the two cars and reported the armed men inside. At that point, they decided not to rob the store and were about to leave. Luckily, a sheriff’s deputy was driving by at about this time and thought the two vehicles looked suspicious. Upon approaching the vehicles, the deputy notices rifles and ski masks in the cars. Two men carrying pistols thwarted two carloads of criminals that had a much bigger arsenal. The fact is that criminals are looking for a soft target. They don’t want to die in the act of committing a crime. When they walk into a business and think that no one is armed, they are more likely to initiate the crime before it can be responded to. When they walk into a business and SEE people armed, they walk away. Open Carry is a visible deterrent to crime and provides more comfort and quicker access than concealed carry. A Department of Justice survey of incarcerated felons reported that 57 percent of the felons polled agreed that "criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police." In 1982, Atlanta suburb Kennesaw required all households to have a gun. The residential burglary rate subsequently dropped 89 percent in Kennesaw, compared to the modest 10.4 percent drop in Georgia as a whole. Ten years later the residential burglary rate in Kennesaw was still 72 percent lower than when the ordinance was passed.
According to the Washington Times, the murder rate for the first quarter of this year is the lowest it’s been in more than 50 years, thanks to a concealed carry law passed in Illinois last. The first three months of 2014 have seen the fewest number of homicides since 1958 — six fewer than this time in 2013, and 55 fewer than this time in 2012, The Chicago Sun-Times reported. That’s over 60 lives saved in Chicago alone by relaxing gun laws.
After Arizona passed its constitutional carry bill (no license for open or concealed carry) in 2010, crime dropped nearly 5% in the first year along. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report for 2011 shows continuing decline in Arizona’s violent crime, homicide, robbery, and assault numbers, with a reduction in the number of rapes. Reported rapes were down from 2,279 to 2,165. Robberies declined from 8,199 to just 6,937. Even motor vehicle theft was down by 22.9%. Statistic after statistic shows that guns prevent crime. Researcher Gary Kleck found that 92 percent of criminal attacks are deterred when a gun is merely shown (or, rarely, a warning shot fired). By inference, this means that open carry would have the effect of deterring crime in the same way that a thief might choose another restaurant when he sees police eating at his intended target. Also, larger handguns with more potent ammunition are easier to carry openly.
Our open carry ban discriminates against the women and the poor. Women wear much tighter or form fitting clothes than men do, so their conceal carry options are few and far between. Most women are forced to carry a purse in which they can carry their personal defense firearm. As you know, thieves target purses and once that is taken away, these women are not only left defenseless, but the bad guy now has her gun. It is also extremely difficult to conceal a larger caliber firearm, especially in the summer. Business people who wear button up shirts and ties have no legitimate option for conceal carry when they have to tuck in their shirts. Open Carry Texas has drafted a bill called the Steve Ermis Constitutional Carry Bill. It is named after the police officer that is responsible for igniting the fire in the belly of Texas gun owners that want to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. I ask that this committee consider this legislation as at least a starting point for passing open carry. There is a lot of talk about piggy backing open carry onto the CHL process – in other words, you can only open carry if you have a CHL. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re already open carrying without a CHL our rifles, which are far more accurate and deadly when used as such. Why would we even consider licensing that right for pistols? Besides, requiring licenses as the only means of carry has already been stricken down by the highest court on several occasions. In Murdoch v. Pennsylvania, Justice William O. Douglas wrote, "A state may not impose a charge for the enjoyment of a right granted by the Federal Constitution." He also stated, "a person cannot be compelled 'to purchase, through a license fee or a license tax, the privilege freely granted by the Constitution.” In Staub v. City of Bauxley, Justice Whitakker held, "It is settled by a long line of recent decisions of this Court that an ordinance which, like this one, makes the peaceful enjoyment of freedoms which the Constitution guarantees contingent upon the uncontrolled will of an official -- as by requiring a permit or license which may be granted or withheld in the discretion of such official -- is an unconstitutional censorship or prior restraint upon the enjoyment of those freedoms." In Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham Alabama, the court was quite pointed about licensing laws: "And our decisions have made clear that a person faced with such an unconstitutional licensing law may ignore it and engage with impunity in the exercise of the right of free expression for which the law purports to require a license." Members of the committee, Open Carry Texas is at the forefront in proving that there is nothing to fear in allowing our citizens to freely open carry their firearms. There is no threat or menace to society in
allowing the open carry of firearms. There is no greater risk and no logical, proven reason to continue the bans put in place as a result of the Jim Crowe laws of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There has never been a better time than now to welcome back the founding principles of this nation that are enshrined in both our State and Federal constitutions. I urge you make Texas safer and remove barriers that only victimize us by disarming us. Gun free zones are victimization zones.