Houston DA opposed to new handgun law, Pistol-toting drivers without a permit will be prosecuted

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Houston DA opposed to new handgun law, Pistol-toting drivers without a permit will be prosecuted

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:09:09 PM EDT

Great......I went to packing.org to verify that they say: In LA it is legal to have a pistol in the car
(I wonder how many of our new "residents" are packin?)

And I find this article from the chronicle that states that the DA will still be charging Citizens
(I wonder what his RECORD<not his words, his record>is about illegals aliens illegally carrying?)

DA opposed to new handgun law
Pistol-toting drivers without a permit will still be prosecuted, Rosenthal warns
By CLAY ROBISON
Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Aug. 30, 2005
www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3330553
AUSTIN - Motorists arrested for carrying pistols in their cars without a concealed handgun license will continue to be prosecuted in Houston, despite a new law that purports to give them a legal defense, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said Monday.

Although the sponsor said the law should reduce the number of arrests for unlawful handgun possession, Rosenthal said it won't change enforcement practices in Houston after it goes into effect on Thursday.

"It is still going to be against the law for (unlicensed) persons to carry handguns in autos," the district attorney said, adding that the new legal defense can still be challenged by prosecutors.

The new law, enacted during the regular legislative session last spring, seeks to clarify a longtime law that allowed Texans to carry handguns while traveling, a qualification that was subject to a number of inconsistent court interpretations over the years.

The new statute says a person is "presumed to be traveling" if he or she is in a private vehicle, is not engaged in criminal activity (except for a minor traffic offense), is not prohibited by any other law from possessing a firearm and is not a member of a criminal street gang.

It also requires the handgun to be concealed in the car, although weapons can be discovered by officers during routine traffic stops if a driver gives permission for a car to be searched or opens a glove compartment where a gun is secured to retrieve an insurance card or other documentation.

"The intent of the law is to keep innocent people from going to jail," said the sponsor, Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, a former prosecutor and former Travis County sheriff who now is a candidate for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The law, House Bill 823, was supported by the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union and opposed by various law-enforcement groups.

More than 237,000 Texans have concealed handgun licenses. But many other law-abiding adults don't have licenses because they are disqualified by exceptions that have nothing to do with public safety, said Alice Tripp, a lobbyist for the Texas State Rifle Association, an NRA affiliate.

Tripp said people who have defaulted on student loans, who owe the state sales tax or franchise tax payments or are behind in child support payments are ineligible to receive a license.

Keel said he hoped the law will prompt police officers to think twice about arresting motorists who meet the new legal presumption and spare them the expense and "indignity" of arrest and prosecution.

Otherwise, he said, "They basically are going to arrest innocent people and make them prove their innocence."

Rosenthal and Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, disagreed.

Rosenthal said the new presumption about "traveling" doesn't define what constitutes traveling and can be challenged in court by prosecutors, leaving it to juries to decide verdicts "based upon the facts of the case."

A prosecutor could summon witnesses to successfully argue that a defendant wasn't traveling because he was simply "driving around the corner for a carton of milk," Kepple said.

"I really don't think (the law) should affect how police officers respond in arresting somebody," he added.

Houston Police Department spokeswoman Johanna Abad indicated Houston police were going to take their advice from Rosenthal's office.

Unlawful possession of a weapon is a class A misdemeanor punishable by as much as one year in county jail and a $4,000 fine. Rosenthal said most cases are resolved through plea bargains.

The prosecutor said he asked Gov. Rick Perry to veto the bill because "taking weapons off the street is a pretty good deal." He said his office handled about 5,000 weapons cases of varying degrees of severity last year.

Tripp called Rosenthal's opposition a case of "sour grapes ... and a threat to the general public."

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:11:22 PM EDT

[#1]

What an asshole.. Last time i checked, traveling is going from one place to another.

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:12:06 PM EDT

[#2]

And this is the kind of Law Enforcement / Authority I have real problems with. It's all about the law of the land untill the man in power doesn't like that law.

He needs to be removed from office.

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:13:24 PM EDT

[#3]

Walking POS

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:13:36 PM EDT

[#4]

Horseshit. Texas has a pre-emption law. Local governments cannot impose their own gun control.

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:14:02 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
What an asshole.. Last time i checked, traveling is going from one place to another.

I thought you just had to be in your car to be considered traveling now, or at least the first bit of the article makes it seem that way.

Goddamn DA.. at least the DA doesn't tell officers what to arrest/ticket for, so if the chief doesn't tell the officers to arrest for this illegal BS, there shouldn't be any prosecutions.

ETA: I sense someone close to losing their job..

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:15:22 PM EDT

[#6]

Doesn't Texas have a state preemption on this kind of stuff?

If they do then this asshole is going to be throwing away taxpayers money.

Yeah, so what else is new when it comes to fucking politicians?

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:15:52 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Horseshit. Texas has a pre-emption law. Local governments cannot impose their own gun control.

Are you saying you don't believe him, the paper or the Police spokesperson.............

"Houston Police Department spokeswoman Johanna Abad(no relation)indicated
Houston police were going to take their advice from Rosenthal's office."

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:16:27 PM EDT

[#8]

This supposed expert on the law was on the radio yesterday morning blathering about "registered handguns."

WTF? How can you be a DA and be that ignorant of the law?

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:16:52 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Doesn't Texas have a state preemption on this kind of stuff?

You bet yer fuckin' ass we do!

If they do then this asshole is going to throwing away taxpayers money.

Yeah, so what else is new when it comes to fucking politicians?

Ex-fucking-actly!!

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:17:15 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Horseshit. Texas has a pre-emption law. Local governments cannot impose their own gun control.

This doesn't really apply.

He is talking about the law that reads "it is a defense from prosecution" to be traveling with a gun. It is still against the law, you just have a defense.

They could have wrote the law less vague, and this jackass would not have been saying shit like this.

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:18:34 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Horseshit. Texas has a pre-emption law. Local governments cannot impose their own gun control.

Are you saying you don't believe him, the paper or the Police spokesperson.............

"Houston Police Department spokeswoman Johanna Abad(no relation)indicated
Houston police were going to take their advice from Rosenthal's office."

Oh, I don't doubt that this fuck stick is going to try. I hope he get's his pecker slammed in a door the first time he does. Then I hope he gets his crusading ass tossed out of office.

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:22:39 PM EDT

[#12]

"I really don't think (the law) should affect how police officers respond in arresting somebody," he added.

An attourney said this?

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:26:58 PM EDT

[#13]

Hey, we had 'em here two. When Missouri got it's carry law the chief of the Hazelwood PD said he would arrest anyone with a concealed pistol, permit or no. Confiscate the weapon for criminal tracing and balistics and if it took you a day or two to get out of jail so be it. He would not return the weapon until you could prove it was yours. Maybe he'd get his ass in a sling if he ever tried it, but how many people were willing to spin the wheel do you think.

All kinds of obtructionist bullshit was tried. I have no love for puplic officials who play that game and a very long memory. Our local sheriff changed his tune lickity split when his opponent made it public he would start taking apps on day one of his office.

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:32:32 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Horseshit. Texas has a pre-emption law. Local governments cannot impose their own gun control.

Are you saying you don't believe him, the paper or the Police spokesperson.............

"Houston Police Department spokeswoman Johanna Abad(no relation)indicated
Houston police were going to take their advice from Rosenthal's office."

Oh, I don't doubt that this fuck stick is going to try. I hope he get's his pecker slammed in a door the first time he does. Then I hope he gets his crusading ass tossed out of office.

The media in this area is the Houston Chronicle, they are sooooo liberal you wouldn't believe it
they will slant anything he does to be "Doing a great job of protecting the Citizens of Houston"

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:33:16 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
"I really don't think (the law) should affect how police officers respond in arresting somebody," he added.

An attourney said this?

You've heard of new math? This is new law

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:33:24 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
"I really don't think (the law) should affect how police officers respond in arresting somebody," he added.

An attourney said this?

I still can't get over the fact that Florida is more gun friendly than Texas

I thought that was the state of cowboys and the wild west. What in the hell is going on over there in regards to firearms laws, I always thought you guys could open carry in church and shit like that ? I'm not trying to be funny, I always thought Texas was the utopia of firearms owners, what happened ?

(By the way I don't get out of Florida much so I don't know much about other states laws except that I am really really supposed to hate California, Illinois, and Massachusetts

oh yeah and New York and New Jersey as well )

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:34:57 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Quoted:
"I really don't think (the law) should affect how police officers respond in arresting somebody," he added.

An attourney said this?

I still can't get over the fact that Florida is more gun friendly than Texas I thought that was the state of cowboys and the wild west. What in the hell is going on over there in regards to firearms laws, I always thought you guys could open carry in church and shit like that ? I'm not trying to be funny, I always thought Texas was the utopia of firearms owners, what happened ?

(By the way I don't get out of Florida much so I don't know much about other states laws except that I am really really supposed to hate California, Illinois, and Massachusetts oh yeah and New York and New Jersey as well )

We can have all sorts of weapons here...........at our home

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:35:47 PM EDT

[#18]

We can carry concealed in church and hospitals . . .

R.

Posted: 8/31/2005 7:42:27 PM EDT

[#19]

Even though I believe citizens should be able to carry in their cars while traveling, the only way to keep fucks like this out of your life is by going ahead and getting your CHL. Sure, it costs...but it's worth it, and dickheads like this can't fuck with you.

The Legislature needs to define this law more clearly next session to neuter pukes like this.

HH

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:05:41 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
And this is the kind of Law Enforcement / Authority I have real problems with. It's all about the law of the land untill the man in power doesn't like that law.

He needs to be removed from office.

Yes, yes he does. Also ALL folks there who DO carry (w/o a permit) need to NOT be stoopid [sic] enough to "consent" to a search, and need to invest in those pocket things that hold registration, etc. in a pocket over the visor so there's NO NEED to open the glove compartment.

Quoted:
Hey, we had 'em here two. When Missouri got it's carry law the chief of the Hazelwood PD said he would arrest anyone with a concealed pistol, permit or no. Confiscate the weapon for criminal tracing and balistics and if it took you a day or two to get out of jail so be it. He would not return the weapon until you could prove it was yours. Maybe he'd get his ass in a sling if he ever tried it, but how many people were willing to spin the wheel do you think.

All kinds of obtructionist bullshit was tried. I have no love for puplic officials who play that game and a very long memory. Our local sheriff changed his tune lickity split when his opponent made it public he would start taking apps on day one of his office.

Yeah, some asshat politicos said similar things. when Ohio's CHL passed, fortunately the OHIO AG at the time (and currently) slammed their sorry asses pretty well

And at least one he didn't, the OSC did. So,

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:08:27 PM EDT

[#21]

Yes it is common and perfectly legal in Louisiana to keep a weapon (gun, knife, or other) in the car.

In LA. the car is considered "extension of property" this allows you to kill carjackers more easily too

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:10:53 PM EDT

[#22]

This asshat needs to be punished at the ballot box at the next election.

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:11:35 PM EDT

[#23]

Don't like the law? Make your own!

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:24:28 PM EDT

[#24]

I was more amazed by this little gem:

Quoted:
The law, House Bill 823, was supported by the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union

... and opposed by various law-enforcement groups.

Yeah.. probably the International Association of Chiefs of ~~Police~~ Politics, and the American Sheriffs (fundraising) Association, both notorous Anti groups who are also routine opponents of things that benefit the real, on the street & on the job cops out there (LEAA).

And if this:

The prosecutor said he asked Gov. Rick Perry to veto the bill because "taking weapons off the street is a pretty good deal."

doesn't pin this guy as an "all guns are bad" type anti, nothing does.

Oh, wait... isn't the DA considered "Law Enforcement"? (Kerry thought so)... so maybe it would be

"All guns are bad... except mine".

Hopefully somebody on the state level will jackslap this asswipe back to a cubicle and out of the camera lights.

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:37:34 PM EDT

[#25]

So he'll still try to prosecute you, cost you untold dollars in lost wages, you'll be found innocent, because the law SAYS YOU ARE, and he'll whine when you're done.

I wonder if he'll whine when the first person he tries to prosecute for doing something that's LEGAL sues the mangina right off of him. What a fucking waste of good blood.

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:48:03 PM EDT

[#26]

"I really don't think (the law) should affect how police officers respond in arresting somebody," he added.

Grounds for instant removal from office right there. And were this not about guns, the bar association would have his head by sundown.

Posted: 8/31/2005 8:52:12 PM EDT

[#27]

Army Special Forces need to take him out to dinner.

Posted: 8/31/2005 9:15:07 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
I was more amazed by this little gem:

Quoted:
The law, House Bill 823, was supported by the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union

Beat me to it.

But then again I'm eating lunch at work.