The Texas campaign is expected to intensify Tuesday with a radio message in Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. The ad says, "We don't hide our colors, do we?" and encourages Texans to sign an online petition asking lawmakers to make Texas a place where people can openly wear their guns. More than 28,000 people have signed it so far.
"We are targeting Texas," said Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of www.opencarry.org, in a story Sunday in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Get ready for a showdown in Austin come January."
Stollenwerk said Texas is one of the nation's most pro-gun states and promised an "awakening" when "Texans realize how restrictive their rights are."
Texas is one of six states -- along with New York, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina -- in which handguns can't be worn in plain view. The other 44 states, in the parlance of gun advocates, are known as "open-carry" states.
Ralph Carroll, 48, said he views an open-carry law as another way for him to protect his three children. He said fears about increased gun violence after the passage of Texas' concealed-carry law haven't happened.
"I just simply want to ensure I have self-protection if the need arises," said Carroll, who lives in Van Zandt County. "The same reason I wear my seat belt, carry a spare tire and have a working fire extinguisher."
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