Unusual Allies in a Legal Battle Over Texas Drivers’ Gun Rights - New York Times

[groovychk]

Originally published at Twixel.net. You can comment here or there.

Unusual Allies in a Legal Battle Over Texas Drivers’ Gun Rights - New York Times
HOUSTON, April 4 — Keith Patton was driving home one night in February when police officers pulled over his red Ford Explorer for a traffic stop.
His license and insurance form were in his gym bag on the floor near the back seat. Under the bag was a .357 Magnum.

Mr. Patton, 51, an oil-field geologist, software tester and martial arts instructor from suburban Katy, told the police about the gun, which he said he had bought hours before from a co-worker for target shooting. Moments later, he was handcuffed and on his way to jail, facing a charge of unlicensed carrying of a weapon.

The arrest might have been routine elsewhere, but this is Texas, where a code rooted in the days of the highwayman recognizes the right of travelers to be armed, and the Legislature has repeatedly endorsed that principle.

Defiant police officers and prosecutors, however, saying they retain law enforcement discretion, have continued arresting and bringing cases against motorists like Mr. Patton found with unlicensed handguns.

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Leave it to the cops to decide what we need and don’t need. The Second Amendment is there for a reason. And it isn’t the job of the cops to ignore it.