In Texas, there are some possible changes coming to laws that affect how we are able to defend ourselves and our loved ones from the various threats we might face. I have been asked and will give my thoughts on the topic. I’m not good at blindly following the typical party line answers, so I am sure that there are people on both sides who will find something wrong with what I present here, but that is okay. I love honest debate and dialogue. No one hurts my feelings when they disagree with me.

Illegal Knives

House Bill 1935 removes the illegal knives term from State laws. Once this is signed, many things change. Under current law, in Texas, it is illegal to carry a knife with a blade longer than five-and-a-half inches. And there are no legal to carry double-edged blades of any length.

I have been joking with my Wife that starting September 1st, I will be the one taking too long to get ready to go out (as I try to decide which knife goes best with my outfit).

There have been the usual scare tactics of claiming that everyone will be walking around with a sword on their hip (and really…would that necessarily be a bad thing?). In truth, I don’t think many people will be walking around with a sword on their hip. Those scare lines are about as silly as when Texas was shifting to legal open carry of firearms. People were freaking out that we were going to be subjected to old west shootouts every day, and it didn’t happen. Most people who concealed carried before the law change continued to conceal carry after. As protected as I am sure  I would feel with my Gurkha Kukri on my hip every day, I am just as sure I would also be harassed by ignorant busybodies. The possible feeling of security would be replaced by hassles from people who think there must be uniformity of thought, and such people are never placated. So, I use the what they don’t know won’t hurt them philosophy.

In the end, in my opinion, this new law will do two things that I think make a lot of sense. First, it will make it legal to carry a blade that it was already legal to own. Going to jail for carrying something that is legal to own, even when you were not committing any crime does not make sense to me in a free society, which we still are (at least for the time being). And second, it makes Texas finally allowed to embrace a symbol of our heritage – the Bowie knife. I never understood why in Texas, of all places, it was illegal to carry a Bowie knife.

So, there are my thoughts on the topic. Let me know what you think. As always, likes follows and shares are appreciated!