(From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on 07/16/96)
Gun-law fears are unfounded, officers say
By John Gonzalez Star-Telegram Austin bureau
AUSTIN -- Those who predicted that mayhem would be the result of Texans 
carrying concealed handguns have been proven wrong, Tarrant County Sheriff 
David Williams told lawmakers yesterday.
Law enforcement agencies have seen few problems associated with concealed 
handgun permits during the more than six months they have been available, 
Williams and other officers told members of the House Public Safety 
mmittee.
"As we had seen in other states and had predicted would occur in Texas, all 
the fears of the naysayers have not come to fruition," Williams said.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials testified that out of 23 reported 
incidents in which permit holders fired shots, 15 licensees were arrested and 
charged with 19 offenses, ranging from murder to technical violations.
Since permits became valid Jan. 1, there have been at least two homicides, 
two suicides and three woundings involving permit holders. At least 67 shots 
have been fired, said DPS Lt. Col. Dudley Thomas. But a target shooter in a 
Garland park harmlessly squeezed off 40 of them.
A Dallas homicide after a traffic mishap was ruled justifiable by a grand 
jury, and a fatal shooting in Houston remains under investigation, officials 
said.
Of the three woundings recorded, two occurred in homes and a third in a 
business. Although permit holders were involved, home and business owners are 
not required to have a concealed-carry permit to possess a gun at their home 
or business.
As a result of the 40 shots fired Feb. 11 in a Garland park, a 57- year-old 
target shooter's two pistols were confiscated and his permit will be revoked 
for shooting inside a city, Thomas said.
In Chambers County, nine shots were fired at tin cans in a municipality, 
resulting in another special police report to DPS as required by the gun law.
Williams said, "A lot of the critics argued that the law-abiding citizens 
couldn't be trusted, nor were they responsible enough to avoid shooting a 
stranger over a minor traffic dispute. But the facts do speak for themselves. 
None of these horror stories have materialized."
Officials said that with more than 82,000 permits in circulation, gunplay has 
been minimal. However, the law's positive effect on public safety is 
impossible to measure.
Thomas said the DPS issued 338 licenses a day last month. He added that 
snafus in the application process have been reduced, but that some requests 
still get hung up on legal questions. Nearly 500 applications have been 
denied for two common reasons: criminal convictions and deferred 
adjudications in the applicants' past, or delinquent taxes, Thomas said.
Reps. Bill Carter, R-Fort Worth, and Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie, who serve on 
a subcommittee overseeing the new law, said they are well aware of complaints 
about the application process, especially during start-up.
They plan to submit several technical changes to the law in 1997 and may seek 
to clarify the list of places where guns may and may not be carried.
"There will be some modifications," Carter said. "We need to settle the 
constitutional issue that it's the place of the Legislature, and the 
Legislature alone, to decide where guns can be carried."
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