Article:
Summary is the Texas Attorney General is suing three organizations to enforce compliance with a Texas state law that off duty police officers cannot be prohibited from carrying their weapon in a public venue.
Without reading the full text of the law, it seems appropriate as summarized in the article and the AG enforcement also seems appropriate assuming it seems compliance, although the article didn’t say the full extent of what the lawsuits are seeking.
When a person is in the military or in law enforcement, they are always responsible for certain conduct even when they are off duty. Also, if there are any criminals who are interested in attacking military or law enforcement officers, they know that doing so when the person is off duty is easier– nobody will be looking for them until next roll call, they’re not fully geared up, etc. So it’s important and appropriate to allow — but not require — those people to carry their weapon at all times.
Government should make it easier for private citizens and organizations to comply with the law. In addition to carrying their credentials, which must be a requirement for applying that law since otherwise people wouldn’t be able to know whether they are authorized by that law to carry their weapon into the event or location, it would be handy for the credentials or for the officers to carry a link to an official government that clearly summarizes the law and has a link to the full text for organizations to read if they are unsure about the law.
Also, it’s not clear if, in addition to these failures to allow the office duty officer to enter the event with a weapon, there have been any successes. How many off duty officers were allowed to enter with their weapon, in comparison to how many were denied? Especially in the case of the fair, which has a policy of having an on duty police officer there to check credentials, it seems they are likely to be following the law most of the time. The article doesn’t mention those numbers.
Lawsuits should only happen when the other party refuses to do the right thing. It’s not clear that this is the case in any of the three lawsuits mentioned in the article.