(Newswire.net — May 30, 2015) — More than 850,000 Texas residents with a license to carry a concealed handgun now have the right to openly carry weapons, acccording to a recently approved law.
With the Democrats opposing it and the Republicans supporting it, the law was passed by an overwhelming majority in the Texas House 102-43 and later in Senate 20-11, the Guardian reported.
Meanwhile, a viral video posted on a YouTube presented how the police cope with the fact that people carying are guns on the street. The video showed that if you are a Caucasian, it may not be such a big deal. However if you’re black, the same law is interpreted differently, the Daily Beast reported.
The first part of the clip showed a white man who identified him self as Warren, strapped an AR-15 assault rifle of one shoulder walking down the street. A police car puled over and a police officer approaches Warren asking politely to see some ID. However, Warren refused to give him ID citing his second Amendment rights. That didn’t seem to bother much the officer who then politely asked Warren why is he wearing the AR-15. Warren replied he was just exercising his rights, and that was it.
The next shot in the video shows an African American wearing the same rifle, in the same way, walking down the street. As a police officer sees him, the story goes much differently.
The police officer jumps out of the car and from the distance, shielded behind the police car door, pulls out his weapon and screams to a the individual to lay on the ground. Officers next called for backup and soon three more patrol cars arrived.
Meanwhile, the officer who commanded the black man to lay down, also commanded a woman who was filming the event to lay down as well even though she was carrying only a video camera. After she said she is seven months pregnant, the officer commanded her to sit down on the pavement. The black man was handcuffed and arrested, and the area was secured.
Clearly, there are double standards demonstrated by these police officers, that are dependant on the skin color. In response, the police department commented that the caucasian man in the video, Warren Drouin, is a gun loving activist well known to the police, and that the officer allegedly recognized him. However if that is the case why did the officer asked for Drouin’s personal ID?
As for the other video, allegedly it was shot in Sparks, Nevada, the place Drouin posted a comment that he would avoid openly carrying a weapon.
“That state is known to have very corrupt police, and has some reports of beating people for just video recording or other activities that are legal,” Drouin wrote.
But still, the video “hits a nerve,” the Daily Beast commented reminding that people like Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, John Crawford, and Freddie Gray, clearly represent how the police treat people of color in some states.