Starting Friday, properly licensed Texans will be allowed to carry handguns openly in the Lone Star State, and Texas law enforcement agencies are preparing for some misunderstandings. Seeking to avert a flood of 911 calls from people surprised to see handguns in restaurants and stores and unable to tell the "bad" guys from the "good," the Round Rock Police Department released this public-service announcement:
The PSA is a good idea, and there's some sound advice here — if a person with a handgun is "acting reckless" or waving said gun around, you should call 911, stat — but a few notes. First, the grandfatherly holster-wearing white gentleman is buying cheap red wine at a convenience store, which actually is a little suspicious. Second, Round Rock is an affluent suburb of Austin and the home of Dell — it would be surprising to hear such a thick Texas accent anywhere in the town. Finally, Round Rock is 10 percent black, 29 percent Latino, 5 percent Asian, and 13.5 percent foreign-born, according to Census data; by not noting the elephant in the room — brown and black people will also be allowed to open-carry, too — the Round Rock police department all but ensures that come Jan. 1, its 911 operators will be very busy fielding calls from concerned citizens.
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