'tbg' should better renamed to 'twg' (the wise guy) ;)
If you have a gun here in my country and they see you, they put you into jail for the rest of your life.
A very important thing about Texas and, states like it, is that weapons have been an integral part of life. We have only been civilized for 200 years. Before that you had to be a good shot in order to feed and defend your family. Up until the mid 70s we had the lowest crime rate in the nation for a population its size. That is because from an early age we were taught that a gun is NEVER to be trifled with. It was common when I was growing up in Houston, to see a truck with a gun rack and rifles in it...with the windows down (because of the heat) in the high school parking lot. The kids probably lived and/or worked on a farm. We didn't deal with our disputes the same way people do now. In many parts of the US if you take away the guns you may ruin a very peaceful family's lives because they will no longer be able to shoot poisonous snakes or defend their livestock from predators including the human ones...and yes there is still cattle rustling going on.
Now every State has their own version of the OK Coral.