The new year brought new freedoms for Texas gun owners.

As of Jan. 1, residents who have a permit to carry a concealed handgun may now also openly carry a firearm with one caveat: the firearm must be in either a shoulder or belt holster.

Since the law—House Bill 910—took effect, some Sugar Land and Missouri City businesses are exercising their right to opt out of allowing the open carry of firearms. Meanwhile, local officials are spreading the word on what is permitted under the new law.

“It’s been kind of quiet,” Missouri City Council Member Jerry Wyatt said. “I didn’t see anyone carrying a gun.”

Opinions on the statute’s design, however, are mixed and both police and government officials see some room for improvement.

The Texas Department of Public Safety reported 937,419 concealed handgun license holders across the state as of Dec. 31, up nearly 13 percent from the 825,957 license holders counted in 2014. Texas is the 45th state to permit open carry of handguns, while California, New York, Illinois, South Carolina, Florida and Washington, D.C., prohibit it.

Police officials said they had seen few people carrying or none at all. Roughly 3 percent of all concealed handgun license applications for fiscal 2015 came from Fort Bend County, according to DPS.

Language of the law

Under HB 910, the open carry of a firearm is now permitted in government buildings, public parks and on modes of public transportation. Private property owners have the right to ban open carry and/or concealed carry on their premises so long as they give effective notice. All firearms are already banned from businesses that make 51 percent or more of their revenue from alcohol for on-premises consumption.

Property owners can give effective notice either by verbally telling a gun owner not to open or concealed carry or with a clearly posted sign, the latter of which is recommended by police. Sections 30.06 and 30.07 of the Texas Penal Code define what a business must write on a sign to prohibit concealed or open carry, which must be written in English and Spanish. If a business elects not to allow both concealed and open carry, then it must post a sign for each section.

Drew DeFoor, sales operations manager at Signarama in Stafford, said the signs can be expensive for business owners because they usually measure 30-by-30 inches or 30-by-36 inches, with contrasting block letters in English and Spanish. As a result, some customers ordered signs with paraphrased wording that are not in compliance with the law.

“Most of the requests are for both [open and concealed carry] because that’s how people are reading the statute,” he said.

Violating a business’ ban is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $200 and can upgrade to a Class A misdemeanor at trial if it is shown that the gun owner did not leave the property after receiving notice.

Other exceptions to open carry include courthouses or at events subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act, high schools, college or professional sporting events, and polling places on election days.

Open carry is banned on certain college campuses, but concealed carry will be permitted as of Aug. 1, as stated in Senate Bill 11. This caveat persuaded state Rep. Phil Stephenson, R-Rosenberg, to vote in favor of the bill.

“I would not have voted for open carry if [campuses] and businesses were not given discretion,” he said.

Opting out

In Sugar Land and Missouri City, some business owners have already placed signs in the front window. Most of these owners said they ordered them months in advance. Others have yet to post signs prohibiting open or concealed carry. One of those businesses is DropZone Fitness in Missouri City. Owner Todd Tanner said he was unaware property owners could opt out.

“I’m going to do a survey with my clients … see how they feel about it,” he said.

In the Sugar Land Town Square shopping center, Ruggles Green prohibits open carry only.

“One reason is we sell liquor here, and those two things don’t bode well together,” said Lydia Smith, marketing director for Ruggles Green.

Smith added the company received calls from customers who threatened to take their business elsewhere if the restaurant permitted open carry.

Nearby, Flying Saucer Draught Emporium has no signs because more than half of the business’s gross receipts come from alcohol sales, which already makes carrying a weapon in the establishment a felony. Its only notice is an older version from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

For Texas chain Lupe Tortilla, the company’s head of security recommended an open carry ban, according to Edwin Valdez, managing partner for the company’s Sugar Land location.

“If it’s concealed, nobody can see it—nobody panics,” Valdez said.

Education efforts

The Fort Bend County sheriff’s office held a news conference on the law for the business community in December. Sugar Land and Missouri City city councils will have notices at their meetings, and both localities have information on their websites about the law.

“I think it’s still going to be a learning process as the year progresses,” Sugar Land City Council Member Himesh Gandhi said.

Wyatt said he was not enthusiastic about the new law but had neither seen anyone in the city carrying openly, nor heard complaints from residents.

“Personally, I don’t like guns, but people have the constitutional right to own guns, and I respect the right,” he said.

Sugar Land Police Chief Douglas Brinkley is using open forums to explain the regulations while his department trained officers and city employees about the law. For example, city employees may not open carry at City Hall but visitors can, so Brinkley’s office has warned workers not to “freak out if you see someone carrying.”

Brinkley said the police department will respond if they believe a gun owner is acting suspiciously.

When engaging with any individual, whether they are carrying a weapon, Missouri City Police Chief Michael Berezin said officers must remember that at least one weapon can be used: the one worn by the officer.

“It is a bit of a concern that some citizens who have chosen to carry a firearm openly or concealed may not have seriously considered the possibility that someone may attempt to unlawfully disarm them by force,” he said.

Room for improvement

Police can ask to see a license to carry for someone openly carrying, but Maj. Chad Norvell with the Fort Bend County sheriff’s office said the new law does not give clear punitive measures if someone refuses. He also said he wanted the state to define more clearly what counts as a shoulder or belt holster and how many guns an individual can carry.

“There’s the person out there that’s going to push it and say they want to put two or three guns on their body and walk into Kroger,” Norvell said. “It would make a lot more common sense to limit the number.”

Ambiguity for law enforcement is also a concern for Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Commissioner James Patterson. He opposed the legislation and preferred that local governments have the same authority as private property owners to opt out.

“I don’t want a child and his mom to be in the library and someone [comes] in with a gun,” Patterson said.

State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, voted against the bill and said he has heard from residents about it, particularly those in the religious community.

“Especially in this time of so many mass shootings in this country, we should be considering policies to eliminate gun violence—particularly in Texas where we have far too [many] gun deaths,” he said.

In 2013, the most recent numbers compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas ranked 31st in the nation for firearm deaths with 10.6 per 100,000 people. The national average was 10.4 deaths per 100,000 people.