Concealed Weapons Bill
Laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons in public became rather common during the early nineteenth century, particularly in the states that formed the southwestern frontier at that time (think Missouri to Mississippi). Since most Anglo settlers in Texas came from or moved through this area, it stands to reason that they would support such legislation. In fact, the first time a Texas legislator introduced a concealed weapons bill was in 1839, at the Third Congress of the Republic of Texas. That bill did not generate much controversy, but it also did not make much progress through the legislature. Sadly, we do not have the text of that original bill and can only assume that it reflected larger regional trends.
The movement to enact a concealed weapons ban gained steam during the 1850s. Of the several that were introduced, the text of one remains extant. It is House Bill 84 of the Fifth Legislature of the State of Texas, introduced by Allen Birdwell of Rusk County in East Texas.
The Birdwell bill (1853) did something that later bills and statutes replicated—it purposefully tried to be broad in its descriptions of prohibited weapons. Everyone knew what a “bowie knife” was, but a savvy defendant might claim that his large knife was slightly different from a bowie knife and therefore not included within the purview of the bill. To avoid a situation like this, Birdwell used this phrase: “a Bowie knife or knife or instrument of the like kind and description by what ever name called.” He was also careful to include as many firearms as possible, prohibiting the concealment of “any air gun or pistol or any other description of fire armes.”
The Birdwell bill also specified how a person fearing an imminent attack might claim an exemption under the law; that exemption was not a license or permission given beforehand, but an opportunity to plead not guilty and show that there was reason to fear an attack before a jury. This was another feature of public carry laws that stood the test of time across the nineteenth century.
Birdwell’s bill, and the others from the 1850s, failed to become law. It was just too controversial at the time, in large part because so many men found themselves in personal conflicts or feuds that they called “difficulties.” A man’s honor was at stake to seek vengeance against his enemy or to defend himself from attack. Texans seem to have feared laws that would leave themselves and their acquaintances vulnerable to intimidation by a bully during one of these “difficulties.” However, other Southern states moved in this direction over time, developing more tolerance for the idea as the population and local commercial centers grew. It stands to reason that, had the Civil War not derailed this process, Texas would have emulated its Southern neighbors during the decade of the 1860s.