I’m very eager to see this bill move, if only because this issue drives our opponents into raving madness. I don’t blame them. When your defensive action is guns in schools, if not yet completely politically irrelevant, you’re certainly on your way. Looks like they are trying to attach it to various other bills before the end of the session.
If I had to bet money, I don’t think it’ll pass this year.
Thanks for noting this, Sebastian.
For what it’s worth, things look good for us getting the guns in parking lots bill passed this session.
Also, would you like to know what else passed the Senate today? SB905, which, according to the Statesman, “…would allow legislators, statewide elected officials, some former legislators and some state employees to carry their concealed weapons in bars, churches and hospitals and at sporting events and other places they are currently prohibited — including businesses that post signs outside saying concealed handguns are prohibited.”
Yes, some animals are more equal than others.
Maybe some day Texas will just have constitutional carry. And last I heard, the Constitutions is still valid on campus, whether professors agree with it or not.
Then again, state and federal law dont seem to agree with it either in many places.
FWIW, the author of the companion bill ( Tim Kleinschmidt ) in the house said (when calling in to a radio show to explain / defend his bill ) that if he could pass the bill with including all CHL holders, he would. He said his bill was step in that direction. The way I read it, it puts statewide elected officials in the same group as judges and prosecutors. Kleinschmidt is the author of the parking lot bill, so I think he is pro-2nd amendment. I think this is a way to move the ball foward, so that next session they can make even more progress.
Well, the bill to allow guns in cars on employers parking lots is on the way to the Gov. to sign. He’ll sign it. The CAMPUS CARRY bill, that was stalled in the Senate, just got attached to another bill and has passed the Senate. There are about 80 of 150 co-sponsors in the House, so that should be a done deal. Open carry is still up in the air. The dims got slapped down over the weekend over their stalling tactics and the Republicans “called the question” to stop debate and amendments on a “luser pays” lawsuit bill. The dims are stomping their little feet and holding their breath until they turn blue, but in the world of Texas politics, their time may be up.
AND if the budget doesn’t pass, or re-districting, there will be special sessions. Texas has outdated “rulz” that allow 1/3 of Senators to turn down debate and voting on any bill. Those rulz don’t apply in a special session and with Gov. Perry* being REAL pro-gun, we’d have a good chance of open carry in a special session.
*Gov. Perry sez he shot a coyote with his Ruger 380 while out jogging with his dogs. Ruger has/had a “Texas Special” LCP made up to commemorate the event.
Great timing on bringing this up, because it did get passed as an amendment to another bill in the senate today. There are still a few obstacles left, but we have a VERY good chance of passing both a parking lots bill and a campus carry bill in Texas this year.