“The Texas Senate has approved allowing concealed carry permit holders to have guns in their locked cars parked outside schools,” dfw.cbslocal.com reports. About time! Every time I enter my daughter’s school to drop off something she forgot or take her to the doctor, I’m legally obliged to leave my gun at home. A complete, meaningless PITA. 

Should the bill make it into law, it’ll be a baby step toward gun rights restoration. As is The Lone Star State’s decision to lower the cost of its LTC. Which shouldn’t exist and wouldn’t exist and may not exist if and when Texas joins the rest of free America and enacts constitutional carry.

Meanwhile, Gunshine State gun owners must be livid that campus carry, constitutional carry and open carry failed to make it through a Republican-controlled legislature to land on a Republican governor’s desk. Nationally, when will we see a “may issue” case affirming the constitutional right to bear arms outside the home?

I know there are states where gun rights are going backwards. Are you frustrated with the pace of gun rights restoration where you live? Or are you a patient person, happy with the incremental victories we’ve seen?

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69 COMMENTS

  1. There is no gun rights restoration in NY. I’m convinced that groups like the NRA don’t bother fighting here so they can point to us as an example when they beg for money from people in other states.

    • Or they are letting NY run amok so the courts can take them to the cleaners. Its a slower process, but it produces useful judicial precedent for future cases.

      You can yell yourself hoarse telling someone to buckle their seatbelt, or you can slam on the brakes and let the dashboard teach them.

    • The NRA could spend billions in NY and it would not make an iota of difference — very few, if any, of the folks there are going to change their views.
      That state will never again be conservative so if you don’t like the liberal laws, you should move.

      • Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!!!!! We have a winner!

        All the money in the world will not change the politics regarding firearms in New York.

        If you don’t want to accept that fact, please explain away New York’s nickname, “The Empire State”.

      • Did you know that the NY state assembly isn’t majority democrat? That the dems lost those seats in the wake of the 2013 laws they passed on gun control? The governor is a big problem but the other issue is that the republicans don’t actually fight for gun rights. Putting their feet to the fire is something the NRA could absolutely do.

        • Blue state republicans are not red. They are blue. Don’t expect them to act like conservatives. Hell, 90% of the current republican party isn’t even remotely conservative. Paul Ryan is a pristine example of that.

    • Pssst……the NRA existed for a century+ before they even formed their legislative and lobbying arms in response to the 1969 GCA. There’s more to their activities than just high profile politicking. They’ll survive.

    • You elect cucked Republicans who do not use the power they have, always make excuses, and then say “NEXT TIME”, assuming their will be a next time.

      You want victory? Elect people who value victory and will stop at nothing to achieve it.

    • NY, California, and the other “Peoples’ Democratic Republics” in this country are not worth the NRA’s money to fight about. What I mean is that the legislatures and the courts in those states are stacked with Progressives who will find a way to defeat any case brought against their gun control laws. There are only two ways to free those states:
      1. Win a US Supreme Court case that strikes down all such unconstitutional laws.
      2. Elect Republicans and appoint judges in those states that will change the laws.

      The facts are that the NRA is already being vastly outspent by Bloomberg and others like him. There are also states where the battle for gun rights is real but not lost. If they are lost, then they become the next NY. Given these realities, there really isn’t any point in the NRA spending money fighting for states that cannot be won by conventional means.

  2. Actually, I want it all and I want it now! However, I think I can keep from spitting curses for a while as long as things are moving, however slowly, in the right direction. This is a marathon, not a sprint….and a never-ending marathon at that.

  3. “…Gunshine State gun owners must be livid…”

    We’re beyond that. At least I know I am.

    My personal goal is to see these traitorous RINO’s voted out. Gone. Bye-bye. Kaput.

    • I’m just happy the Wicked Witch of the Left is not confiscating my guns. As far as laws being discussed, there is nothing there I really give a hoot about, legislation moves slowly and can reverse itself at the whim of the electorate. The NFA is NOT going away, sorry.
      Voting the GOP out in 2018 will bring democrats into power and the US will have Australian Style Gun Control — it can happen faster than you can imagine.
      Those who would cut off their nose to spite their face could end up turning in their guns.

  5. We didn’t lose them in a day, not will we win them back in a day. We only ‘lost’ them in the first place due to our collective complacency. We must always be vigilant and jealous of our hard-won freedoms.

    And yes, the slow pace of this process pisses me off.

    Where is my mail-order suppressed full-auto SBR?

  6. Yeah, there’s no gun rights restoration in Massachusetts. Our politicians don’t belong in a legislature, they belong against a wall.

    • Then its up to you as citizens to put them up against said wall. Tyrants are seldom defeated by words, no matter how strong those words may be. Remember kids, sticks and stones WILL break their bones, but words will never hurt them.

  7. Overall I am pretty happy with NC. If they would just get rid of CC licensing, I wouldn’t have much to complain about, except on the federal level.

    • Better move fast. NC will be a blue state in 10 years and you can wave Bye Bye to your gun rights at that point.

      • Not so sure about that. The yankees moving to the coastal areas are eager to get their CCW. Now Charlotte etc, may be different. Seen folks open carrying and no body blinks.

        • Get one thing right, it ain’t about the yankees. Maine is about as far north as you can get in the lower 48 and we’re constitutional carry…as is NH and VT, most of us yankees love our guns. You southerners have some catching up to do as far as gun rights go. don’t lump us all into that liberal cesspool. The cubano libtards are ruining Florida and they are creeping up towards you. Thankfully its too cold here for them.

  8. What makes me mad is prohibiting legislation always seems to pass within in days if not hours while any legislation lifting those prohibitions takes decades or generations.

    Liberty lasts a moment but tyranny lasts a lifetime.

    • I think this is the result of the way the gun-grabbers operate. Typically (though not always), they seize on some event (like a mass shooting) and then coordinate with the media to present this as an immediate crisis that is easily solved with some simple (anti-gun) legislation. The media goes full court press and together, they steamroll the POS through. So far, this has only been successful in states already full-on (or heavily tilting) blue…but it works and it’s fast. Restoring 2A rights, though enshrined in logic and the Constitution, requires a steady long-term persuasive campaign to gradually erode the credibility of many of the anti-gun laws out there…and again, is typically only successful in states that are full-on (or heavily tilting) red.

    • “Good” states seem to be getting better and “bad” states seem to be getting worse. Then there are a few formerly pro gun states slowly turning into anti gun states like Nevada and Colorado.

  10. I’m content with Florida gun laws. Sure people should be able to open carry. I really don’t care about daycare carry. Sure people should be able to if they want to. Is it an issue for me, nope. Having to get a permit to carry concealed in Florida isn’t difficult or expensive. Again I understand why people think a permit is a good thing. When anti’s say untrailed CCW holders I get to say umm no. Should lawful citizens have to get a permit? No. But I’m not angry about Florida gun laws. But this is coming from a former NY gun owner that had no rights. So Florida feels like freedom. All societies have laws.

    Sorry guys

    • Agreed. I try and keep shit in perspective. We each could’ve been living in Somalia but for winning the genetic lottery. I’ll still be happy to fight back every inch that has been taken though

    • Yeah, but we have COUNTLESS laws, most of them being completly useless and outdated, yet we simply keep piling more on. Society should have laws, but they should fill no more than one page double spaced.
      No murder

      No robbery

      No rape

      No discrimination, by ANYONE.

      Done. How friggin hard is that?

  11. I feel like in the 7 years that I’ve been into gun rights I’ve seen my state move so far in the wrong direction, it’s only a matter of time till it’s like Europe/ Australia when it comes to guns. Nationally, progress has been made but now is the time to act preemptively to stop ca style gun control from spreading. Almost all gun rights progress lately has been about carry. All good and necessary but other aspects have been loosing. Courts have been showing that they will rule that things like mag capacity, bullet buttons, and cosmetic feature bans are acceptable. We need to fight more to prevent or reverse measure like that.

    • I live in MA so I’m usually pissed off too. Then again, I lived in NYC, CT and RI when they were not merely “no issue,” but more like “GFY.”

      MA truly sucks, but it is a big improvement compared to those three 2A hellholes.

      • At least in R.I. you can still buy anything you want without having to beg the local head l.e.o. for a permission slip. Also, hi cap mags are still legal and no firearms are banned by name in R.I. (i.e. AR-15 AK-47 Etc.)
        Yes to have to get on your knees for a permit there…but its the same may issue crap in MA. If your local l.e.o. says no, then its GFY there too! Your only choice is to move to another city/town with a more 2A friendly head leo….and there arn’t many…thats for sure.

    • Ugh. I really wish the U.S. Supreme Court would wait until they have one more conservative justice on the court before hearing Peruta. Kennedy will probably screw us over if the court takes that case.

      • Kennedy would not vote to grant cert only to have his concurrence in Heller thrown back in his face were he adamant on screwing “outside the home” 2A advocates in restrictive “may issue”/no open-carry California.

        • Kennedy is a traitor. He should step down while we still have a majority in the Senate so that we can get a real conservative on the court.

        • There’s no reason for SCOTUS to grant cert unless five judges want to reverse. If SCOTUS wants Perutta to stand, it doesn’t have to do anything.

          Things can change between granting and hearing the case, but IF cert is granted, I will view it as a good sign.

          Yes, Kennedy is the weak link, but he’s not going to overrule himself and besides, all the crazy predictions about blood running in the street has proven to be a load of leftist bvllshit. I believe that he will vote to overrule the Ninth, but he may be a moderating force upon Alito and Thomas who will want to destroy Perutta and pound it into dust.

        • No one but Kennedy has any idea what he’ll do. Yes, he went with Heller; but the reason the decision was so wishy-washy was because they didn’t want to lose him, implying that he wouldn’t go any further. He might easily be willing to take the case without having a clear idea of which way he’ll come down based on how the decision would be written.

        • Clearly, Kennedy has reservations about serfs possessing firearms outside the home — which is why we have the language in Heller that says prohibitions on firearms in government buildings and schools are A-OK. Are his reservations so strong that he will allow states to continue with de-facto no-issue concealed carry licensing schemes? I don’t know.

          He just might grant cert so that he can make de-facto no-issue concealed carry licensing the law of the land.

          Or, he might grant cert so that he can make heinous state restriction such as handgun rosters, bullet buttons, and magazine limits, the law of the land.

          THAT is why I want the U.S. Supreme Court to have another conservative justice before they hear another Second Amendment case.

    • They’ll consider it at the conference, and all that will happen is that it’ll get relisted to the next conference . . . just like it has five or six times before. I think everyone is waiting to see if Kennedy announces his retirement before they decide to grant cert. Neither side can be sure he’ll go with them.

  16. Pennsylvania seems to be holding steady, Most efforts are aimed at putting some teeth in state preemption laws so that every little borough can’t enforce their own petty gun ordinances, but full passage of SB5 is questionable.

    At least we have the right to shoot groundhogs and coyotes with our AR-15’s now, but not deer thanks to the Fudds whining to the game commission.

    I had to remember to disarm this morning when I dropped off a letter for certified mail at the post office. A rare occurence but one that I find particularly annoying.

    • Unless you’re carrying openly, I see no need for disarming before entering the post office. Concealed is concealed.

      • If your argument is that laws don’t matter and you’ll break them whenever you don’t think you’ll be caught, why bother changing them? You can do whatever you want.

  17. “Are you frustrated with the pace of gun rights restoration where you live?”

    Answer: yes

    Suppose that government demands a strip search of our wives every day. Would we be satisfied if government said one day, “Ma’am, you can keep one sock on during our strip searches from this point forward.” And then two years into the future, government says, “Ma’am, you can keep both socks on during our strip searches.” And then three years into the future, government says, “Ma’am, you can keep your bra on during our strip searches.” And one year later government says, “Ma’am, you may keep your shirt on during our strip searches.” And four years into the future, government says, “Ma’am, you may keep your pants and panties around your ankles during our strip searches.” And so on until, 30 years later, government finally ceases strip searches.

    No, no one should be happy with that. Neither should anyone be happy with government taking 40+ years to roll back unconstitutional firearm laws.

  18. Honestly it’s not the pace that ticks me off. It’s the double standards on “process”.

    For example; in Colorado, the mag restriction and UBC laws passed quickly and “the process” was put aside. Legislators disconnected their phones, ignored the procedural rules and basically skipped a public comment process. That was all fine and dandy because they’d gotten a call from Uncle Joe “Two Blasts” Biden telling them to get this done and get it done quick.

    Now that there’s a bill wending it’s way through the legislature to remove the magazine ban though, suddenly process matters. All I’s must be dotted and all T’s crossed. Things move quite slowly.

    This is what makes me mad. If process and rules matter so much then why don’t the grabbers follow those things when passing the bills that they like? Why do those things only apply to bills they don’t like?

    As is often said; “If the Left didn’t have double standards they wouldn’t have any standards at all”.

  19. I expect it is going to take a long time. The question for the PotG is whether we are able to work in concert for the issues that will prove to be most important in the long run. I fear that we are neither working in concert nor on the issues that will prove to be most important.
    To illustrate, I’ll use Constitutional-Carry vs. National-Reciprocity. I do not object to C-C in any respect; I think it’s a good thing. But how important is it? In PA I pay $21/5-years; $4.25/year. (I have Non-Resident permits in 4 other States that cost me a lot more.) Other than the “principle of the thing”, what would C-C get me? I’ll grant that there are several arguments on each side; but, fundamentally, Shall-Issue is good-enough to sustain the R-BA. We don’t need “perfect”.

    The big threat is that there remain about 10 Won’t-Issue jurisdictions that are heavily populated. As such: they have plenty of Senators and Congressmen; and, very little opportunity to pursue the shooting-sports. No one in these jurisdictions has any stake in RKBA; until she is mugged. At that point, there would be no point in thinking about the 2A because she couldn’t get a CWP. Therefore, despite being mugged, she is more likely to think about how to “get guns out of the hands of those that shouldn’t have them” vs. how to protect herself.

    Until we have N-R, there will be no reason for this voter to consider getting a gun for self-defense. If she saw that visitors from other States were providing for their own defense then she would – eventually – consider that option for herself.

    Unless we make public-carry for self-defense a reality in these last 10 jurisdictions we will remain in a continuous battle for the survival of the 2A at the national level. Only when vulnerable residents of these 10 jurisdictions have skin-in-the-game of self-defense will they have any reason to vote for gun rights rather than against them.

  20. Yeah, so, um, it has been legal for a long time now for LTC holders to have a gun in their car at a school in Texas.

    • ^^^ This.

      Has everyone been living under a rock and didn’t realize they could legally do this with their LTC/CHL in Texas?

      • (3) “Premises” means a building or a portion of a building.  The term does not include any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area.

        So unless you’ve been parking somewhere weird …

  21. Florida is pretty good for gun laws
    Must issue concealed carry
    NFA firearms allowed
    State pre emption of local anti gun laws has teeth, including removal from office and fines for violators
    You can have your own private range, even in a town, if your property is one acre or more
    We are working on open carry and campus carry
    De la Portilla is gone and Anitere Flores is term limited out this session
    Next year we introduce both bills again
    We vote out those who oppose these “common sense” gun laws
    And introduce them every year until legislators get that there are consequences to oppositionand we get passage

  22. Up here in Canada if it weren’t for incremental victories we wouldn’t have any victories at all. Pity about how when a Liberal gov’t gets in they all get erased. Hopefully they’ll stay busy with other stuff for a while longer.

  23. What make the scous a conservative court? Is it doing Trump’s bidding or is it upholding the law of the land the way the Constitution was written? Any judge that would uphold a citizen’s rights over a corporation and support our right to bear arms is my kind of judge.
    As a country, we are being run over by corporations. They call the shots and politicans dance to thier tune. It doesn’t matter if they are Dems or Reps, they are bought and paid for. The corporations have an agenda, they keep us fighting over issues that does not concern them in the least, and they only want the citizens without the power to fight back. They lobby both sides.

    Do not vote for a politican because he belongs to your party, you have to find out where he stands on the issues that concern you. Do not think that Republicans will save the 2nd, the minute we turn our backs, they will come up with a reason to confiscate firearms and ammo.

  24. I’m in Washington state. We’re going the opposite direction. We’re under constant threat from our governor and Ag.

  25. Well I got back from meeting my Congressman. He seemed receptive to my request to introduce legislation to repeal the NFA. He told me he couldn’t make any guarantees but did want the judiciary committee (which he’s on) to do some Second Amendment stuff. Anyone in Florida’s 6th district should call DeSantis and say they want it.

    The one point he really liked is bypassing congress and using the GCA to declare a 90 day NFA amnesty every 90 days. That’s not ideal, but would be way more than I was expecting to get.

  26. Yes. I am particularly impatient when the party supposedly of gun rights is elected to all three branches of federal government and they do nothing and instead focus on extremely politically divisive issues. And the executive branch isn’t doing much either.

    Here’s something that could be done tomorrow: change the Code of Federal Regulations so that it is no longer illegal to carry a firearm inside the post office for lawful purposes. No lawmaking required, no filibuster threat, nothing but the executive branch scratching out a line.

    Okay, federal rulemaking might require a period of public comment, but it would still be easy and would face nowhere NEAR the pushback that, say, the FCC is getting right now for its rule-changes.

    • There is so much the executive branch could do. Gutting the NFA would be easy.

      Trust. NICS check. $200.00. Registeration. Done.

      You might not even have to the NICS check. I can buy stamps at the grocery store, over the internet, etc. Why can’t I buy one at an FFL? The statute only requires fingerprints if the owner is a real live person. Trusts, etc. only require fingerprints because of regulations.

  27. I’ve got mixed feelings on the matter. Generally, we tend to progress in the direction of governmental usurpation of private rights, and it takes strong effort to keep the status quo… but on the other hand, the status quo is constantly under attack, and if we can’t push back usurpations wherever possible, we’re merely delaying our own inevitable disenfranchisement.

    So… every day nothing changes is, to some degree, a victory, but those victories won’t count for anything over a longer timeframe.

  28. Texas not the best, not the worst. Personally, never heard anyone living in Texas bragging about Texas Gun Laws being the best.

  29. I’m not happy with the progress being made. Everything done is a half measure.

    E.g., I called my representative about the “illegal knife” bill. Told my brother about it. I said our knife laws are ridiculous. His response was that our stick laws are ridiculous. He is right. We have a very long way to go here in Texas.

  30. “Gun rights” do not exist in New Jersey. The more appropriate term in this dark blue state is “gun control rights”.

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