No sooner had Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asserted that open carry didn’t have the votes to pass in the Lone Star State’s legislature than “a deluge of angry calls and comments from gun rights activists” caused him to change his tune, reports Morgan Smith in the Texas Tribune. “Announcing he had referred to committee another firearms bill — one allowing concealed handguns to be carried on university campuses by those with appropriate licenses — Patrick said he was now free to ‘focus on other Second Amendment issues, including open carry, which I have consistently supported.'” . . .

It’s good to see that the blowback from the ill-advised open carry lobbying effort earlier in the month was tempered by some good old-fashioned phone calls and letter-writing. Having the support of the majority of the people counts for something after all.

Still, it shouldn’t have required a phone-in campaign in the first place. Yes, shame on Dan Patrick for going a bit wobbly. Politicians are rational, calculating creatures by their very nature, though, and it was predictable that even our usual allies in the Texas legislature (Texas, for pity’s sake, we’re talking about Texas here) might have had a second thought or two about holding firm on the issue after open carry supporters got into a bit of a row with one of their own:

The confrontation led to the installation of new panic buttons in lawmakers’ offices. On Wednesday, dozens of House members wore name tags on the floor with the words “I’m Poncho” to show support for Nevárez, who now has a security detail after receiving death threats.

A Republican, Drew Springer of Muenster, was behind the gesture. He said he came up with the idea after Nevárez joked that he should hand out “I’m Not Poncho” stickers to fellow lawmakers so that they would not be targets.

“Immediately I thought just the opposite — we need to show support for him, that we aren’t going to let people threaten us,” he said. “We’re not going to let people, in some cases from out of state, threaten us physically and try to get their way. That’s just not the way democracy works. It’s not the way Texas works.”

Let’s hope that this is the last controversy we encounter concerning Rep. Stickland’s open carry bill, and that it gets to the governor’s desk without any more own goals from the pro-gun camp.

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98 COMMENTS

  1. Squeaky wheels git the grease, as they say.

    Sometimes this kinda thang works, but as said by the esteemed correspondent, it shouldn’t have had to get that far.

    We have yet another similar b.s. attempt to cut into gun rights here in Vermont but it will be D.O.A.; some of the noob lobbyists, lawyers and media rumpswabs from outta state haven’t learned yet that it’s a non-starter here. The last such attempt by a Dem rep in Essex was stillborn, largely because her own party nabobs told her in no uncertain terms to STFU.

    Hats off to the callers and writers in the Great Lone Star State!

    • I just moved to Austin from Vermont last month, but I’ve been trying to keep up with that whole hubbub since I left. I’m hoping it’s as much of a non-issue as it seems.

      • It won’t get anywhere, as you probably know from your previous residence here.

        My wife travels a lot in her job and has been to Austin several times; the most memorable when she and her colleagues were stranded there for a week during the 9/11 events. She said the people there were great and went outta their way to treat them like royalty during a very tense time, and she loves going back there, but we ain’t movin’ there. Too hot. Venomous reptiles. Etc.

        I was last there for a ZZ Top concert about 44 years ago; we have the sticker around here somewhere “Keep Austin Weird.”

        • Yeah…a bit ironic leaving VT and getting a lot of “you’re going to Texas?! Better buy a handgun!” comments from people who have no idea what constitutional carry is.

          I lived my whole life in Burlington with the exception of living in downtown Montpelier for the last 3 years…nobody really cares, it seems. I openly carried a large hunting knife every day in town and only once had somebody ask about it, only to say it was a “sweet knife.” I’m fairly certain that one could open carry and it wouldn’t be an issue. The only people I’ve ever heard complain are all greater-Burlington area residents.

          • Yeah, Burlap being one end of the Burlap/Montpecular “Chittenden Corridor.” Well-known for being populated by a lotta not-from-around-here types who upon arrival immediately seek to replicate the socialist enclaves from which they’ve spawned.

            We lived in Montpeculiar for fifteen years and grew to hate, loathe and despise the place; full of arrogant know-it-all “bogos-in-paradise” and replete with in-crowds and cliques.

            We now live among regular people in Saint Albans and what a difference.

      • I’ve spent a lot of vacation time in Vermont, enjoying the scenery, the pleasant people, and the liberty of Constitutional carry. Most of my time has been spent around Weston/Londonderry and very little in cities. I’ve been in Rutland a few times, but only spent a few hours in Burlington.
        In my admittedly limited experience, I’ve never observed anyone open carrying. I’ve never seen a “No Guns” sign posted anyplace either. Are such things rare in Vermont, or have I been in the wrong part of the state?

        • The only OC up here that I know of is second-hand and was fairly recently when some bozos were walking around in Burlington and put the anti’s there into an uproar and if anything, to make their little point, just caused more heartburn for the rest of us. Idiots. Yes, they have that right, but why exercise it in a city full of libtards and peeps not-from-around-here?

          Most folks here use common sense, especially outside the Chittenden Corridor and the college towns.

        • Thanks for the info. I only carry concealed, so it looks like I won’t have any trouble anyplace in the state. It would seem that the “No Guns” signs only go up when OC pushes too hard. What storeowners (and their customers) don’t know about concealed carriers won’t hurt them.

  2. The link in the article to “Licensed carry bill” is not to a licensed-carry bill. It is to a constitutional carry bill that, by its terms, would do away with the necessity of a license to carry a handgun. Is that the proposal that Mr Paulsen intended to link to?

  3. This maroon is a “flag” politician. His unwavering positions unwaver in whatever direction the flag is blowing today…. Yeesh…..

    • At least he wavers on the side of his constituents rather than keeping up the song-and-dance until next election.

      And yes, I’m getting ready to eat my plate of crow.

  4. It would be nice to be able to open carry a pistol when I get back to Texas. There are places I like to hike where I would rather have it out in the open than uncomfortably sweating all over it under my clothes.

  5. It’s good to see that the blowback from the ill-advised open carry lobbying effort earlier in the month was tempered

    Is there clear evidence that it was some sort of blowback? I’d like to see that evidence. Hell, absent any evidence, it could’ve just been politicians looking for any way to weasel out of doing the right thing.

    So, is there any evidence or is that speculation presented as mater of fact?

      • That’s not evidence that it actually changed votes. It sounds like theater and politics to me but that’s as much speculation as calling it blowback. Perhaps someone can poll those who were going to vote yes and then decided no (without, of course, suggesting the answer to them ahead of time). For all we know, the messenger could’ve been full of it with the “not enough votes” declaration in the first place. 😉

        • I think they voted for the panic button, no?
          And the vote for OC hasnt been held yet, ya?

          So I am not sure what you are disputing.

        • My comments are in plain English written on your screen. Feigning ignorance of what I wrote isn’t a challenge to it. I won’t waste anymore of my time pointing out what is in plain sight. IMHO, the buttons were political theater; an example of never letting a “crisis” go to waste. Sure, it might fool some of the gullible into blaming their own…

    • A comment in the other story (the one where he said he didn’t think the votes was there and OC was back-burnered) had a link to a Houston Chronicle article about him recanting…and in THAT article, he said the news media misrepresented his comments.

      Here’s the paragraph:

      “Despite Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith and other reporters repeatedly asking Patrick whether he supported open carry, it was nearly 36 hours before he clarified his initial remarks. Late Wednesday, Patrick blamed the media for misinterpreting his comments, saying news outlets used what he said to build “wedges between conservatives.””

      Seems he is all over the map or the news media (multiple outlets) are way misrepresenting things. I could believe both are simultaneously true.

    • @John in Ohio, I believe that there was no blowback — just anti-OC blowhards blowing smoke up our @sses.

      • I agree 100%, Ralph.

        Here’s something I tried to post two times earlier today and my comments are not showing up.

        From the Houston Chronicle:

        “Despite Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith and other reporters repeatedly asking Patrick whether he supported open carry, it was nearly 36 hours before he clarified his initial remarks. Late Wednesday, Patrick blamed the media for misinterpreting his comments, saying news outlets used what he said to build “wedges between conservatives.”

        Who knows what is really true at this point (why his remarks changed), but I’ll bet the anti-OC bunch will lose spare no effort to emotionally bleat their unsubstantiated opinions as “known fact.”

      • (Second attempt at this comment, so paraphrasing)

        Agree 100%.

        I have tried three times now to post a direct quote from the Houston Chronicle article wherein Patrick says the media misrepresented his initial comment.

        If that’s true, his “reversal” was not based on any blow back as he did not really “reverse.”

  6. I think it was a brilliant PR move by the poly-tick. Raised a little “Ima skeert” message, and now he gets to say “Me listened! Me be brave!”.

    • Except that according to him, that’s not what happened. It has been published in at least one paper (the Houston Chronicle) that the media misrepresented his initial remarks, and did so to divide conservatives.

      That could mean a lot of different things, but it is possible that he never actually said what started this whole mess.

      • Kentucky is a commonwealth and it is a state. 😉
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Kentucky

        Of course, the term doesn’t mean a whole lot:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_%28U.S._state%29

        But yeah, it’s a state. As you know, the United States isn’t supposed to be a pure democracy. Hence, my comment was in reference to this quote by Drew Springer: (emphasis added)

        “Immediately I thought just the opposite — we need to show support for him, that we aren’t going to let people threaten us,” he said. “We’re not going to let people, in some cases from out of state, threaten us physically and try to get their way. That’s just not the way democracy works. It’s not the way Texas works.”

        If he would’ve been quoted as saying “democratic process” then I wouldn’t have commented. If Texas is a pure democracy then they have bigger fish to fry than OC or not.

  8. The phone calls, e-mails, faxes, and snail mail works when they get buried by it. Just keep up the pressure and maybe WE behind enemy lines on the coast could do the same and things may improve.

  10. As long as the Bill that finally gets to the Texas Governor’s Desk is for “unlicensed” Open Carry, I wish all Freedom-Loving Texans all the best and hope it gets passed and signed into Law.

    • The bill that was linked to in the article does away with the need for a license altogether, open or concealed. It makes it an offense to be in possession of a handgun if you are in the process of committing another crime though. I expect the CHLs are a nice cash cow for Texas DPS, I expect them to oppose any unlicensed constitutional carry bill. Be nice if we get one tho.

      • Yeah. I picked-up on there being some confusion about the Bill referenced in Johannes’ Article. Thanks for clarifying. Much appreciated and I hope you get what you wish.

        • That would be your government doing you a good turn, helping you evade other states’ infringements.

        • It cuts out almost all the hassle when buying a gun too. I’ve had harried gun sellers almost weep with relief when I told them I had a CHL.

        • Don’t forget it allows you to bypass the line for the metal detector at the Capitol, too! Boy, I love that. I gotta get downtown and try that, it’s so hard to believe!

      • Robert, I wouldn’t bet on individual officers caring where the bucks come from, and I suspect most would actually support constitutional carry, since they are more interested/informed about guns than the average citizen. But I’ve been wrong before. Once or maybe twice.

        • Oh, I expect the rank-and-file will not be the problem. It’s the DPS leadership that is interested in the dollar derby. I know that in regard to the driver’s license suspension system, DPS as an entity swings enormous clout. I suspect it does on other issues too.

      • CHL is a cash flow issue for DPS and OC with CHL is in their best interest, particularly when one of the items on the table is to end diversions from Fund 6 (Gas Tax) to DPS, in order to fund road infrastructure.

  11. Just a reminder. The LT Gov wasnt influenced by the tweaker-temper OCTards.
    He was influenced by principled voters, calling to give him their feedback.

    “Politicians are rational, calculating creatures by their very nature, though, …”
    Of course, thats how politics works- so get on with it, and work the system, grass-roots up, POTG.

    Thats what worked for CCW movement, and it took 30 years, and still not quite done.

    Or sit on the porch and b1tch from your anonymous name post of know-it-all impotent rage.

    Git up on the porch if you cant run with the big dogs… my favorite southern-ism…

    PS: nice article Johannes, you are banging it out lately, thank you for your fine work.

    • He may attempt to run the clock out but Greg Abbott has something to say about that as well. The governor can call special sessions and extend the clock as long and as many times as needed to get laws passed as well as call those bills to his desk to sign. This was done a couple of years ago when Dewhurst let Wendy Davis filibuster the clock running out over her abortion bill, didn’t work for her as Perry called in two special sessions.

      The reason I believe this can happen is because Abbott is not happy with Patrick’s little trick and set up a petition that you can sign on line to let congress know how many Texans want open carry. Just do a search for “Greg Abbott petitions” and it will pop right up. First name, last name, zip code and email then hit submit and your done. I did, wife did, the whole flam damly did as well as all my friends. And they are spreading the word. If you live in Texas, sign it and hit submit, spread the word and let’s flood his in box.

      • I’m not sure folks appreciate the fact that a lot gun owners who support Open Carry it is not because we want to parade in public with a holstered handgun on our hip. It’s because we want the right to not get busted for inadvertent display of a concealed handgun.
        Not only is Texas very hot in the summer, it is also can be very windy any time of the year. A sufficient cover garment can be defeated by a gust of wind any time of the year. Personally if non-gun owners can’t figure out that someone with a holstered hand gun displayed, is no more of a thereat to them than law enforcement officers, it should not be my problem. I just don’t want to be treated like a dirty old man flashing Mr. Happy! You can not and should not try to legislate for ignorance, or downright anti 2nd amendment. Therefore for Texas residents who do support the Bill of Rights here is the link to the Abbot’s petition; http://www.gregabbott.com/?source=form-opencarry

        • This

          I’m not partial to open carry, but I would like it for two reasons.

          It should be a choice.

          And like you said, I have been in situations where my jacket has been blown up by a sudden gust of wind. It can be awkward depending on who’s around to say the least.

        • TX Gungal, it is not against the law to inadvertently display.

          Section 46.035, (1) (a) A license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a handgun on or about the license holder’s person under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and intentionally displays the handgun in plain view of another person in a public place.

  13. IAB2 said: “Just a reminder. The LT Gov wasnt influenced by the tweaker-temper OCTards.
    He was influenced by principled voters, calling to give him their feedback. “

    Yeah, whatever you say. Of course it’s true. So many believe it.

    Keep in mind that in another newspaper article (The Houston Chronicle), Patrick said the newsmedia misrepresented his initial comments.

    If that’s true, he wasn’t influenced by principled voters calling to give him feedback because he was already “on board.”

    Who knows what the truth actually is at this point. Everyone is talking around everyone else, Patrick contradicts himself and different news outlets report different versions of the story.

    But hey, blame the OC activists for everything, even kidnapping the Lindberg baby, at this point will be sure to clear things up.

  15. a CCW is just a note from the politicians ALLOWING you to have a PRIVILEGE to carry a gun……after fees are paid to them….Citizens in both ‘ Republics ‘ Texas and the USofA… need not to have to ask PERMISSION to exercise a RIGHT…….but we have allowed politicians to redefine our Constitutions, to our enslavement….as we see on a daily basis….imho

    • Aye! I argued against concealed carry licensing laws from the 1990s. Of course, mine was a minority dissent and Ohio enacted such legislation effective in 2005. Accepting a privilege in place of a right has allowed an industry and mindset to take hold in Ohio. This has split the force of gun owners here when it comes to the restoration of our actual right to bear arms. State and industry don’t want to lose the revenue stream. There are those who don’t want to lose the “special” status they erroneously perceive the license confers upon them. And, there are those who are horrified at the idea of people concealing their firearms without the training/vetting that a licensing system supposes to offer (even though myself and many I’ve known carried concealed all of those years before any licensing law was in place AND open carry requires no training or vetting).

      IMHO, licensing the right to bear arms is a deal with the Devil. In the long run it is a bad bargain for individual Liberty.

      • I tend to agree with your sentiments in general and here as well.

        Something interesting popped into my head as I read and pondered your comments. I can picture a state full of “nervous Nellies” who would not initially agree to constitutional carry but would reluctantly agree to licensed carry for the supposed benefits of the training and vetting as you wisely pointed out. Now fast forward 20 years of utterly uneventful licensed carry — no “Wild West shootouts”, no “blood running in the streets”, no shootouts over parking spaces, etc. etc. etc. Would many of those “nervous Nellies” finally see that people who want to be armed in public are incredibly responsible by nature and no licensing is required?

        • Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out like that in Ohio. For generations we’ve carried our sidearms concealed even though we could’ve openly done so all along. My great grandfathers, grandfathers, and those of my friends all concealed an EDC. My friends and I also carried the same way. I never had nor had my friends ever expressed a negative interaction with peace officers regarding our concealed handguns. It seemed like that the State was primarily interested in charging people with carrying a concealed weapon while committing a serious crime. Prior to 2005, every time my pockets were turned out during a stop (always when they were actively pursuing a suspected felon in the area), I was allowed to retrieve my handgun along with my other property at the end of the stop. I never once had an officer question the fact that I was armed. I’ve gotten more hassle about my sidearm since 2005 than I ever did before. IMHO, what happened to Ohio was an out-of-sight-out-of mind situation. Before 2005, many Ohioans simply didn’t realize how many of us were already carrying. If they did then they would’ve realized all that was necessary was to strike one line from the Ohio Revised Code. Instead, we got licensing law and many of us chose to open carry a lot more after that. (Indeed, open carry walks were used to frighten the legislators into passing concealed handgun legislation!) Now, there are many people providing training and accouterments for licensed concealed carry. There’s also a PAC/organization (primarily of attorneys) that deals primarily with concealed carry in Ohio. They were primarily responsible for getting concealed handgun licensing law enacted. We had to drag them, kicking and screaming, towards support for open carry (even though they used open carry walks to pass that damned legislation). These groups have a financial stake in constitutional carry NOT becoming a reality again in Ohio. There are segments of our population that truly believe that they are somehow special because they hold a license. They have an egotistical stake in constitutional carry NOT becoming a reality again in Ohio. There are antis who have now realized that the legislature is willing to infringe upon the right to bear arms through licensing. They have plenty of ammunition and encouragement to fight against constitutional carry in Ohio. The legislature has observed that they can get away with infringing in the right to bear arms in Ohio through a licensing scheme. They aren’t inclined to give up that power easily and will resist constitutional carry becoming a reality again in Ohio. The people who were oblivious to the fact that Ohioans were carrying before licensing law and children growing up only knowing licensing law as reality will not understand how someone can simply carry without a license. They will and do fear the notion of someone not having training and not having a background check. IMHO, it will be much more difficult to get constitutional carry restored in Ohio primarily because we now have a licensing system for concealed carry. I also firmly believe that the more time that passes since 2005, the greater these aforementioned factors will influence against the restoration of constitutional carry in Ohio.

        • That is an interesting situation in Ohio John. What you described was not the case in my state. Police here would almost always arrest you for carrying concealed without a license which is a felony. Now that so many people have concealed carry licenses and the general populace have seen how truly innocuous it is, some people are starting to warm up to the idea of constitutional carry.

          At any rate I understand what you are saying. It sounds to me like you are in a tough spot.

  16. Patrick referred Campus Carry to the Senate Committee for State Affairs. By virtue of the number of co-authors, and the recent removal of the 2/3rds requirement in the State Senate, It has enough votes to be brought to the floor and passed by majority. Given that a number of the co-authors also sit on the State Affairs Committee, it’s likely to clear the Senate. It has strong support in the House, but Speaker Strauss isn’t expected to announce committee assignments until next week, and the majority required is greater.

    OC with CHL and Consitutional Carry would appear to have stronger support in the House based on the number of bills filed and co-authors than in the Senate. And as mentioned in a previous thread, a number of the OC/CC proponents were also on the wrong side of the vote to unseat Strauss.

    If the vote were today, I’d say Campus Carry will go to the Senate floor and pass. I’d give it 50/50 of making it to the floor in the House. Primarily because Admiral McRaven, Chancellor of the UT System has come out against it.

    If OC/CC were to go to vote today. I’d say it would pass the Senate floor vote because Patrick is compelled to push it now, but not make it in the House. It would be close, but pretty much all of the Dems will vote in bloc against. Strauss didn’t paint himself into a corner like Patrick did, so he’s not feeling the same pressure.

    By the time it gets to committee, the full on anti movement will have rolled into town. Ordinarily, I’d say that OC/CC would be better on the floor sooner in the House, but it hasn’t gotten off to a banner start, so it’ll be interesting as the session proceeds. The committee membership slate in the House will give a little better idea of Strauss’s thoughts on the subject.

    • Yep. Although I’m for OC, campus carry has been my priority for YEARS. Last time it passed the House easily but was filibustered in the Senate. It looks as if it’ll pass in the senate this time.

      The universities always whine about it, saying campus carry will produce the bloodbaths in TX that haven’t happened in other states with campus carry. The schools don’t care about the students and staff, especially the females. I’ve come to hate the academic world.

      • “I’ve come to hate the academic world.”

        Me, too. That’s why I left it.

        As individuals, there are some good people in academia. I’ll admit that. But…collectively, as a group, they are completely insulated and divorced from reality.

        The collective stance on Campus Carry is but one of many, many illustrative examples.

  17. I don’t care who they are or what their politics are, never count on Texas politicians to do anything simply because they should. Texas politicians only do things because the HAVE to.

  18. And here come the “moderates” to dutifully chastise the “asshats and extremists” who “immodestly open carried their phones” in front of the office holders.

    • By the People not fully supporting, without further qualifiers, the individual right to keep and bear arms, this is the result. The ability to exercise individual rights is stolen from individuals and it is a damned difficult fight to restore that ability. The longer citizens of any state delay in restoring their ability to exercise their rights, the harder it will be to do so at a later time. The longer a thief has your television set in his living room and possesses it openly, the less likely others will believe you when you tell them it is yours. Heaven forbid you should demand your property back. Onlookers will proclaim… “But, but, but you CAN’T do that!” Same shit. Government infringes and the masses come to believe that government can rightfully do so. The People must demand what is theirs immediately; without delay. IMHO, they create a sort of estoppel in the mind of government and everyday citizens when they don’t demand that which is their own in a timely fashion. Infringement has been allowed to continue for far too long. Perhaps more people ought to be getting pissed off about it. I guarantee that the ability to exercise the right to keep and bear arms would be restored right away *if* enough people got pissed off enough to demand it with zeal.

      I hope readers will notice that what happened in that office reflects the fact that some Texans are pissed off because their right to bear arms has been denied them. Something of theirs was stolen and one of the thieves was standing directly before them refusing to give back what was rightfully theirs! Think about that… They offered a way for their property to be returned to them and the thief refused. How would any of you feel? Do you not see that government hasn’t the privilege, the authority to infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms as it does today? If a right was a tangible object that any of you could hold in your hand, see, and touch; wouldn’t you be angry if someone stole that from you and refused, face-to-face to return it when it was in his hand?

      • This is a good rebuttal to Mr. Dan Baum’s article from a few days ago. Mr. Baum asked how we can exemplify moral leadership to secure our right to keep and bear arms. His commentary centered on winning the hearts and minds of people who do not support our rights through extreme efforts to make those people FEEL good about us exercising our rights.

        What he and others fail to understand is how totally abhorrent the current situation is. I would go beyond your analogy of government telling us to build a consensus before they will graciously return our property that they stole from us. Rather, the picture is government gang raping us over and over and telling us they will not stop their gang rape unless we can build a consensus. That should help people to understand why we are seriously pi$$ed off.

        • You’re right. It’s more like a raping. We are told it wouldn’t happen if we didn’t dress a certain way or act a certain way. The fact is we are being raped and we are rightly pissed off about it. Righteous indignation.

    • You can thank the “misguided” who chose to take long guns, so called assault rifles into public places, just because. not to educate the public. Want to get your point across? Do what Open Carry Texas did this past Monday, strap an empty holster on your hip. It’s not going to intimidate, it’s also legal. The curious will ask why “the empty holster” then you can educate about proposed legislation and support passing it. That would have gone a long way to taking the wind out of sails of MDA ladies, the 911 calls, involvement of police, the whole inflammatory mess. Not many people grew up in rural communities where you can not pass a livestock auction parking where you could not swing a dead cat without hitting a pick up truck without a gun rack mounted in back wind shield with one or more long guns in it.
      Empty holsters are not as attention getting as toting long guns, but in my opinion, lot more effective.

    • Lots of paranoia and butt hurt going on there…

      I guess all these people figure if you can’t see the gun it must not be there.

    • “You guys should read all the Austin statists in a frenzy in the Texas Tribune comments section.”

      Suddenly, I felt as though I’d returned to . . . 1972 or so. It was a little nostalgic reading all the ever-so-smug comments from the Austin cosmopolites. It also reminded me of the truth in the meaning of Secondary Ignorance. When you don’t know that you don’t know, any meaningful change or even marginal improvement is impossible. Happily, they’re all doing their part to keep Austin weird.

  20. With Open Catry Tarrant County storming legislative offices armed and threatening state congressional representatives it’s a wonder there is any support left in Austin for any pro firearm bill. I’d be curious to know how much money OCTC accepted from Bloomberg and his bilk to provide the media show and following Facebook page proving “all” the pro gun supporters are “irresponsible crazy thugs” that can not be trusted with a firearm at any time. If that was their intent they were successful. Those bills that were sure to pass will now be tabled for a couple sessions, waiting for the furor to die down before they resurface on the floor for reconsideration. No bill will be successful unless Kory Watkins and his band of mental midgets keep their heads low and mouths shut instead of their self aggrandizing tactics that have served the pro gun cause so well.

  21. Still, it shouldn’t have required a phone-in campaign in the first place.

    How do you know? How do you know, for example, that the leadership wouldn’t have tried to find some other excuse or scapegoat to try to kill the legislation?

    A Republican, Drew Springer of Muenster, was behind the gesture. He said he came up with the idea after Nevárez joked that he should hand out “I’m Not Poncho” stickers to fellow lawmakers so that they would not be targets.

    “Immediately I thought just the opposite — we need to show support for him, that we aren’t going to let people threaten us,” he said.

    Drew Springer sounds like a RINO – like the Texas state house “reach across the aisle” version of John McCain.

    “We’re not going to let people, in some cases from out of state, threaten us physically and try to get their way. That’s just not the way democracy works. It’s not the way Texas works.”

    Am I the only one who sees the irony of a writer from out of state going all Concern Troll over the antics of OCTC, that may or may not have had any real influence on how events are playing out?

    • You are wrong on Springer. He’s pro gun and has sponsored at least four pro gun bills to ease restrictions on carrying and licensing. HBs 284,308, 554 and 695.

      Springer’s made a smart move, rallying around a threatened member while maintaining his stance on firearms. He recognizes the political reality and the need to play it cool for OC as well as his own bills to see light of day.

      There are a number of experts on Texas politics from out of state it seems.

      • You are wrong on Springer.

        I hope so, and I’ll be happy if I’m proven wrong. But that “panic button” stunt (that morphed out of a potential “I’m Poncho” sticker stunt) comes across as awfully squishy.

        • The panic button was brought to you by the Dems who OCTC played right into. Even bothering with Nevarez was pointless. The R’s have a super majority and the D’s that are in place in both houses are there because they are in solid blue districts that are not in any danger of flipping. The issue at play is a power struggle between R factions and The OC guys need to realize that success is going to hinge less on the merits of OC and more on the factions playing nice. To honest, the trying to unseat Straus may have done more damage than panic buttons or poncho.

  22. Thus, in the minds of the Texas Legislature: it is perfectly okay for them to tell peons — under threat of violence — what rights the peons may exercise and how the peons may exercise them. But Heaven forbid if the peons demand (with apparently veiled threats of violence) that the Legislature respect their rights.

    It sounds to me like the Texas Legislature and their enforcers have forgotten that the roll of government is to serve We the People, not the other way around.

    • Spot on. Tyrannical government relies on a near complete monopoly of coercive power through threat of violence. Without that monopoly, government cannot become tyrannical.

      A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

  23. Open carry or not, it is difficult to get cities like Houston to allow citizens to exercise their rights. HPD and Harris County Sheriffs will hassle people regardless of the law figuring people can just sort it out in court. Or they’ll make it seem like the person exercising their rights was misbehaving and acting violent. It’s like you need to also wear a camera on your person out here.

    • When open carry in Texas passes, keep exercising the right… excessively if necessary. Bring suit wherever necessary. Fight every criminal charge. Eventually, the local and state government will get the message. We had to do just that in Ohio. And yes, body cameras and try to buddy up. When an agent of government infringes, swarm with media coverage, correspondence, protests, and attorneys. It won’t take long for them to leave y’all alone.

  24. In Wisconsin we have Licensed Concealed Carry
    and no licence OC.
    But… with no CCW licence, you are not exempt from the 1,000 foot rule for schools, making open carry a potential mine field.
    My yard was acrossed the street from a school athletic field. Without my CCW, I could be in my yard but the street right of way is six feet into my yard, boom.
    BTW
    Little help from you Texans.
    I’m comming down to Big Bend in March, I am getting conflicting logic for the Nat Park.
    It states you can carry but follow the state laws.
    No OC handgun in TX so do I have to CC in Big Bend or can I do either?

    • KCK,

      Currently, Texas will prosecute you for carrying a handgun openly. Thus, if you carry a handgun openly in Big Bend National Park, there is a very good chance that someone will try to prosecute you.

      Until Texas passes an open carry law (or a court of appropriate jurisdiction overturns Texas’ law which criminalizes open carry), I would discourage you from carrying an openly visible handgun in Texas, including Big Bend National Park.

      Note: Texas law graciously allows residents to carry a long gun openly if it is unloaded and you are not, in the opinion of local police, carrying the rifle in a manner calculated to alarm the public. As you might imagine, many local police departments consider any act of carrying a rifle openly to be in a manner calculated to alarm the public. I would skip openly carrying a long gun as well.

      • Texas law does not address rifles, meaning you can carry one openly whether it is loaded or not. If you are acting threateningly in the eyes of LE, you can be in trouble whether you have a gun, a knife, or nothing.

  25. When are folks going to learn that politicians have their own agenda and pretty much do or say anything to get in office.

      • …and, inexplicably, haha, manage somehow to enrich themselves, their progeny and cronies while ensconced in said office. Gee, how does that work, one wonders? Yet nobody seems to ever cotton onto this little truth. We keep showing up, albeit in decreasing numbers, at the polls, after sucking down whatever rubbish the media spew out to us about this or that candidate, and pulling the levers or marking the ballots or hanging the chads or whatever, thus validating their continued depredations and our ongoing loss of liberty and acquisition of serfdom.

        • A great number close their eyes to the truth and stick their fingers in their ears. Otherwise, they would have some really difficult choices to make and the hard work would begin. It’s easier for them to deny that the emperor has no clothes.

  26. Mentioned on another forum.
    Google Greg Abbott petition and fill out the petition form support For OC.
    Snap. Just that easy.

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