dan patrick

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said on Tuesday that a bill to legalize the open carry of handguns in the Lone Star State was not likely to pass in the state legislature, reports the Austin American Statesman. “Second Amendment rights are very important, but open carry has not reached the level of being prioritized at this point,” Patrick said during a Texas Tribune event Tuesday morning. “I don’t think there’s support in the Legislature to pass it.” If Patrick’s assessment is true . . .

Texans will have to wait longer to enjoy the same kind of freedom to openly carry a handgun currently enjoyed by residents of states such as Vermont, Arizona or Pennsylvania.

Patrick didn’t mention the recent spate of protests led by open carry activists in Austin. However, it would amaze me no end if this didn’t play a role in the lack of support. Earlier in January, protestors rallied to support a bill introduced by State Rep. Jonathan Strickland. Those legislator visits features a meeting with anti-civil rights legislator Poncho Nevárez, who apparently asked them to leave his office “after they grew increasingly confrontational when he said he was not supporting the bill.”

CJ Grisham, the founder of Open Carry Texas, as quoted in the Texas Tribune said that he was disappointed in the performance of the protesters:

“I just can’t believe the utter lack of professionalism, tact and, really, common courtesy that I saw today,” Grisham said. “It was intimidation, it was talking down, it was speaking over, it was childishness, and it did absolutely zero to even engage in conversation.”

I believe this is what is referred to as an “unforced error.”

There are times in politics when it’s a good idea to dig in and force a fight, consequences be damned. Particularly when basic civil rights are at stake. When you’re on the cusp of a win, however, it’s usually better to follow the advice of my dearly departed mother, a Texas native herself, who counseled that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.

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119 COMMENTS

    • Nope, once again the ass clowning snapped defeat from what was a certain victory. That’s right boys, dig out the ARs, cell phones, and march on down to the capitol to have another well covered profanity laced screaming loon fest. It’s worked wonders so far, just go for broke now. Who knows, you might even get CCW outlawed.

      O..C..T, everbody O..C..T repeat after me O..C..T.

      • First of all, do you understand that there’s several open carry groups in Texas? ALL OF THEM have been creating as much distance as possible from the nuts in Dallas/Fort Worth. OCT is the largest one, and does not pull the stunts these morons do.

        Second, you ~do~ understand that the reason we walk with rifles is because they are legal to OC, yet handguns aren’t, right? Did you also know that this push for OC has been going on for several sessions (sessions are every other year in Texas), and that us carrying rifles has finally gotten it to the point of actually likely to happen?

        • Yes, Dale. We POTG get that carrying a long rifle is a statement of protest about not being able to carry a handgun.

          But you need to remind yourself, and everyone else in your group, that you arent selling this idea to gun folk. You are selling it to people in the middle, many of whom know nothing about guns.

          Carrying an open holster, or one with a banana- that is another story that speaks to whats missing, and sparks the question, that you can then answer, calmly, in an educational way, HAVING MADE THE CONNECTION.

          But let me say it in very clear terms. CARRYING A FIREARM IN A THREATENING WAY- and for many people, that includes a long gun in a public place thats not on the way to hunting, or the range, just doesnt make sense…instead, it triggers an emotion of FEAR… and that is NOT how you start a conversation.

          When you walk into the chambers and jump up and down in cammies and get your picture taken holding your AR in low ready, you look like a wannabe Rambo tweaker looking for his next hit.

          Now, let the flamers and trolls insult me as a statist, fudd, slave – yeah, yeah, yeah. Heres the deal:

          I’m with Jerry Miculek who said it much nicer, with the NRA which said it more politer, with many long time gun bloggers and CCW advocates, who have tried to explain it patiently, and the other adults in Texas, who are doing it the right way, in carefully managed groups with advance notice to the PD, and with friendly press notified ahead of time so they CAN GET THE POSITIVE MESSAGE OUT,

          instead of being USED by the GUN-GRABBERS.

        • “Carrying an open holster, or one with a banana- that is another story that speaks to whats missing,”

          Yeah, how’d that work out for getting the right message to the “middle grounders” when the photo run in the paper was from a different protest? (HINT: The press lied and ran with the story they wanted to tell anyway, just like that did last year with the Chipotle story).

          STOP LETTING THE OTHER SIDE SET THE NARRATIVE. Stop letting them set the rules of what is acceptable or not.

          OC a rifle if you WANT to; no one should care. That anyone DOES care is exactly the problem. That so many supposed pro-gun folks care what others do, in the absence of specific threatening actions comes under that same problematic umbrella.

        • IAB2,
          I am a chapter organizer for OCT, in San Angelo, TX. If you’ve noticed, we do wear empty holsters, sometimes with a paper cut out of a gun, or a banana. Also, we HAVE NOT taken rifles into the state house. That was not in Texas. Please get your facts and states straight. Third, we normally DO contact local PDs and let them know we will be out and about. Mainly the first several times we do a walk. We will even ask for a meeting with the chief, or other representative(s), before we do a walk. Especially in a city that hasn’t had one yet. I have been a part of those, and 90% of the time this is very productive. We offer suggestions for training 911 operators/dispatchers and officers, we go over ID laws in Texas, and a basic rundown of what we’ve found that works and what doesn’t. These talks have led to local PDs having our (organizers) cell numbers and have called us about somebody carrying a rifle in an unsafe manner, while on a walk. Usually we catch it before they do, but when it’s a large group it’s hard to keep an eye on everybody. Each walk is preceded by a safety briefing, in which all chambers are cleared, slings are checked, safe carry positions are covered, and muzzle discipline is hammered. The first several walks we did in San Angelo, a patrol car drove by a couple times to check on us, and that was it. Now, they don’t even come by.

      • Hey I have some advice for you, stop blaming the victims and start blaming the carpet bagging piece of filth pictured above!

        I am sick to death of weak “men” whom seem to have issues defining themselves telling me and others that “we make YOU look bad”. How about you find your own voice, and if some asshole has trouble telling two adults and their respective lives apart they probably aren’t worth dealing with in the first place.

        I am me, you are you, what I say and do has no bearing on what you say and do. This is not hard to understand, but I guess it’s always easier to go after someone who isn’t the big scary government. We’ve become like a bunch of crabs in a barrel, with brothers in arms like these who needs Bloomberg…

        I’m not even in Texas for the record, and I do not support that circus last week, but what those guys did has no effect on me and my rights (no matter what Chris Matthews says). It’s the same thing the straw man Chipolte OC picture did, it was so obviously staged yet it got gun owners at each others throats for months all over a perceived loss of “credibility” (as if we had any with the control freaks to begin with). Don’t you have bigger fish than one another to fry?

        • Hear, Hear, by god!
          Cudos for the courage to speak out the truth. Even in the 2A group there are far too many weak people always looking to blame “someone”(anyone!) for the troubles that they perceive they are having in life. Its just the victim mentality that has been instilled by everything from parents to public skools(if that’s how they want to say it, that’s how I’m going to spell it) to govt officials.

    • This is all old, like 2 news cycles behind. Dan has backpedaled like crazy after getting a ton of phone calls yesterday and today says the senate can focus on open carry. Campus carry has gone to committee and HB 910 (licensed open carry) already has 40 coauthors.

      http://tinyurl.com/n5lu6yx

    • Please leave Lt. Governor Patrick a message at 512-463-0001. INSIST he give his full support to S.B. 342, the Constitutional Carry bill.

      You can leave him a message at 512-463-0001 or email his staff at [email protected].

  2. Funny thing is, the state republican party convention put open carry at the top of the list for legislative items. That tells me it’s a pretty big deal to the people, since they’re the ones that put it on the agenda, not the politicians. This guy is exactly what many of us knew he was. Certainly not a “conservative” tea party guy, like he claims.

    • To be fair, he isn’t saying it shouldn’t be passed or shouldn’t happen, he is just saying he doesn’t think the votes are there.

      Imagine if I ran for Congress and when asked supported removing the 1986 freeze on machine guns. To later report that there is not enough votes is not a betrayal, it is a statement of facts.

      But maybe you know something about him not in this article?

      • He may be right, the votes may not be there. BUT, he controls the Senate’s agenda, and can easily put it on the agenda and have a vote on it. A vote on Constitutional Carry is all we want. We (the citizens of Texas) can handle it after that. If it passes, great. If it doesn’t, those who voted against it get removed, through either scandal or votes. If it doesn’t come up for a vote, we will take it as a no vote, and his bankrupt (both morally and financially) suicide-watch self will be yanked from office.

        • Well, Dale, thats how it works in politics. If you want to get the vote, you float the idea, call around and see who is voting which way, make some deals, apply some pressure, offer some support in campaign funds, etc etc.

          Its what they call the “cloak room”. If you take something to a vote, and it fails, then next time its harder to get to a vote. Unless you have the support.

          So no matter what you think of the Lt Gov, he is sending you a message. Whether you want to pay attention, and maybe even think about doing something different, is up to you.

          I thought open carry jhandgun in TX was a slam dunk.
          Until the Open Carry Tarrant Turd-balls blew it all up.
          Yall in all your “other” Texas groups maybe need to make a trip down there and talk to them boys…

          I’m starting to believe what some say- those YouTubing Porkpie Hat wearing, foul-mouth, racist dip$hits must HAVE to be left wing trolls- no one could be THAT stupid.

          They couldnt have done a better job of spoiling all your careful work, AND embarrassing the Governor for his statement of support, if they were taking orders from Bloomberg himself….hey, you know what they say…money talks.

        • IAB2,
          I didn’t realize it was so tough to follow the Constitution. ha And we’re fully aware of how the process works.

          As far as the message he’s sending; it’s one of backpedaling, protecting bad republican senators, and that he’s lacking a spine. All we want is a vote on it. We can’t move forward or replace folks without it. Collectively, we have been in Austin meeting with elected officials every day since the session began. Usually in large groups, with the main groups (not tarrant county) coordinating so somebody is there everyday.

          He already pulled back on the statement this article referenced, and that’s just after one day. He’s getting a lot of pressure from some republican senators to not let it come up for a vote. We can’t figure out who for sure though, as most assure us they’ll wholeheartedly support it. Therefore, we need a vote to flush out the liars. If he doesn’t let it come up for a vote, then it’ll be him that’s the obstacle, and therefore the problem.

      • Patrick is a con man who filed bankruptcy, changed his name, and when became flush decided that even though it was the moral thing to do to pay his debts, as he put it, “there was no legal requirement” to do so.

        As was already said, he should put it up for a vote so we can replace those that vote against it.

        But we are getting what we voted for- and suddenly I miss Dewhurst.

  3. Lack of support or is he looking to not sign the bill himself? I feel for Texas folk. Election time is a long ways away.

    • He’s the LT. Governor–he doesn’t sign bills. But the Lt. Gov in Texas pretty much controls the flow of the legislature–so a more valid question would be, “no support or does he just not want to try at the moment?”.

      • My bad, just seen Governor didn’t pay attention to the Lt. part. But kind of Ironic after the Democratic challenger came out and said she was pretending to be open carry to get votes.

        • Well Jeff, the issue’s a sure winner there, regardless of party. Now, why would politicians and party elites twist arms to address an issue when they can recycle it next election? More money and more power from more suckers, of course.

        • Robert, trust me I’ve been through this rhetorical merry-go-round with political fanboys and hacks since forever, and you’re guaranteed to be wasting your time.

          As long as the elites have plausible deniability, swaddled from accountability, they will do whatever they damn well want, and the elites in Texas do not want further advancement on civilian armament.

  4. Republican governor who said he’d sign an open carry bill and a near 2:1 ration of R to D in both the state senate and state house. How could there be not enough votes? There are even blue dog democrats who will be sure to jump on the bandwagon. Let’s wait and see what happens. This is only one man speaking.

    • As noted above, the Lt. Gov in Texas is a very powerful office in regard to the Legislature. So it’s a bit more than “one man’s opinion”. But I’m still willing to take a “wait and see” stance at this point.

      • So, let me get this straight.

        The Lt. Gov. controls what is done in the legislature? An Executive Branch official has control over even what the Legislature considers for vote?

        Said another way…one man has that much power in the Texas Legislature?

        • Its sort of like the VP being both president of the senate and majority leader at the same time. Texas has a weak governor system.

        • “Its sort of like the VP being both president of the senate and majority leader at the same time. Texas has a weak governor system.”

          Except the VP does not control what is done in the Senate to this degree. He casts tie-breaking votes and oversees rules and procedural stuff, but he doesn’t really control the flow of proposed legislation.

          One might say his power in the Senate is “checked.”

        • The system was changed, after reconstruction, to take power away from the northern appointed governors. Been in place ever since. The governor in Texas is a figurehead with a bully pulpit, more or less.

        • I’m not asking about the Governor. I’m asking about the State Senate and State House.

          The Lt. Gov. literally controls what does and does not happen in the legislature? One man controls what bills are debated and voted upon with no other recourse within either legislative body?

          That’s my question.

        • “Except the VP does not control what is done in the Senate to this degree.”

          That’s why I also said combined with the majority leader. He has the equivalent of Harry Reid’s old job, controlling what bills the President (Governor) doesn’t see by not putting them on the voting agenda. I thought it was clear.

    • “Let’s wait and see what happens.”

      That’s the gut feeling I’m getting on this.

      Give it a while and let the memory of those OC jerks fade a bit.

      Make no mistake, those jackholes were the problem. Nice going, fellas.

  5. LOL, stupid OC activists. They got what they deserve after their recent stunt in the Statehouse. Honestly, after that event, I don’t even trust them with a shoestring… much less a firearm.

    • OC Tarrant County is not an open carry or gun rights group. They are a confrontational cop watch group that got kicked out of OCT for behaviors that they’ve continued to do. I seriously think they are MDA fifth columnists because the alternative that they are this stupid is mind boggling.

  7. Anyone who thinks R’s are better than D’s is kidding themselves. Like the saying goes..”if a pols lips are moving they’re lying”.

  8. Not a hard concept to understand. No one, no government, no commercial enterprise can deny lawful self protection in private or in public. To restrict the most cost-effective tool to protect oneself or family is unconscionable, immoral and continues to provide opportunity for criminals to harm law abiding citizens.

  9. I hope there is a vote so the public can see who supports what, rather than a backroom deal to just let the measure die quietly.

    But it wouldn’t really surprise me. The best face for gun rights is the working mom who defends herself and her kids from an attacker… not attention-seekers trying to show off their hardware in public.

  10. Like Boehner rolling over.

    Like Perry only talking about securing the border.

    Don’t expect anything out of these politicians except flip flop and double talk.

    Statists gotta State.

  11. Brash activists are not sufficient legal or moral justification for not restoring a portion of a Constitutional Right. The legislators who vote against it, or keep it in committee, need to explain their actions (transparency in government, much?) and justify themselves by demonstrating how it would be a ‘bad thing’, in the face of the 44 states where it is currently legal and not a problem.

    Or, they can find new jobs.

    • They may not have any legitimate justification, but politicians are vindictive by nature, so I’m not surprised.

  12. This is just Patrick, himself a former institutionalized mental patient on suicide watch, making up excuses. He doesn’t trust himself with a firearm, so he wants to deny the rest of us our rights.

    The proof? He’s talking in terms of “priorities” and his own estimate of support. He has absolute authority to put this to a vote. There’s no cost to vote. The bills are already written. There’s no extensive marking up or rewriting required. Just put it up for a vote. It takes no time to see who supports it and will go on record. If there’s no support, then it will be that much quicker for the bill to fail. What are they afraid of?

    This is all about this psycho’s personal views, not the will of the people. Flood this guy’s phones and email with your objections.

  13. Anyone who actually believes that OC activists tanked this potential reform are definitely smoking something from South of the Border. More than 30 states have legal OC — but not Texas. Why? For the same reason that gun control was enacted in the first place.

    Figure it out.

    • When in doubt, claim racism. That’s a great way to take the spotlight off the actions of a handful of goofs doing really really really really really really dumb and harmful stunts.

      Also, it’s a known fact that Mexicans prefer knives.

      • This here Mexican goes by an adage of my old Kenpo master, “Smith and Wesson beats a sidekick.” Though I will admit a certain fondness for my swords and my Ontario Marine is high on the list for close in work.

      • When in doubt, claim racism.

        Except there is no doubt. Gun control in Texas is fear of illegals. If you don’t see it, you’re blind. End of discussion.

        • I’m from Texas, but I don’t think I’ve ever thought of that angle. Makes sense though.

        • I’ve tried to explain that very thing to people.

          A lot of the reasons things happen the way they do in Texas are due to illegals.

        • It also goes back to Jim Crow laws. Keeping the former slaves disarmed. So yes, it is in fact based on racism. Let the democrats squirm with that one.

    • “Anyone who actually believes that OC activists tanked this potential reform are definitely smoking something from South of the Border. More than 30 states have legal OC — but not Texas. Why? For the same reason that gun control was enacted in the first place. ”

      Sorry, but this is Texas. When you invade someone’s office, crap on their desk (figuratively speaking), are loud and threatening to them and their office staff, and generally act like blithering fools in public (are you listening Tarrant Co. OC?) it tends to royally piss people off. After these recent antics at the state capital, nobody was going to vote for open carry.

      It didn’t have to be that way. Once upon a time the libtards wanted to enforce mandatory helmets for motorcycle riders. Bikers from across the state organized, charmed the pants off the Texas legislature, and soundly defeated mandatory helmet laws. Today, in Texas helmet wearing is optional and likely to stay that way.

        • OK Ralph, you’ve made a bunch of blanket statements about what’s going on here, with absolutely no backing except your own bombast. And now you are trying to shut down discussion with “End of Discussion.”

          Tyrant, much?

          Back up what you are saying, or maybe YOU should shut the f*** up.

        • It would seem to me that Ralph is backing up his assertions with the same amount of evidence with which those who are asserting that open carry is dead in the legislature are backing up that assertion. So, from where I’m sitting, he’s on equal footing.

        • Dead? Yes. I agree. It’s not dead. It’s just in worse shape than it would have been without the incident in the legislator’s office. And my evidence for that is the original post.

          Ralph, again, has made no statement to back up his contention that OC’s troubles NOW are due to anti immigrant fear (it matters little why the law was passed in the first place, it matters what is preventing it from being repealed now). Not only has he provided no such evidence, he is himself bullying people on the issue, in addition to merely asserting without evidence. He’s worse than the opponents.

          OC may be rescued, it may go on to pass (in fact the last indication I got is much more positive thanks to phone calls, etc.) Even if it goes on to make a full recovery, that doesn’t mean it didn’t have a bad case of the ‘flu earlier this week.

      • Seriously, what I take away from your comment is that you Texans must beg your betters for scraps from their table if you want anything. I can’t judge y’all on that because I don’t live there but that sounds like an inversion (and perversion) of the flow of power.

  14. Remember the rule in politics: nothing is true until it is publicly denied.
    Then you know it’s true. So the support IS there, this is just a last ditch attempt to derail the support and get their own way. Whether or not that will work remains to be seen.

  15. Guess Dan Patrick’s balls are deflated.
    Let’s have a state referendum and see where the votes are.
    Next election I know where my vote wont be!

  17. First of all, anyone who doesn’t think the Strickland incident didn’t lose some important votes needs to check the mushrooms on their salads.

    Second, it’s irritating to see some people blaming OCT. They are responsible here and have been standing up against this kind of stuff for some time. Grisham is smart enough to read the tea leaves and adapt.

    Finally, if you look at this from a politcs standpoint – which you should – this statement is the Lt. Gov. trying to get the votes back to pass this thing. His message isn’t to go home and wait until next election. It’s certainly not a message to hang him out to dry. It is a loud hint to call your representatives and put pressure on them to pass this thing!

    He’s telling you to get on the phones and raise H-E-double hockey sticks.

    • It’s not OC Texas, it’s the OC Tarrant County ninjas. Grisham publicly repudiated those guys. Now he’s doing damage control. You’re right, phone calls will definitely help. OC in Texas isn’t dead regardless of what Dan Patrick says. He is, after all, a politician. People Of The Gun have to seize the moment. Call your state senator and representative! If bikers can turn around a repressive helmet law, we can win on constitutional carry!

      • The fact remains that there are many on “our side” that lump all OC activists in Texas together…just like the anti’s lump together everyone with a hand on a gun as a bad guy.

        • The fact remains that there are many on “our side” that lump all OC activists in Texas together

          And there are many who seem unwilling to admit even that some small number of them are dipshits.

        • “And there are many who seem unwilling to admit even that some small number of them are dipshits.”

          And, there are some that continue to believe the narrative as told in the MSM as gospel truth, regardless of later evidence surfacing that the meme that has been created is patently false.

          If you are asking “Does JR agree with going into offices and harassing people,” my answer is “No, I do not.”

          But, as was pointed out in the other story, that is a separate issue from OC (rifle or otherwise), and that action should be judged on its own merits. It has nothing to do with OC, OC activism, etc. It has to do with being a dipsh1t.

          I keep coming back to the story from last year where the OC activist was going door-to-door handing out fliers announcing an event. I was quite intrigued by the number of people here that said they’d shoot him in the yard just for having a gun visible.

          My argument then was “The gun is not a problem…threat assessment is a thing.”

          So, let’s apply that same thing here. Going into any place of business and acting like a jerk is douchy behavior (and may well elevate to illegal, depending on the degree of jerkiness)…no matter the place of business and no matter if that person happens to be OC-ing or happens to be an OC activist.

          The problem lies with allowing “them” (some on our side, by the way) painting with a broad brush and ALLOWING OC itself to be tarnished by such douchy behavior.

          If someone acts like a jerk, call them out for acting like a jerk, but all this “you are giving us a bad name” stuff is just defeatist from the get-go because you’ve already conceded that the GUN is what matters, not the behavior separate from it.

        • But, as was pointed out in the other story, that is a separate issue from OC (rifle or otherwise), and that action should be judged on its own merits. It has nothing to do with OC, OC activism, etc. It has to do with being a dipsh1t.

          You know this. I know this. The central problem, and the actual point here, is that many of the politicians “lobbied” in such a manner, don’t know that and don’t care. 2A rights are not the most important issue to them and they may have been willing to vote the right way if only to go along with the flow, but now some jerk started harassing one of their number. There will be a tendency to stand up to the bully and not give him what he wants.

          So the bully has, in addition to the wrongfulness of the bullying, also harmed the cause. Not because there’s any rational reason to judge the worthiness of the cause by the actions of the idiot, but because he’s dealing with (another) irrational person who has a vote and is now motivated to not give in to bullying tactics.

          I can’t agree with you that the fact that a gun was worn during the incident is completely irrelevant. Under normal circumstances, carrying a gun is non-threatening (and I agree with you in condemning those whose reaction to OC leafletting was as you describe). This was not a normal circumstance; this was a hostile-acting individual wearing a gun. If a gun doesn’t legitimately increase the perception of danger in that case, then it surely cannot increase the perception of danger to a bad guy trying to pick out a target, either, and can’t be of deterrent value. You can’t have it both ways.

          To be sure the gun isn’t itself the threat, but a threatening or even a belligerent man with a gun is more threatening than an identical man without one. You can think of a gun as a multiplier: zero threat without one, just handing out leaflets, will still be zero threat with one (zero times anything is still zero), but any non-zero threat is magnified if the threat is armed vs. not-armed. (And likewise if you consider the armed person to be on the good guys’ side, his benefit increases with a gun. I’d rather the friends I am with be armed with reliable, fully-loaded weapons, than not. The bad guy, I hope, is carrying a cheap piece of trash on the verge of irreparable failure, with squib, or better yet, no ammo.)

          (As an aside, the hoplophobe’s fundamental error is not in regarding a gun as a factor, but rather thinking of the gun as additive, not a multiplier, and deciding “gun + zero-threat-person = non-zero-threat” when changing that plus sign to a multiplication sign would give the correct answer. Or straining it further, the hoplophobe mistakes a linear system for a non-linear one.)

        • “The fact remains that there are many on “our side” that lump all OC activists in Texas together…just like the anti’s lump together everyone with a hand on a gun as a bad guy.”

          It helps to avoid the cognitive dissonance invoked from the realization that the politicians you voted for were about as worthless as the ones you voted against.

    • Well, that certainly is casting the Lt. Governor’s statement in a positive light. Calling, e-mailing, and sending letters to your elected politicians is always a good thing.

      • Not a matter of optimism as much as an understanding of politics. But you’ve got it. That was the political way of warning voters to get calling.

        • I’m not doubting your assessment but an honest man, politician or not, would just say something like that outright. If the right to keep and bear arms is as important to him as he seems to want people to believe then he ought to simply say what he means. A simple, “If you want it passed, make your opinions known… let your voices be heard.” There is no way that could be politically damaging to him.

          • Which is why I didn’t go into politics or law. Even tough it disgusts me, I’ve found I’m far too good at that game. It’s too seductiive and I value my self respect more.

        • If the outcome is already decided by powerful insiders, then all the phone calls and emails in the world won’t make a damn bit of difference.

    • First of all, anyone who doesn’t think the Strickland incident didn’t lose some important votes needs to check the mushrooms on their salads.

      If some votes allegedly changed because of the “Strickland incident”, then those votes are what are referred to in the software industry as vaporware: rumored to exist, discussed as if they exist, but never actually seen in the wild.

  18. You can catch the Rev, on U tube Rock on…very entertaining shotgun videos . And he jigglesLOL

  19. None of the bills in the Texas House will be debated on the floor. RINO Joe Strauss will see to that. We had a chance to defeat him. Didn’t happen. He campaigned against and voted against CHL. No way is he going to allow any of these bills to the floor. Open or Constitutional carry is dead. Get used to it guys.

  20. “Saying that Second Amendment rights are very important is important to us politicians, actually supporting them is not.”

    Fixed that misquote.

    As for:

    ““It was intimidation, it was talking down, it was speaking over”

    Did this guy forget that WE THE PEOPLE are a politicians boss and not their subordinates? If that’s the only way to get politicians to actually respect the rights and opinions of their bosses (the people), then that’s what you need to do.

  21. I hear his point but he’s still wrong. The fear of lawful people must be eroded, this crap must be put to bed. A firearm should pose no more concern than a laptop or purse. It would make more sense to fear backpacks considering what one could stow.

  22. One aggressive and in-your-face constituent does not derail an entire bill. For all we know that constituent was a gun grabber, posing as an angry firearms owner, to tarnish the image of open carry proponents.

    I think something else is going on here.

    • Agreed. There is no way that issue was as strong as purported mid-year last year and was killed this easily…if, in fact, it really is “dead” (or at least comatose).

      Not sure what I think about this ‘statement.’

      Question: Does Texas have a referendum process? Could the voters force the issue regardless what any one, or group of, pols thinks about it being considered?

  23. I believe this is what is referred to as an “unforced error.”

    More serious than that, more of an “own goal”

  24. How does that go again? Discretion is the better part of valor…or politics.

    If we are going to continue to suggest we have the high road, we should probably act it as well. We can’t continually lambast leftist groups who show up for a protest, act like like children or even uncivilized swine and then, act out in ways that are clearly meant to intimidate, ourselves.

    It sounds like the LT Gov and probably larger numbers of the Legislature are prepared to pass the thing but I can understand some of the weaker “supporters” getting a little weak in the knees if that march was anything like I am imagining it was…

  25. I don’t think the Lt. Governor has a clue what’s going on, which is typical for politicians at all levels.

    It’ll pass this year. You can bank on that.

  27. I just got done reading that a bill for Campus Carry on Texas Universities was filed, and was likely to pass because of the 3/5th’s rule change for the Texas Senate. I have a sneaking suspicion that Open Carry and Campus Carry, while having the popular support, were never actually going to be passed by our politicians.

  28. Neoncons gonna con. When and if Texas does get open carry of handguns it will be heavily restricted.

  29. If OC passes I don’t want to listen to that obnoxiouscarry group from Tarrant claim they alone made it happen. I ponder if they will OC for awhile until the novelty wears off. Maybe they will concentrate more on being poodles chasing parked police cars with their precious pistolas.
    (Hold up you weapon) and say out loud. “This is my weapon (now grab yourself at crouch) this is my gun. This is for fighting (show weapon) this ( squeeze and pull on pud) is for fun”
    You vets all know this one. Sorry had a flash back….

    • Hey OC Tarrant county. You’d get more OC passing votes if you do that “this is my weapons this is my gun” thing naked through Capital.
      What a bunch of weenies you are. Whoops I did not mean to leave out the taco lip flash bangers with y’all.

  30. Unsurprising. A reasonable person would expect that employing bullying tactics will harden your opponent’s resolve just as strongly as your opponent’s bullying hardens your resolve. And unfortunately for the majority of reasonable open carry activists, it only takes a handful of bullies to harden the resolve of the handful of politicians you need on your side. Getting the handful of problematic bullies on your side of the issue act right or go away is probably the hardest part of this battle… you can at least vote a problematic politician out of office. You can’t vote a problematic activist off of your side of the issue.

  31. All right O.C.T. get ready to mobilize. You need to notify every scumbag politician (sorry for the redundancy) who claimed to support open carry while campaigning, that you’re ready to start with recall petitions, the second they fail to deliver on their promise.

  32. Did Bloomberg or something covert infiltrate that Tarrant open carry group? I see tactics counter productive to thier own cause. Since they don’t listen to reason and give the legit calmer side of OCT a bad rap can only seem to indicate an agenda to disrupt, cause desention by using the cause to fight the cause. Something appears rotten down there. We are very familiar with Bloomberg up here and see how he’s using 50 mil to his gun control agenda in every town.

  33. Patrick didn’t mention the recent spate of protests led by open carry activists in Austin. However, it would amaze me no end if this didn’t play a role in the lack of support.

    An unsupported speculation. What was the vote count before the opening day of the session? What was the vote count after?

    When you’re on the cusp of a win, however…

    Where is the evidence that Texans were on the “cusp of a win”?

    I would counter that, if the votes aren’t there now, then they weren’t there then, and the powers-that-be, who have at best been brought kicking and screaming to support the issue, found a convenient scapegoat for dropping the issue.

    The republicans control the legislature. If they wanted to force the issue, then they could – with or without the opening-day activities. They’re choosing not to.

  34. Pardon me if I don’t believe Mr. Patrick. Put it up for a vote and see what happens. Saying there is not enough support sounds like a dodge – like some people don’t want to be put in the political position of having to take a side in this issue.

  35. The Tarrant group rebels and the likes should be the ones to be suppressed and recalled so to speak. Im positive lawmaker phones and inboxes are clogged with citizens contacting them to not pass OC due to the outlandish displays making the population fearful. Citizens whom are concerned and contacting their congressman are the majority and OCT and such in the minority. The public has the power to sway political agendas even if that elected person campaigned different. For the People.
    To be continued next session 2017…..

  36. Technically you could OC in PA (there aren’t laws against it, at least not statewide) but I wouldn’t recommend it. You will get harassed in certain areas by Johnny Law and hoplophobic citizens.

  37. How much time remains for the legislature to change its mind and do the right thing?

    And was Gov. Abbott’s, “I will sign an open carry bill if it reaches my desk”, a vote-getter that was never meant to actually take place?

  39. I have also received notification regarding the report that calls and e-mails have been so overwhelming that DP has shut down his phone and email account. Now take that for what it’s worth, because the source also gave an additional e-mail address. I am leery about posting it should this “source” is let’s just say not what or who they are cracked up to be. My two cents is here in Texas we need constitutional carry. If all the politicians give me is open carry for CHL, I’ll be quite unhappy, but would be glad to get it as a first step. Plan your battles well, but plan the way to win the war strategy even better.

    • That’s about half the phone melt-down needed. Y’all need to shut down the phone lines and swamp the email of your state reps, as well. We’ve had problems like this coming out of Chicago over here in Illinois with both gun control and homeschooling in the last couple years. They’ll try and waffle or slip something dangerous through.

      You have to be smart enough to read the hints from the people in the process. Politics is dirty. Sometimes you can’t say what is obvious. You put out a call for help and you give the opposition the excuse to ignore the “planted” calls – at least that’s the justification next election. Especially if that opposition is of the same party. Likewise, for those who don’t think a couple nutjobs can lose what would have otherwise been a majority, you need to look around at plenty of surrounding states.

      You’re spot on correct, TexSavage about taking as much as a victory as you can one step at a time. But you shouldn’t have to settle for less of a victory than needed.

      Too many people think that their job ends with the voting booth. Wrong! Sending them to the state capitol or DC is where your job begins. If they don’t hear from you, they’re going to hear from someone else who doesn’t have your best interest in mind.

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