Today at 6 PM was the grand opening for the new Bass Pro Shop in Round Rock. People who have shopped there assure me that this is a Really Big Deal.
At first glance the gun prices don’t look great to me, but maybe I can pick up some decent cargo shorts…
Senate Bill 11, the campus carry bill sponsored by Sen. Brian Birdwell, has passed the Texas House. It had already passed the Senate earlier, so now it’s headed to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, who has promised to sign it. The only downside is that it doesn’t take effect until August 1, 2016.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Abbott signs both the campus carry and open carry bills today.
Open Carry has passed both the House and Senate. It’s now headed to the desk of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has said he’ll sign it.
“House Bill 910 [warning: 46 page PDF] from state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, would allow license-holders to carry handguns openly in a hip or shoulder holster, changing current law requiring that such weapons be concealed.” The “cop stop” amendment has evidently been stripped from the final bill.
Former New York Governor George Pataki has launched his Republican presidential bid, because why the hell not? The answer to a question no one asked, Pataki fills a much-needed void in the field. Evidently he didn’t want Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina hogging the Jon Huntsman Memorial Campaign Futility trophy without a fight.
Pataki was a moderately successful New York governor, especially when compared to governors whose names end in “-omo”. But the Republican Party base is suspicious of northern establishment moderates even in the best of times, and Pataki’s position on gun control alone is enough to disqualify him from winning the Presidential nomination.
In 2012 there were enough GOP candidates to field a baseball team. In 2016 it looks like there will be enough to fill both sides of a football team…
There are at least two bills establishing sales tax holidays for firearms, hunting supplies (“ammunition, archery equipment, hunting blinds and stands, hunting decoys, firearm cleaning supplies, gun cases and gun safes, hunting optics, and hunting safety equipment”) and emergency preparation supplies working their way through the Texas legislature.
House Bill 849 is the NRA-blessed bill that “establishes two state sales tax-free holidays for Texas sportsmen during the last weekend in August and October, before dove and deer seasons, respectively.”
SB 904 would create a similar sales tax holiday in April on all the following items:
(1) a portable generator used to provide light or communications or to preserve perishable food in the event of a power outage, the sales price of which is less than $3,000;
(2) an item listed in this subdivision, the sales price of which is less than $300:
(A) a storm protection device manufactured, rated, and marketed specifically to prevent damage to a glazed or non-glazed opening during a storm; or
(B) an emergency or rescue ladder; or
(3) an item listed in this subdivision, the sales price of which is less than $75:
(A) a reusable or artificial ice product;
(B) a portable, self-powered light source;
(C) a gasoline or diesel fuel container;
(D) a AAA cell, AA cell, C cell, D cell, 6 volt, or 9 volt battery, or a package containing more than one battery, other than an automobile or boat battery;
(E) a nonelectric cooler or ice chest for food storage;
(F) a tarpaulin or other flexible waterproof sheeting;
(G) a ground anchor system or tie-down kit;
(H) a mobile telephone battery or battery charger;
(I) a portable self-powered radio, including a two-way radio or weatherband radio;
(J) a fire extinguisher, smoke detector, or carbon monoxide detector;
(K) a hatchet or axe;
(L) a self-contained first aid kit; or
(M) a nonelectric can opener.
I reached out to Paul Martin, my CHL instructor and a guy who teaches an emergency preparation class every year, who’s been tracking the legislation closely, and he offered the following explanation of the various bills:
SB 904 would make certain disaster supplies eligible for purchase sales tax-free during the last full weekend in April. The bill was not amended in the Senate, so if it passes cleanly in the house, it will be ready to go to the Governor for his signature. Three other states currently have emergency supplies sales tax holiday weekends. Until this year, Florida had one as well, but I don’t believe their legislature reauthorized it for this year.
SB 228 is the identical Senate version of HB 849. These bills would create a sales tax holiday weekend for firearms and hunting supplies. In the bill, “hunting supplies” is defined as ammunition, archery equipment, hunting blinds and stands, hunting decoys, firearm cleaning supplies, gun cases and gun safes, hunting optics, and hunting safety equipment. Both SB 228 and HB 849 have been passed by the respective houses. I’ve not done the deep drill down to see if they are identical now, as both were amended during the process. If they are identical now, the bill can be presented for Gov. Abbott’s signature. If they aren’t, they will be sent to a conference committee to work out the details and then re-presented to both houses for a final vote. Louisiana has a firearms and hunting supplies sales tax-free weekend; there was anecdotal evidence provided during the Senate proceedings that Texans were going to Louisiana to take advantage of their sales tax holiday weekend.
For a basis of comparison, the Senate voted out on third reading SB 228 creating a sales tax holiday weekend for hunting supplies. The bill passed on a 21-10 vote. The fiscal note on that bill shows a negative impact of 11.1M in the next two years, and 35M through 2020. When we say “negative impact,” we are saying that it will result in a loss of tax revenue to the state. SB 904 has a 2.25M negative impact through 2017, and 6M over the next 5 years.
Both bills seem to enjoy broad support, so you might want to start drawing up your wish list…
House Bill 910, which gives Texas Concealed Handgun License holders the right to open carry, has passed the Texas House. Since the Senate has already passed a version, and Governor Greg Abbott has promised to sign the bill, its all over but the gun grabbers shouting about how it will result in a state-wide bloodbath.
You know, just like happened after concealed carry passed.
Texas State Rep. Jason Villalba, ostensibly a Republican, seems to be going out of his way to alienate actual Republican voters.
First he was among the (sadly many) Republican Representatives to vote to reelect Joe Straus Speaker, then got caught praising Straus’ progressive agenda.
Next came Villalba’s introduction of H.B. 2918, which attacks the rights of photographers, bloggers and CHL holders under the guise of protecting police from being assaulted by cameras.
Naturally, this has lead to a raft of criticism on Twitter and elsewhere. (There’s aeven a Recall Jason Villalba Facebook group. Since Texas does not have any recall election mechanism for state-level officials, I presume they mean to back a primary challenge to him in 2016.)
So what has Villalba’s reaction to this criticism been?
So go ahead and add “thin-skinned” to the list of Rep. Villalba’s flaws…
There’s been much talk about how State Rep. Jason Villalba’s House Bill 2918 criminalizes bloggers filming police officers, especially if they’re CHL holders who happen to be lawfully carrying at the time. Worse yet, it takes the “some animals are more equal than others” approach to First Amendment rights, declaring MSM employees as “real journalists” and bloggers, citizens journalists and everyone else as second class citizens.
Texas State Representative Jason Villalba (R-Texas) has found himself at the center of controversy after filing a bill that would make it a crime for bloggers and independent journalists — as well as regular citizens — to film police officers. Despite the backlash from free speech advocates, Villalba is insisting that his bill “does not infringe on constitutional rights” or “limit liberty in any way.”
The current law, Section 38.15(1) of the Texas Penal Code, makes it a crime if anyone “interrupts, disrupts, impedes, or otherwise interferes with a peace officer while the peace officer is performing a duty or exercising authority imposed or granted by law.”
The bill, HB 2918, adds to the definition of what constitutes “interfering” with an officer’s duties, and would make it a Class B Misdemeanor to film, record, photograph, or document the officer within 25 feet while that officer is performing his official duties. That distance is extended to 100 feet if the person is carrying a concealed handgun. There is an exception for news media, but the current language of the bill does not include bloggers, independent journalists, or private citizens, and it is not clear whether online media outlets would be included in the exception either.
The fact that CHL holders are statistically among the most lawful citizens, having already passed an extensive background check, seems lost on Rep. Villalba (who seems to be trying very hard to win the title of worst Republican state representative).
The bill would also prevent people from recording their own encounters with police, which adds a due process violation cherry on top of Villalba’s disdain for the first and second amendment.
However, the unconstitutional stupidity doesn’t stop there. If you read the actual text of the bill, there’s no allowance made for private property. So if I’m filing a police officer arrest someone in the street 15 feet in front of my house, Villalba’s proposed law says I’m committing a crime.
Being a police officer is a difficult and necessary job, but ordinary citizens filming them aren’t endangering their lives. Rep. Villalba seems to have no understanding that the right retained by the people themselves are part of our Constitution’s series of checks and balances.
Villalba’s bill addresses no demonstrable abuse and attempts to limit the rights of citizens for no clear gain. It’s almost certainly headed for the dustbin of legislative neglect, but one wonders why Rep. Villalba felt the need to introduce it at all…
The National Rifle Association (NRA) was instrumental in stalling the Obama Administration’s initial attempt to ban commonly used ammunition for the most popular rifle in America, the AR-15. The announcement that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) will suspend its proposed framework to ban M855 ammunition validates the NRA’s assertion that this effort was nothing more than a political maneuver to bypass Congress and impose gun control on the American people.
“Today’s announcement proves what we have said all along — this was 100% political. President Obama failed to pass gun control through Congress, so he tried to impose his political agenda through executive fiat. But every gun owner in America needs to understand Barack Obama’s hatred of the Second Amendment has not changed,” said Wayne La Pierre, Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association.
BATFE first floated the ban on February 13, and unlike Obama’s other bad executive orders, this one ran straight into the buzzsaw of an active, articulate, organized bloc of voters.
From Fast & Furious to Mayors Against Illegal Guns Moms Demand Action Everytown USA Gun Sense to the latest ammo ban, has there been a single national gun control attempt under the Obama Administration that hasn’t ended in miserable failure?
Texas Governor Greg Abbott gave his State of the State address yesterday, and there’s plenty to talk about. Some highlights:
So far it seems that Abbott is serious about governing as he campaigned…