TexasCHLforum.com

Douva wrote:

NcongruNt wrote:I will see what I can do about writing and calling mine.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling neither Senator Kirk Watson (former Mayor of Austin) nor Representative Elliott Naishtat will respond positively.

I don't know their records well, but from what I can tell, they're both pretty liberal democrats.

Anyone know where I can find the TSRA grades for my representatives? I searched and search, to no avail.

Kirk Watson is a CHL holder and, unless my memory fails me, he has an A+ rating from the TSRA. I ran into him on a flight from D.C. to Austin last August and gave him a copy of an op-ed I wrote on the issue for The Washington Times. He was very friendly and said that he's very interested in the issue. A couple of months later, I had a 45-minute sit-down with his senior policy advisor. She seemed uncertain about how Senator Watson would approach the issue, but she was very receptive of the information we presented.

Elliott Naishtat's record on gun rights isn't great, but he did write me a lengthy personal letter (not a form letter) about why he doesn't think the bill will pass (it wasn't condescending; he simply explained the hurdles he thinks it will face). He closed by promising to read through the "SCCC Handbook." So, even though he's not exactly a champion of gun rights, the fact that he took the time to send a lengthy response to someone who's not even in his district tells me that he's at least willing to look at all sides of the issue.

I've attached the 2008 TSRA Texas House Voter Guide. Only half of the Texas Senate is up for reelection before each session (except for census years, when they're all up for reelection), so you'll have to do a Google search to find past ratings for Texas State Senators.

And seriously, folks, if you want to educate your state legislators (or local newspapers or anyone else) on the facts of the issue at hand, nothing conveys the information better than a professionally printed/bound copy of the "SCCC Handbook: Texas Edition."