What I am about to post is probably a waste of time since the vast majority of folks on TexasCHLforum already know this and the open-carry folks in the bomb-throwing category aren't going to believe it anyway. (They need an excuse for their own failure.) But here it is anyway.
First, as to HB2756:
- Neither NRA, TSRA, nor I had anything to do with writing or amending HB2756;
Rep. Lavender provided a copy of the Bill to Alice shortly before filing and she sent it to me;
The only input from "us" was that the Bill was very long and opened up numerous critical sections of the Gov't Code and Penal Code to anti-gun amendments;
Neither the NRA, TSRA, nor I have done one single thing to oppose the Bill, either formally or informally;
Anyone who says any of the above statements are untrue is lying.
jescd1 has clearly implied that NRA or TSRA or a combination of us have somehow been involved in transforming the original so-called constitutional carry bill drafted by an as yet unidentified person (MR Redneck claims to have drafted the bill.) into the current HB2756. He goes on to say the original bill was amended to make it easier to oppose. That too is false.
To even make such an absurd statement shows that 1) Rep. Lavender never told him that; and 2) he doesn't know how the legislative process works. When someone or some organization drafts a bill and gives it to a prospective sponsor, the Senator or Representative almost always gives the bill to attorneys working for the State Legislature to rewrite. These people are called Legislative Counsel. When they are finished, the bill is given back to the author and he can request changes. Many, though not all, of our bills go through the same process. The implication that Rep. Lavender would take a constituent's bill and give it to someone other than Leg. Counsel for final drafting is ridiculous.
Last session, the battle cry of the bomb-throwers was that the NRA and TSRA killed open-carry behind the scenes and prevented Rep. Riddle from filing an open-carry bill. That was a lie. She never said she'd file a bill, she only said she would "pull a draft" meaning Leg. Counsel would draft a proposed bill. This year, they need a new excuse so apparently the new diversion is that HB2756 was really written by "us." What a load of garbage. I'm more than a little tired of the NRA and TSRA being used as a scapegoat for incompetence and inexperience.
As a practical matter, having NRA or TSRA promote open-carry would certainly increase the chances of it passing. It certainly would be far better for CHL's if we handle it since we could make sure that TPC §30.06 remains unchanged, or the bill will be killed. In my view, changing TPC §30.06 to cover open-carry is a deal-breaker. By the time the 2013 legislative session begins, we will have around 650,000 CHL's if the current growth rate continues. I will never put them at risk for a handful of people who will actually carry openly.
So the question becomes, "when will NRA or TSRA take on open-carry?" As I have explained in numerous posts, we work on a two year cycle. When a session ends, we begin work on the next session. Sometimes we begin work on the next session before the current session ends! I've also explained that having more than one or two "flagship bills" that are high profile and emotionally charged is a mistake. There simply aren't enough hours in the day for us or elected officials to do everything necessary to pass such bills. Few people know the amount of work/hours that goes into passing any bill, much less a bill that generates a lot of emotional and irrational opposition. Even fewer people know that the sponsors of such bills have to work just as hard, if they truly want to bill to pass. It's easy to file a bill for someone or some organization, then do absolutely nothing to get it passed. We have passed a lot of high profile, emotionally charged bills in recent sessions and parking lot and campus-carry certainly fall into that category. If parking lots passes and campus-carry doesn't (no, I'm not saying it won't, I'm giving an example), then we're down to one high-profile bill for 2013 giving us room for one more. There are several other things we want to do that won't draw the media coverage we see for these two bills, so those can be filed along with one or two "flagship" bills.
The Texas Firearms Coalition educational series will include speaking engagements and materials designed to educate people on the great track record established by CHL's and how this experience points to very successful open-carry in Texas. This will lay the ground work for passage of open-carry and it will go a long way to help prevent or at least minimize a backlash against citizens carrying defensive handguns, whether openly or concealed. I want to point out that promoting open-carry will not be a high priority activity with TFC; our mission and strategic plan is far broader.
Does all this mean that NRA or TSRA will promote open-carry in 2013? No, it doesn't, but I can say that it will be considered. Nothing has changed in terms of demand from members to actively support open-carry; very few have contacted us to support it. However, as Steveincowtown said, it appears that others are going to push the issue, so perhaps we will have to take on the project. It appears that some people want open-carry badly enough to bring bills that can harm the gun rights of hundreds of thousands of Texas CHL's, not counting visitors to our State, so that fact has to be considered when setting our legislative agenda.
So when the bomb-throwers start spouting off about horses' mouths and make blatantly false insinuations (all anonymously I might add), please consider the source and years of failures from their camp. The NRA and TSRA have a great record of success and it's because we know how and when to present issues to the legislature. Patience is rarely fun or exciting, but it's often crucial to seeing a Governor sign your bill into law.
Chas.
