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Keeping in mind that I have no insight into what is going on behind the scene, I am beginning to wonder if the hallmark bill for us this session is going to be shorter initial class and maybe no renewal class. I cannot see OC going anywhere and campus carry does not look real good from what I read yesterday. I sure hope I am wrong about campus carry, open carry and carry anywhere (HB3218) and something is going on behind the scenes.I know we have the best point man (Mr. Cotton) that we could have and he cannot let us know whats working up there right now.

I'm taking it on faith that since we've not had any calls to action on those bills, there is still progress being made behind the scenes.

3218 is, for me, the clear priority.

Mine to Roy.

Unless there are truly heavy behind the scenes activity in progress, it appears that HB700 is in critical condition. I am awaiting the call to action on 3218 - it appears it might be our last best hope of any substantial improvement this session. :- /

I'm taking the half full - completely empty approach. Based on the budget battle in the session, I expect time to expire on all pro-gun related bills. For me, no news is bad news.

I know that Charles and others are working tirelessly to advance a pro-gun agenda. I just think that the cards are stacked against them and that Speaker Strauss has no intention of letting pro-gun bills pass. That would be a slap in the face to the Washington crowd right now and I don't think that Strauss is willing to do that.

I do not know how all the Senate/House stuff works but isn't it possible that Gov Perry could help get some of the gun bills pushed a little so they don't just sit on Strauss's desk? He is the boss isn't he.

I emailed Perry and asked him to do just that.

I emailed Perry just now.

ALCSTUDIOS wrote:I do not know how all the Senate/House stuff works but isn't it possible that Gov Perry could help get some of the gun bills pushed a little so they don't just sit on Strauss's desk? He is the boss isn't he.

Good luck with that.

Sounds like we need to get rid of this Strauss guy.

chasfm11 wrote: Speaker Strauss has no intention of letting pro-gun bills pass. That would be a slap in the face to the Washington crowd right now and I don't think that Strauss is willing to do that.

If true, he needs to go. It is rediculous for a Republican congress in a solidly conservative state to not pass pro gun legislation (or anything else for that matter concerning Texas) because of what some jerks up in DC are up to.

74novaman wrote:

chasfm11 wrote: Speaker Strauss has no intention of letting pro-gun bills pass. That would be a slap in the face to the Washington crowd right now and I don't think that Strauss is willing to do that.

If true, he needs to go. It is rediculous for a Republican congress in a solidly conservative state to not pass pro gun legislation (or anything else for that matter concerning Texas) because of what some jerks up in DC are up to.

We tried. I belong to a group that block walked against him in his District - to no avail. He is a very powerful man in a very powerful position with a lot of powerful friends. You will have better luck unseating Pelosi or Feinstein in their State.

Speaker Strauss remains in power because of a coalition of Democrats who couple with a few "Republicans" who are virtually assured of re-election. We did manage to replace one or two of them last year but it wasn't enough to shake his power base. Potential opponents to his rule are severely punished. In the end, there is no one to vote for but him.

74novaman wrote:

chasfm11 wrote: Speaker Strauss has no intention of letting pro-gun bills pass. That would be a slap in the face to the Washington crowd right now and I don't think that Strauss is willing to do that.

If true, he needs to go. It is rediculous for a Republican congress in a solidly conservative state to not pass pro gun legislation (or anything else for that matter concerning Texas) because of what some jerks up in DC are up to.

Do you have any evidence that this has anything to do with what is going on in D.C?

I don't know if you followed the Texas Legislature in '09 or '11, but the story was pretty much the same back then. If memory serves me, the Texas Legislature has passed only one significant gun rights bill since 2007. The Texas legislative process is structured so that bills are easier to kill than to pass. That is especially true of highly controversial bills. The people who are surprised that campus carry and open carry aren't passing effortlessly through the Texas Capitol are the people who don't know anything about the Texas legislative process. They're assuming--as do many people--that majority support equals victory. Unfortunately, that's frequently not the case.

Douva wrote:

74novaman wrote:

chasfm11 wrote: Speaker Strauss has no intention of letting pro-gun bills pass. That would be a slap in the face to the Washington crowd right now and I don't think that Strauss is willing to do that.

If true, he needs to go. It is rediculous for a Republican congress in a solidly conservative state to not pass pro gun legislation (or anything else for that matter concerning Texas) because of what some jerks up in DC are up to.

Do you have any evidence that this has anything to do with what is going on in D.C?

I don't know if you followed the Texas Legislature in '09 or '11, but the story was pretty much the same back then. If memory serves me, the Texas Legislature has passed only one significant gun rights bill since 2007. The Texas legislative process is structured so that bills are easier to kill than to pass. That is especially true of highly controversial bills. The people who are surprised that campus carry and open carry aren't passing effortlessly through the Texas Capitol are the people who don't know anything about the Texas legislative process. They're assuming--as do many people--that majority support equals victory. Unfortunately, that's frequently not the case.

I have no evidence whatever. I don't think his motives will ever rise to the "evidence" level on anything that he opposes. I'm just doing my best to read the tea leaves.

Last session, a TSA bill was also defeated that would have been an "in your face" to the Federal government. While I know that there were others involved in that defeat, Strauss was an opponent. It had nothing to do with guns.

That is as close to "connect the dots" as I can get.

chasfm11 wrote:

Douva wrote:

74novaman wrote:

chasfm11 wrote: Speaker Strauss has no intention of letting pro-gun bills pass. That would be a slap in the face to the Washington crowd right now and I don't think that Strauss is willing to do that.

If true, he needs to go. It is rediculous for a Republican congress in a solidly conservative state to not pass pro gun legislation (or anything else for that matter concerning Texas) because of what some jerks up in DC are up to.

Do you have any evidence that this has anything to do with what is going on in D.C?

I don't know if you followed the Texas Legislature in '09 or '11, but the story was pretty much the same back then. If memory serves me, the Texas Legislature has passed only one significant gun rights bill since 2007. The Texas legislative process is structured so that bills are easier to kill than to pass. That is especially true of highly controversial bills. The people who are surprised that campus carry and open carry aren't passing effortlessly through the Texas Capitol are the people who don't know anything about the Texas legislative process. They're assuming--as do many people--that majority support equals victory. Unfortunately, that's frequently not the case.

I have no evidence whatever. I don't think his motives will ever rise to the "evidence" level on anything that he opposes. I'm just doing my best to read the tea leaves.

Last session, a TSA bill was also defeated that would have been an "in your face" to the Federal government. While I know that there were others involved in that defeat, Strauss was an opponent. It had nothing to do with guns.

That is as close to "connect the dots" as I can get.

If you see any dots in that statement, you may need to clean your glasses.

Speaker Straus is a problem, but suggesting that he's taking orders from Washington or trying to enforce President Obama's gun control agenda diverts attention away from the real problem and into the realm of conspiracy theories.