Yeah, that's how it works.bizarrenormality wrote:Anyone who voted for a legislator in 2012 that voted for Straus as speaker for 2011 and 2013 should count themselves as part of the problem because they knew.
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Return to “Campus and Open carry could be dead”
- Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:23 pm
- Forum: Gun and/or Self-Defense Related Political Issues
- Topic: Campus and Open carry could be dead
- Replies: 43
- Views: 5580
Re: Campus and Open carry could be dead
- Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:23 pm
- Forum: Gun and/or Self-Defense Related Political Issues
- Topic: Campus and Open carry could be dead
- Replies: 43
- Views: 5580
Re: Campus and Open carry could be dead
The author of this article doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. He suggests that Speaker Straus should have sent the campus carry bill to the Republican-chaired Higher Education committee; however, the Republican who chairs the Higher Education committee is a longtime opponent of campus carry (possibly the most vocally opposed Republican in the Texas House). Although the Democratic chair of the Homeland Security & Public Safety committee has never openly supported campus carry, he is also not on the record as opposing it. Campus carry proponents might have a legitimate complaint about Speaker Straus's choice of committee chairs, but they have no legitimate complaint about which committee received the current crop of campus carry bills.
The House Homeland Security & Public Safety committee includes Rep. Allen Fletcher (the committee vice chair) and Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, both of whom filed their own campus carry bills. It also includes Rep. George Lavender, the author of the open carry bill. As far as I can tell, not one member of the House Higher Education committee has even signed on as a coauthor of a campus carry or open carry bill. Only three of the nine members of the Higher Education committee have "A" ratings from the NRA. Eight of the nine members of the Homeland Security & Public Safety committee have "A" ratings from the NRA. Clearly, the author of the original article failed to do even the most rudimentary analysis of these two committees.
Straus gave the campus carry bills to the same committee that always gets them, and they'll get a committee hearing, just like they always do. Most likely, the hearing will come later than necessary, as it usually does, and if the bills come out of the Calendars committee at all, they'll most likely come out too late to receive a floor vote (or too late to make their way to the Senate). THAT is how Straus uses his influence to kill bills, not by sending them to Democrat-chaired committees. Focusing on party affiliation demonstrates ignorance of Texas politics--gun-rights votes typically do not fall along strict party lines in the Texas Legislature.
The House Homeland Security & Public Safety committee includes Rep. Allen Fletcher (the committee vice chair) and Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, both of whom filed their own campus carry bills. It also includes Rep. George Lavender, the author of the open carry bill. As far as I can tell, not one member of the House Higher Education committee has even signed on as a coauthor of a campus carry or open carry bill. Only three of the nine members of the Higher Education committee have "A" ratings from the NRA. Eight of the nine members of the Homeland Security & Public Safety committee have "A" ratings from the NRA. Clearly, the author of the original article failed to do even the most rudimentary analysis of these two committees.
Straus gave the campus carry bills to the same committee that always gets them, and they'll get a committee hearing, just like they always do. Most likely, the hearing will come later than necessary, as it usually does, and if the bills come out of the Calendars committee at all, they'll most likely come out too late to receive a floor vote (or too late to make their way to the Senate). THAT is how Straus uses his influence to kill bills, not by sending them to Democrat-chaired committees. Focusing on party affiliation demonstrates ignorance of Texas politics--gun-rights votes typically do not fall along strict party lines in the Texas Legislature.