HB 3639 - SB 1581

[Keith B]

I couldn't agree with you more. This election I'm not voting for ANY incumbents, just like I did last election.

That would be an overreaction, and a mistake.

There are a good five, maybe ten percent who are worth re-electing.

I beg to differ. Let's take one set of bills, the Parking Lot bills.

The House actually had 100 out of 148 Reps sign on to support HB 681 , and the Senate had 11 of 31 on SB 321. And while they may not have all signed on, the House had 117 Yeas, 29 Nays, 2 present, not voting and the Senate had 29 Yeas and 2 Nays on SB321.

And, while they maybe didn't get all of the bills though like we would liked to have seen, there is still a LARGE amount of support for pro-gun legislation in the Texas Legislature.

So,those of you who want to clean house need to think about what you might get; senators or reps who have little experience, and may say they are pro-gun, but when it comes down to crunch time, they may be easily swayed by the anti's and vote against us. I would much rather deal with someone that I know where they stand than to have to try and figure them out all over again.

The only ones I would say need to be replaced are the ones who vote against us on everything, or at least vote against the majority of our pro-gun bills.

[warhorse10_9]

Sen. Wentworth is neither. The result would have been the same if SB5 have passed with campus-carry. The core germane rule was not the problem; the problem is the House rule against two totally different subject matters in the same bill. Although some portions of campus-carry were germane, it required extensive amendments to the Penal Code as well as amendments to Chp. 411 of the Gov't Code. Folks, when the two Senators went back on their word and didn't support suspending the rules to bring up SB354, then everything thereafter was Plan B, Plan C, . . .

Then Senator Wentworth is the worst kind of cynic. He never should have amended SB 5 and SB 1581 if he KNEW they would never make it through the House. He should have admitted defeat or continued to work to get the 21 votes.

I understand you are upset with the outcome; so am I. But you don't have a clue what you are saying or what else was being attempted. It was not a dead issue when campus-carry was as added to SB5 or SB1581. An attempt was made to make it work, but it failed. This happened to us last session when Tommy Merritt was chairman of the House Public Safety Committee. We had to add things to the DPS sunset bill to get them passed.

Sen. Wentworth has been a strong supporter of gun owners and he's been a champion of campus-carry for two sessions.

Chas.

Charles, I understand that you have to work with these jerks and so you can't say anything bad about them. I can. I'm a citizen of this state, and I deserve fair and open representation. Bills should get fair and open debate on the floor of the chamber, not back room deals and secret meetings and shenanigans with rules that we the citizens are not privy to.

We elected an overwhelming number of Republicans this last election. We SHOULD have gotten our issues passed. We didn't. That says all that I need to know about politics and the legislature. It's a foul, stinking mess of stuff not worthy of a republic and it needs to be overhauled if the people are ever to have their rights restored. The people who serve in the legislature should be embarrassed to show their faces in public after participating in this farce.

I won't be following any more of this. It invokes the gag reflex. How you can stand to be intimately involved in it is beyond me.

baldeagle, I completely understand how upset you are, I am upset to. Instead of taking out your frustration on Senator Wentworth or other people who actually supported the bill the entire time. I would look at the people who didn't. It seems to me the only people to be mad at are the turncoats in the senate, as well as the House calendars committee and Speaker Straus. I am primarily mad at Speaker Straus, he chose to sustain the POO thus defeating campus carry. He chose to listen to the hoards of out of state callers rather than his own constituents. If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at him and not Senator Wentworth, he did all he could. Taking the campus carry provisions off of SB 5 was just him being reasonable, as at that point they were attached to another bill. Also, as Charles said earlier, SB5 probably would have fallen to the 2-subject rule as well.
Like I said, I too am very frustrated, but we should put blame on those who have actually done us wrong and not those who are fighting to support our rights.
Also on the issue of the 2/3 rule in the senate I ask you to remember one principle: Majority Rule, Minority Rights. Though the 2/3 rule in the senate is irritating, how would you feel if the tables were turned?

[megs]

As we say at the range, only hits count.

[Luggo1]

I understand you are upset with the outcome; so am I. But you don't have a clue what you are saying or what else was being attempted. It was not a dead issue when campus-carry was as added to SB5 or SB1581. An attempt was made to make it work, but it failed. This happened to us last session when Tommy Merritt was chairman of the House Public Safety Committee. We had to add things to the DPS sunset bill to get them passed.

Sen. Wentworth has been a strong supporter of gun owners and he's been a champion of campus-carry for two sessions.

Chas.

Just so we are clear, who are the reps or senators that are responsible for the failure? The two who lied about suspending the rules and then didn't? I'd like to know where the blame lies.

[JJVP]

Charles, I understand that you have to work with these jerks and so you can't say anything bad about them. I can. I'm a citizen of this state, and I deserve fair and open representation. Bills should get fair and open debate on the floor of the chamber, not back room deals and secret meetings and shenanigans with rules that we the citizens are not privy to.

We elected an overwhelming number of Republicans this last election. We SHOULD have gotten our issues passed. We didn't. That says all that I need to know about politics and the legislature. It's a foul, stinking mess of stuff not worthy of a republic and it needs to be overhauled if the people are ever to have their rights restored. The people who serve in the legislature should be embarrassed to show their faces in public after participating in this farce.

I won't be following any more of this. It invokes the gag reflex. How you can stand to be intimately involved in it is beyond me.

We need to send the whole lot of them to the unemployed ranks. I am getting more and more disappointed (= sick and tired) with the republican party. They talk a good talk, but when the excrement hits the fan they fold like the cheap suits they are. At least the demicrats, no matter how much you hate their views, stand by what they believe in, no matter how stupid those views might be. They hold on and push what they want, darn the torpedoes.

It is time to clean house and start over. Vote them ALL out.

[Ivan244]

I agree with the more moderate approach. We gave Lucio and Gallegos a chance and they burned us. You know the old saying, burn me once your fault burn me twice my fault. So next session we need a House speaker that makes sure we have peeps in place in the Calendar committee that will show Lucio/Gallegos the errors of their ways by blocking any and all Dem sponsored bills till Campus Carry is passed out of Calendar and put to a vote. We accepted their handshake and word and they betrayed it. Now their word and handshake is not enough.

Edit: Thanks to all the Reps and Senators who did try hard to bring campus carry to a vote and specifically to Mr. Wentworth. We need to go back to drawing board and come back with better plan and resolve to stick to it.

[hirundo82]

Rememer that 2012 is the first election after redistricing, so all the state senators will be up for reelection. Good turnout for our side could lead to a large pro-gun majority in the Senate for the next session.

[baldeagle]

Also on the issue of the 2/3 rule in the senate I ask you to remember one principle: Majority Rule, Minority Rights. Though the 2/3 rule in the senate is irritating, how would you feel if the tables were turned?

How would I feel? Like the will of the people is being upheld. I may not like it when Democrats have the majority, but they have the majority because more people voted for them than for the candidates I supported. The minority should not be able to prevent the majority from exerting its will. That's why we have elections. If you don't like what the pols are doing, you replace them. But we don't vote for an overwhelming Republican majority so that the Dems can win. That's stupid. And so is the 2/3rds rule. Whatever idiot thought it up should be taken to the woodshed along with all the idiots that go along with it. But, so long as it is the rule, then the majority should make it work FOR them and not AGAINST them. Republicans are fools and idiots who cave in to the slightest pressure from the left. Meanwhile the left shoves things like Obamacare down our throats and says, what are you gonna do about it? Even if we throw them out of office, the Republicans will be too pansy to do anything substantial to change it.

This ain't rocket science, although the boobs in the legislature would like you to think so. Am I mad? You bet I am. I've spent a lifetime watching politicians erode the freedoms that I fought for and that my cousin and others I love died for. That sticks in my craw in a way that can't be described in words. This country is going down the tubes because the people have allowed these scoundrels to play their silly games without educating them on who is SUPPOSED to be in charge of this country - WE THE PEOPLE. It's time WE THE PEOPLE stood up and said ENOUGH!!

[Jasonw560]

As soon as I hear about a viable, electable candidate, I am going to do my best to help get them elected over Lucio.

It's not just this issue. He can't get anything done. As for here (The Valley), he has done squat.

He can't get a VA hospital here, even though he promises he's trying.

He wanted to waste taxpayer money on a study of the Border wall.

He proposed a 1 cent per ounce tax on soft drinks made with high-fructose corn syrup, but not with cane sugar.

Corpus Christi calls, he comes a-running. The RGV calls, he stalls.

He's a joke. He needs to go back to his ad agency full time.

[baldeagle]

baldeagle, I completely understand how upset you are, I am upset to. Instead of taking out your frustration on Senator Wentworth or other people who actually supported the bill the entire time. I would look at the people who didn't.

Why? There will always be opposition. Supporters aren't really supporters if they can't get it done. Results are what matter, not rhetoric. And the Republicans have utterly failed at producing results. Why, then, should they get a pass?

[der Teufel]

Why? There will always be opposition. Supporters aren't really supporters if they can't get it done. Results are what matter, not rhetoric. And the Republicans have utterly failed at producing results. Why, then, should they get a pass?

I don't always accomplish everything I set out to do. Sometimes I encounter problems that I cannot overcome. Sometimes my best efforts are not enough to make the things I want to happen actually happen. At least Wentworth keeps trying. If I thought he wasn't making an honest effort I'd feel differently, but I believe he's doing everything possible given the circumstances. I intend to vote for him again, and I will continue to write to him and encourage his efforts on our behalf.

It's the guys who said they'd support campus carry and then voted no with whom I am most angry.

[Monker10]

I complete understand how upset everyone is. Being the law abiding guy that I am I will have to be defenseless on campus while any psycho or opportunist that feels like it can just stroll on to campus and do as try please. I think it's perfectly natural for us all to be disenfranchised with the system at this point. It's not perfect but it's what we got so instead of starting over from scratch we need to be precise and relentless in removing those that tripped us up from office.

I do wonder why Wentworth did not seem to know about the two subject rule. It seems to me that it was something that he should have been aware of. But none the less I feel that he did make a significant effort to move it forward and it got so close to passing even with all the opposition and misinformation out there. We just need to continue to remind those that support us that this issue will not go away and we will continue to fight for it until it gets done.

One of the big issues that I seem to encounter is that alot of people are completely ignorant when it comes to firearms. For several they have only seen them on tv and in the news. So they are easily misled. They are always shocked at first that I own and carry a gun. But curiousity sets in and they want to try it out(which I am always happy to take a newbie to the range). From then on they love it and start thinking that in the future thy want to get their chl. Once they have this awakening then are not as easily swayed by the gun control lies. The key is education.

[warhorse10_9]

baldeagle, I completely understand how upset you are, I am upset to. Instead of taking out your frustration on Senator Wentworth or other people who actually supported the bill the entire time. I would look at the people who didn't.

Why? There will always be opposition. Supporters aren't really supporters if they can't get it done. Results are what matter, not rhetoric. And the Republicans have utterly failed at producing results. Why, then, should they get a pass?

Again, I will bring up the point of the tables being turned. Are you saying that in the event the Republicans had a minority of seats that you would vote them out of office since they couldn't pass the legislation you wanted.

Senator Wentworth and other supporters did all they could to pass this legislation given the circumstances. You cannot stall the entire legislative session for one piece of legislation.

[Ivan244]

I complete understand how upset everyone is. Being the law abiding guy that I am I will have to be defenseless on campus while any psycho or opportunist that feels like it can just stroll on to campus and do as try please. I think it's perfectly natural for us all to be disenfranchised with the system at this point. It's not perfect but it's what we got so instead of starting over from scratch we need to be precise and relentless in removing those that tripped us up from office.

I do wonder why Wentworth did not seem to know about the two subject rule. It seems to me that it was something that he should have been aware of. But none the less I feel that he did make a significant effort to move it forward and it got so close to passing even with all the opposition and misinformation out there. We just need to continue to remind those that support us that this issue will not go away and we will continue to fight for it until it gets done.

One of the big issues that I seem to encounter is that alot of people are completely ignorant when it comes to firearms. For several they have only seen them on tv and in the news. So they are easily misled. They are always shocked at first that I own and carry a gun. But curiousity sets in and they want to try it out(which I am always happy to take a newbie to the range). From then on they love it and start thinking that in the future thy want to get their chl. Once they have this awakening then are not as easily swayed by the gun control lies. The key is education.

Last bit is so true. FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) is always the easiest path. Education takes longer but in the end will overcome FUD. Woods group went around screaming about blood in the streets, people firing off guns at keggers, suicides going up yada yada..... We know that is completely without merit. However, the general public does not. It is up to us to spread the word using the facts and showing how other colleges with campus carry are model citizens etc... The more people are educated the less the Woods type can use FUD against them. Unfortunately that does take some time and obviously we will have to try again next session.

But it gives TSRA two more years to show the general public what great citizens CHL are. I would like to see a TV campaign where the DPS stats that Mr.Cotton aide arranged was shown to people. That way the message/idea that CHL are the safest and most law abiding citizens gets out to the general public.

[Teamless]

Senator Wentworth and other supporters did all they could to pass this legislation given the circumstances

It seems they were able to pass the bill that gave LEGISLATORS exemption from the various locations that we are prohibited to carry..... Who is working for whom here?