I also find it most revealing that the Texas Brady folks are rallying to defeat campus-carry. "For now, the Brady Campaign's top priority for the session, McCartney said, will be trying to mount a good defense to the issue of concealed carry on campus."
Chas.
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TENSION BETWEEN GUN GROUPS
A couple of interesting things stood out while researching today's story on proposed gun laws.
First: Gun control advocates appear to be doing little this session in terms of pushing legislation they deem favorable.
Marsha McCartney, president of the North Texas Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the group might not ask lawmakers to carry two pieces of legislation -- one that would require background checks for all firearm sales at gun shows and another that would limit handgun purchases to one every 30 days -- that the gun control group normally advocates.
"We haven't completely decided if we're going to ask for those bills to be filed," said McCartney. "But probably not if we have the same committee heads."
She added: "We know how things work in Texas and if you don't have the backing, you don't go far."
For now, the Brady Campaign's top priority for the session, McCartney said, will be trying to mount a good defense to the issue of concealed carry on campus.
On that note, there appears to be some hostility brewing between the group advocating for concealed carry on campus and the group backing the push for licensed Texans to be allowed to openly tote their pistols.
Michael Guzman, a senior at Texas State University and president of the grassroots gun group called "Students for Concealed Carry on Campus," is worried that the two issues will be "muddled" together by the media once the respective bills are filed, causing confusion among lawmakers and regular Texans.
Plus, there appears to be another element causing tension between the members of SCCC and the Virginia-based group OpenCarry.org -- one of competing interests.
"If these open carry guys get enough attention with the introduction of their bill, it's going to knock off our bill," Guzman said. "Our biggest obstacle is another gun rights group. It's ridiculous that two gun rights groups are going to be canceling each other out."
The open carry folks say they understand the concerns, but argue that both have their aim set on identical goals: broadening Second Amendment rights for Texans.
"I think it's one and the same. We're both going for gun rights," said Ian McCarthy, chairman of the Texas Open Carry work group. "They just think people are afraid of open carry."
One last note: While the push to allow students and faculty to carry concealed handguns on campus has garnered the support of the powerful gun lobby, the open carry movement doesn't yet have the official backing of the National Rifle Association or their state affiliate, the Texas State Rifle Association.
"They're going about it the wrong way," Guzman said. "I hope their bill dies quickly so we can move on to more substantive debates about concealed carry on campus."
