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One by one states are allowing more 2A freedom. Recently we've had OK with licensed OC, AR's reforms of a "journey" and their "unlawful use" requirements that some say is defacto unlicensed OC, Mississippi and unlicensed OC, I seem to recall some OC reform in AL but can't cite it so I'll stand corrected if not, and now potentially constitutional carry in SC.

Statements of support certainly isn't the same as the governor signing a bill into law but it is certainly possible that TX and FL will soon be the only shall-issue states without some form of open carry. I am frustrated and disappointed to hear that we don't even seem to have any similar plans for the next session. Given all of our office seekers pronouncements recently, please someone tell me I'm wrong & provide a little hope.

SA-TX

SA-TX wrote:provide a little hope. SA-TX

If G= Abbott and LtG=Patterson and AG=Smitherman
G+LtG+AG = HOPE

(IMO, it all comes down to ousting Straus from the speakers seat... Texas Conservative Speaker = HOPE all by itself)

G+LtG+AG-Straus=Near Certainty

IMO

RoyGBiv wrote:

SA-TX wrote:provide a little hope. SA-TX

If G= Abbott and LtG=Patterson and AG=Smitherman
G+LtG+AG = HOPE

(IMO, it all comes down to ousting Straus from the speakers seat... Texas Conservative Speaker = HOPE all by itself)

G+LtG+AG-Straus=Near Certainty

IMO

G+LtG+AG-Straus=Near Certainty
Agreed!

Unfortunately, while I see licensed open carry a hopeful reality for next session,I don't see any form of Constitutional Carry coming to Texas anytime soon. I'm just wondering after Licensed OC is passed, is anyone going to pursue Constitutional Carry?...

RoyGBiv wrote:

SA-TX wrote:provide a little hope. SA-TX

If G= Abbott and LtG=Patterson and AG=Smitherman
G+LtG+AG = HOPE

(IMO, it all comes down to ousting Straus from the speakers seat... Texas Conservative Speaker = HOPE all by itself)

G+LtG+AG-Straus=Near Certainty

IMO

I like your math skills.

Anygunanywhere

anygunanywhere wrote:

RoyGBiv wrote:

SA-TX wrote:provide a little hope. SA-TX

If G= Abbott and LtG=Patterson and AG=Smitherman
G+LtG+AG = HOPE

(IMO, it all comes down to ousting Straus from the speakers seat... Texas Conservative Speaker = HOPE all by itself)

G+LtG+AG-Straus=Near Certainty

IMO

I like your math skills.

Anygunanywhere

Political algebra.!

New leadership in Legislature is nice but what role are WE going to play? Perhaps one of these new leaders will introduce bills for removing the off-limits places including campuses, reform disorderly conduct to stop dubious arrests, remove the Prohibited Weapons section (why do we ban a knife named in honor or a hero of the Alamo?!), remove the unnecessary machine gun provision, SOME form of OC, etc. but I'd prefer that we be more proactive. I love all of the pro-2A speeches but shouldn't we be preparing to take YES for an answer by having model bills ready? Shouldn't we be reaching out to our friends in the Legislature and discussing how to ensure that pro-2A bills that have died in previous sessions will get the best possible treatment in this one? Have we learned any lessons from the past defeats?

Unlike most states, our sessions are short and far between. There are ALWAYS other items competing for the precious time available. We are somewhat fortunate this session in that the Treasury is in good shape and we probably won't have any redistricting to deal with (high-priority and contentious issues in sessions past). There will still be other things but it seems to me that we must make this session really count.

Charles has long said that we should have been laying the groundwork between sessions for what we want to accomplish in the next. Have we done so and if we still have work to do, are we ready to do it?

SA-TX

SA-TX wrote:Charles has long said that we should have been laying the groundwork between sessions for what we want to accomplish in the next. Have we done so and if we still have work to do, are we ready to do it?

SA-TX

We work on the next session before the current one is over. Sorry, but no one is going to tell you what we are doing and let our opposition know in the process.

You speak of broad goals and you have a very long letter to Santa Claus, but it's abundantly clear that you have no experience in getting anything done in the Texas Legislature. If you don't like how we work, then create an organization and do it yourself. This may sound snippy, but that's not how I mean it. We are not going to change a proven strategy because you want us to focus on open-carry. You mention other issues, but all of your posts collectively show that your primary if not exclusive issue is open-carry.

You have asked specific questions of me that I cannot and will not answer, either in an open forum or in a private PM or email. You have an agenda and I won't provide the information you want. I have praised your statesmanlike approach to supporting open-carry, but recently you are getting more and more insistent that I either commit to do something you want (open-carry) or provide you information I cannot and will not provide. Stop now.

Chas.

Charles, the content of my recent posts is a product of what's been in the news.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:it's abundantly clear that you have no experience in getting anything done in the Texas Legislature. If you don't like how we work, then create an organization and do it yourself.

You are quite right that I have no legislative experience. That's why I've always said that people should join TSRA because they do. If my questions seemed like criticism of the organization, that was not my desire. I'm a proud member and I think my questions are both fair and can be answered without giving away legislative strategy. In short, they amount to this: have we done the necessary work to be prepared to give our agenda the maximum chance to pass in the coming session (which won't have some of the high-priority issues that we've seen in the past few). I want us to take full advantage of a favorable political climate and I've asked if there is anything that I can do to help.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:You mention other issues, but all of your posts collectively show that your primary if not exclusive issue is open-carry.

Respectfully, that is not true. I support all pro-2A issues and I've long said that OC isn't on the top of my list. I offer this as proof: if given a choice between the "cop carry" bill you proposed last session or OC, I'll choose the former which would remove all of the off-limits places except bars. It isn't a tough choice.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:You have an agenda and I won't provide the information you want. I have praised your statesmanlike approach to supporting open-carry, but recently you are getting more and more insistent that I either commit to do something you want (open-carry) or provide you information I cannot and will not provide. Stop now.

I apologize for any misunderstanding because the LAST THING I want is for anything to be revealed that would be counter-productive to success. I have no agenda except to expand 2A rights in Texas. Any proposal that does so, I support.

SA-TX

Hopefully the following will make clear that OC isn't my focus; making progress wherever we can is.

If the most prominent politicians in TX unexpectedly announced that they now support Campus Carry, I would be excited and a little surprised given the prior controversy. Apparently the proposition is looked upon more favorably now and this makes achieving the objective easier. That's good news for us!

If it was unclear how TSRA would react to this favorable development, I would also be asking the same questions as before summarized as: are we prepared to capitalize on this gift? How can TSRA help our leaders demonstrate their support in the form of legislation? It seems that we've been presented with an opportunity and now it is up to us to make the most of it.

I'll be the first to admit that I did not expect to see candidates taking about OC. It is a niche issue with only mixed support in this community and probably has very little recognition among the general public. I understand why it might not have been an issue TSRA wanted to spend a large amount of political capital on and I have agreed with that prioritization decision! We can't do everything and we have to pick our battles. The question is whether we can now add it to the agenda with little cost? Phrased differently, how can we NOT follow up on the opportunity that's been presented to us?

SA-TX

SA-TX wrote:Hopefully the following will make clear that OC isn't my focus; making progress wherever we can is.SA-TX

Maybe not your focus, but out of your 192 posts, 141 talk about open carry. At least on this forum, you are 73% focused.

WildBill wrote:

SA-TX wrote:Hopefully the following will make clear that OC isn't my focus; making progress wherever we can is.SA-TX

Maybe not your focus, but out of your 192 posts, 141 talk about open carry. At least on this forum, you are 73% focused.

That is a fair point but how many of those OC-related discussions did I start? I found 3. All other related posts were replying to on-going threads (and I'm sure many of them contain "OC is not my highest priority ...").

SA-TX

SA-TX wrote:

WildBill wrote:

SA-TX wrote:Hopefully the following will make clear that OC isn't my focus; making progress wherever we can is.SA-TX

Maybe not your focus, but out of your 192 posts, 141 talk about open carry. At least on this forum, you are 73% focused.

That is a fair point but how many of those OC-related discussions did I start? I found 3. All other related posts were replying to on-going threads (and I'm sure many of them contain "OC is not my highest priority ...").

SA-TX

You may be right. I didn't count.