ACTION NEEDED: Hearing on Anti-gun HB356

[Charles L. Cotton]

F-rated Rep. Lon Burnam's HB356 will be heard in the Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, March 22nd. Everyone needs to call or fax committee members and ask them to oppose this unnecessary and ill-conceived bill. Utah has changed its law such that nonresidents can get a Utah license only if they have one from their home state. The "Utah problem" was the motive for filing HB356.

HB356 is the bill that would require Texas residents to have a Texas CHL in order to carry.

Chas.

[flintknapper]

Will do!

Thanks for the heads up.

[stash]

All committee members telephonically contacted this morning.

[ELB]

For anyone who hasn't already called or faxed:

Chair Sid Miller (512) 463-0628 fax (512) 463-3644
Vice Chair Allen Fletcher (512) 463-0661 fax (512) 463-4130
Rep. Marva Beck (512) 463-0508 fax (512) 463-5896
Rep. Lon Burnam (512) 463-0740 fax (512) 463-1075
Rep. Joe Driver (512) 463-0574 fax (512) 463-1481
Rep. Dan Flynn (512) 463-0880 fax (512) 463-2188
Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway (512) 463-0664 fax (512) 463-0476
Rep. Aaron Pena (512) 463-0426 fax (512) 463-0043
Rep. Armando Walle (512) 463-0924 fax (512) 463-1510

[artx]

faxed all last night!

[Griz44]

Thank you for the reminder.

I will send out my faxes (again) in the morning supporting this piece of PRO-TEXAS legislation.
Not one single person has been able to substantiate the claim of anti-gun on this bill.
What is in the verbage that got it this label?
All I see is a PRO-TEXAS statement. And yes, I have read this very short bill multiple times.
Nothing in the bill restricts a Texans right to carry.
Nothing in this bill restricts an out of state CHL licensed visitor from carrying.
Nothing in this bill prevents a Texan from acquiring an out of state license to complement the Texas license.
This bill does one thing only - requires a Texan to have a license in his/her own state.
This is no different than requiring a Texas resident to acquire a Texas drivers license after establishing residence in Texas.
Everything in this bill protects the Texas CHL system from actually becoming the joke that it was well on it's way to being.
This bill is not targeted at Utah, although Utah is the reason the ball on this started rolling in the first place.
Passing this bill will help protect Texas from future Utah-like watering down of the current Texas CHL program.
Even Utah had enough common sense to do something about it. Many other states have already passed legislation like this.

[Keith B]

Thank you for the reminder.

I will send out my faxes (again) in the morning supporting this piece of PRO-TEXAS legislation.
Not one single person has been able to substantiate the claim of anti-gun on this bill.
What is in the verbage that got it this label?
All I see is a PRO-TEXAS statement. And yes, I have read this very short bill multiple times.
Nothing in the bill restricts a Texans right to carry.
Nothing in this bill restricts an out of state CHL licensed visitor from carrying.
Nothing in this bill prevents a Texan from acquiring an out of state license to complement the Texas license.
This bill does one thing only - requires a Texan to have a license in his/her own state.
This is no different than requiring a Texas resident to acquire a Texas drivers license after establishing residence in Texas.
Everything in this bill protects the Texas CHL system from actually becoming the joke that it was well on it's way to being.
This bill is not targeted at Utah, although Utah is the reason the ball on this started rolling in the first place.
Passing this bill will help protect Texas from future Utah-like watering down of the current Texas CHL program.
Even Utah had enough common sense to do something about it. Many other states have already passed legislation like this.

Actually, it DOES impact others. Let's say someone lives in a MAY ISSUE state and their county sheriff will not issue them a permit because he only believes LEO's should carry. Now their only option is to get a non-resident license from another state like Florida or Pennsylvania.

Today, we honor that license and will allow them to carry. If this bill passes, they can no longer carry in Texas. What if they have children that live in Texas and want to come visit? They now have to go unarmed. We also will lose revenue from people who might have taken their vacation here, but now will not because they can't carry. There are tons of other negatives too.

So, you can spout all the rhetoric you want about it being a PRO Texas bill, but you are wrong totally wrong

[sjfcontrol]

Thank you for the reminder.

I will send out my faxes (again) in the morning supporting this piece of PRO-TEXAS legislation.
Not one single person has been able to substantiate the claim of anti-gun on this bill.
What is in the verbage that got it this label?
All I see is a PRO-TEXAS statement. And yes, I have read this very short bill multiple times.
Nothing in the bill restricts a Texans right to carry.
Nothing in this bill restricts an out of state CHL licensed visitor from carrying.
Nothing in this bill prevents a Texan from acquiring an out of state license to complement the Texas license.
This bill does one thing only - requires a Texan to have a license in his/her own state.
This is no different than requiring a Texas resident to acquire a Texas drivers license after establishing residence in Texas.
Everything in this bill protects the Texas CHL system from actually becoming the joke that it was well on it's way to being.
This bill is not targeted at Utah, although Utah is the reason the ball on this started rolling in the first place.
Passing this bill will help protect Texas from future Utah-like watering down of the current Texas CHL program.
Even Utah had enough common sense to do something about it. Many other states have already passed legislation like this.

Actually, it DOES impact others. Let's say someone lives in a MAY ISSUE state and their county sheriff will not issue them a permit because he only believes LEO's should carry. Now their only option is to get a non-resident license from another state like Florida or Pennsylvania.

Today, we honor that license and will allow them to carry. If this bill passes, they can no longer carry in Texas. What if they have children that live in Texas and want to come visit? They now have to go unarmed. We also will lose revenue from people who might have taken their vacation here, but now will not because they can't carry. There are tons of other negatives too.

So, you can spout all the rhetoric you want about it being a PRO Texas bill, but you are wrong totally wrong

Keith -- playing devil's advocate here, but I don't think that's right.
Someone from a MAY ISSUE state would be perfectly valid here on a 2nd state's license, providing he didn't have a "domicile" here.
He would be valid here on his own state's license providing he didn't have a domicile here.
If he DID have a domicile here, he wouldn't be valid on a license from his "original" state, or the substitute state.

[Keith B]

Keith -- playing devil's advocate here, but I don't think that's right.
Someone from a MAY ISSUE state would be perfectly valid here on a 2nd state's license, providing he didn't have a "domicile" here.
He would be valid here on his own state's license providing he didn't have a domicile here.
If he DID have a domicile here, he wouldn't be valid on a license from his "original" state, or the substitute state.

Oops, sorry, I didn't express my total thoughts. I was thinking of those who visit and live her part time like RV'ers and retirees that are here a lot to visit family and end up meeting the residency requirements. Why should be penalize them if they already have a license that was issued from some other state when they can't get one from their state they normally live in? A good example would be a family who has 5 kids and the father dies. The Parents/Grandparents come to help with the kids until the Mother can get everything situated and they have to stay more than 6 months (I personally know this situation happened.)

Also, there are those Texas residents who for some reason can't get a Texas CHL that are not criminal, like back taxes (say you are fighting a tax issue with the state that you feel is in error) or you are behind on a student loan because you can't find a job to get it paid back? A Pennsylvania license is only $25, and that may be all the person can afford.

Like I say, there are LOTS of reasons for a person to have a non-resident license and we should not penalize them for that. Utah's legislation and this one are just plain anti-2A; Period.

[RoyGBiv]

As has been documented in many threads, there are reasons a Texas resident might be disqualified from getting a Texas license, but still be qualified to get a license from another state as a non-resident. You may or may not agree with this "loophole", but it's worth admitting that some decent babies get tossed out with the bathwater occasionally.

For me, I moved around a bunch. So, I maintained my Florida license as a non resident while I moved about... FL was early out of the gate and widely accepted reciprocally. I only recently got my TX license after living here for 7 years. Why should I be required to spend an extra ~$300 if I have a valid license already? My background has been checked, my prints are on file with the Feds, I've taken a class, demonstrated proficiency and read the TX regs when I started traveling here...

Utah fixed themselves.... Let's kill this unnecessary legislation.

[Jasonw560]

As of today, it has been left pending by committee.

[hirundo82]

Utah has changed its law such that nonresidents can get a Utah license only if they have one from their home state. The "Utah problem" was the motive for filing HB356.

I beg to differ. Lon Burnam being an anti-gun zealot was the motive for filing HB356. The "Utah problem" was only the excuse.

[Sniper John]

I beg to differ. Lon Burnam being an anti-gun zealot was the motive for filing HB356. The "Utah problem" was only the excuse.

I agree. This bill needs to now die in committee. To support anything gun related from Lon Burnam is foolish.

[cbr600]

deleted

[Slowplay]

Wouldn't HB356 also mean your out-of-state license (FL, UT, etc.) doesn't cover you if your Texas CHL renewal isn't processed & received before your current Texas CHL license expires?