Texas: Campus Carry and Other Pro-Second Amendment Bills Receive Committee Referrals; Public Hearings May Not Be Far Behind

Last week, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick assigned Senate Bill 11, legislation removing restrictions in state law that prohibit law-abiding  adult Concealed Handgun Licensees from protecting themselves on college and university campuses, to the Senate State Affairs Committee.  State Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) filed this important legislation, along with 18 Senate co-authors; for a list of which Senators co-authored the bill, click here.  We anticipate that a public hearing will be set on SB 11 fairly quickly, as the Lt. Governor has announced that passage of the measure is one of his priorities for the session.  Your NRA-ILA will keep you updated as soon as a public hearing date has been scheduled.  Please urge members of the Senate State Affairs Committee to support SB 11 and thank those who co-authored the bill.  Contact information can be found here.

You can expect to see the same misguided bias against these bills from some in the Texas media this session, but interestingly, a major newspaper in Nevada recently endorsed and strongly recommended passage of a similar measure filed in that state’s legislature.  From the editorial, entitled: “Law-abiding citizens shouldn’t be defenseless on college campuses”:

“Bad guys don’t obey gun laws, on college campuses and elsewhere. Lawmakers who oppose campus carry proposals must acknowledge that gun-free zones essentially create defenseless target zones. Considering the president of the United States and college administrators claim there is a sexual assault crisis on college campuses, why would lawmakers deny women the ability to defend themselves?”  - Las Vegas Review Journal

To read the editorial in its entirety, or to forward a copy of it to committee members, click here:

Senate Bill 273, introduced by state Senator Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels), was also referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee.  SB 273 imposes civil fines on state agencies, cities or counties that improperly post 30.06 signs prohibiting CHLs from public property which is not off-limits to them under the Texas Penal Code, in an effort to provide much-needed clarity for license holders.   Please also contact committee members and urge them to support SB 273. Contact information for committee members can be found here.

Senate Bill 228, introduced by state Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.  This bill, modeled after popular tax-free weekends held annually for gun owners and sportsmen in Mississippi and Louisiana, would create a sales tax holiday for individual purchases of firearms and/or hunting supplies during the last weekend of August each year.  Contributions that hunters make when purchasing equipment or licenses to engage in their sport relieves taxpayers from a significant burden of the financing for state wildlife habitat restoration and conservation efforts.  Please urge members of the Senate Finance Committee to support SB 228.  Contact information for committee members can be found here.