I don’t think that Patrick expected HB 1927 to get out of the House. When the House got HB 1927 out with bipartisan support, I think it kind of shocked Patrick a bit. Remember a only 2-3 years ago Patrick was talking about red flag laws and universal background checks.

I have to admit I am HUGELY Surprised that Lt. Governor Patrick "Stepped Up" as it were to help get HB 1927 as far as it has.  I honestly thought he would give lip service too the ideal, while shunting it off to some dead end or back water to die.

It would have been GREAT if the Senate had just kept it super simple and voted the plain jane House version of HB 1927 (w/o any amendments), but I AM greatful for the Lt. Governor appointing the Special Committee (& the opportunity to testify on behalf of HB 1927) along with some excellent members on the Reconciliation Committee to find a way to get HB 1927 to the point it can pass both the House & Senate.

As much as I would have liked the speed and the "One & Done!" of the Senate voting a "Clean" / No amendments HB 1927 - I do have to admit that I DO like some of the provisions the Senate added Specifically the Mandatory 5 years for 'Felon in Possession' and the "Intoxication" (not to carry when intoxicated) amendment.    I know these were NOT in the Original House HB 1927, but I hope the House can get onboard with these and kick HB 1927 into high gear for a RE-VOTE in both houses ASAP and thence to the Governor's Desk for signature into law.

Crossing Fingers but still calling Everyone Every single Day until we get this DONE!!

BIGGER_HAMMER

Patrick can’t kill HB 1927 without it being all over his face now. Patrick wants the A rating from the NRA and TSRA, but killing a gun bill with your face covered with egg does not get you that.  GOA which has done all the heavy lifting to get Constitutional Carry passed would be slamming Patrick so bad in the media, online. The only thing that might save Patrick from the rath of Texas gun owners would be running against a real bad Democrat.

I give HB 1927 a 99.8 % chance of passing on the the Governor’s desk.

Well, without getting into specifics, there are still procedural concerns.  Time is of the essence and every day it is in committee makes it easier to delay until session ends.

I agree on the felons carrying part but unless they define "intoxication" or "under the influence" this is a beartrap depending on the investigating officer.  If said officer has a hardon for "citizens" carrying a firearm, one drink or glass of wine with a meal could cost you your 2nd amendment rights. If they want zero-tolerance, say so. If not, set a defined limit as they do for operating a motor vehicle. This can and will be abused.

What exactly, are the procedural concerns? I haven't seen that issue spelled out anywhere yet.

Technically, there the defined limit for operating an automobile is “not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body, or (emphasis added) a BAC greater than 0.08.”

You can still be arrested, charged, and convicted with a BAC of less than 0.08, and this does happen.  I’ve seen people convicted at 0.00 BAC.

It's that way now with LTC.  There is no limit set in the law. It was also that way, with concealed carry.

Well, the obvious one is time.  The committee has to resolve issues, report a bill back to both houses, and then get a vote scheduled in both houses.

There appear to me to be less obvious ones; but I don’t think it serves our best interests for me to brainstorm all the ways I would try to stop this bill in an open forum.  One, I’d inevitably look foolish.  Two, none of us can do jack shit about it that we aren’t already doing.  Three, though unlikely, it might give someone ideas they hadn’t considered.

In other words, you are still at the mercy of the arresting officer and the system.

Personally I've never heard of anyone getting arrested for DWI for 0 bac.

Different people have different tolerances for alcohol.beer, wine.

Some can drink 6 beers and be legally intoxicated but drive great while other's can drink 1 and can't drive between the lines.

Intoxication isn’t always alcohol based.  For example, there was a lady on about six different prescribed medications.  When the cops got there, she was spinning her tires against the semi she rear-ended and didn’t understand why the car wouldn’t move.  No illegal drugs.  0.00 BAC.  Should she have been operating a vehicle?  Probably not.

Having said that, if there is no evidence of other intoxicants and your BAC is under 0.08, it can be difficult to get it charged or secure a conviction.

Yes, the right way to handle this would be in the next session, to put a number on what would be intoxicated while carrying. Now what number do you want to call intoxicated. .08 like driving, .04 like if you have a commercial driver’s license. That way it is not up to officer discretion.

IMO the increasing the penalty on felons illegally carrying should be it’s own separate bill. I have never liked bills like the Fed passes like Pedo Joe’s ‘94 crime bill that had a few good things in it and a whole bunch of rotten shit attached, like the ‘assault weapon’ ban.

That's methed up.  You've never heard of anyone getting arrested for DWI for intoxicants other than alcohol?

No disagreement with you - enhancements of the Penalties for "Felons in Possession" SHOULD have been it's own Stand Alone Bill - I'm sure it would have sailed through on it's own these days.

the "intoxicant" comes from my days Bouncing many angry drunks out of bars on 6th street in Austin (How I financed my "Higher Education" at U.T. in the 80's).  With all the Idiots already out there, then having guns mixed in with those dumbasses already staggering around seems like a VERY bad combination ...

Time to make some phone calls this morning, I called all 10, I asked Senator Schwertner when the conference committee was scheduled, nothing yet. I asked if we could get it scheduled this week so both the House and Senate could vote it out by Friday and on to Abbott’s desk.

Sounds like a self-correcting problem to me.

Yea, he's done a good job and the bill is not a personal priority.

I agree.

Dan Patrick has to be the most frustrated person in the state on CC, even more than the hired gun-grabbing shrills from Nanny Doomberg.

If he didn't want it to pass, and was secretly working behind the scenes to sabotage it (doubtful), he's done a poor job about it, and now it'll either pass, or he'll be blamed if it doesn't.

If he did want it to pass, even though it wasn't a priority for him at the start of the Session, he's done a whale of a job to get it to this point, spent valuable Senate time and effort to move it along, and still gets no credit for all his work on this issue.

It's the downside to being considered a slippery eel.  Even when you're doing everything possible to move something along, a lot of people still don't trust you, and are looking for the hidden mines in everything you do.

'Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive'.

Proof is in the pudding though.  I know LTG Patrick was babbling nonsense two years ago about various gun control schemes.  Maybe he got caught up in the media hype of "We Must Do Something!!!" after the El Paso and Odessa shootings.  I don't think we conservatives, who can just can turn off the Democrat media complex and ignore it, understand how powerful and ever present of a tool it is to get elected Republicans to bend to their will.  But if in a few weeks time, Gov. Abbott signs a CC bill into law, we as gun owners need to thank, support, and work to re-elect LTG Patrick, who by accident or design will have done more to get it passed than any other elected official.

You must reward those politicians who have done what you wanted, as much as you punish those who don't.  Despite how it's more fun to complain about them than it is to help them get re-elected.

There is a good chance of it going through, you may also get the ‘Terry Stop’ and ‘no harm, no foul’ amendments reinstalled if the amendment to increase the sentence increase for felon in possession. As of 9:30 this morning no meeting is scheduled, most important is get the conference committee to meet this week.

The most important thing is to pass a CC bill.  It's a high hurdle to get it done, and we're at the cusp of achieve that.

Fixes and adjustments to it can come next session - they are not going to draw the same level of attention or opposition, and based on the CHL / open carry / campus carry history, I'm confidnet that CC will not lead to blood in the streets either.

Main aspect would be if the Senate Amendments are passable with regards to Point of Order challenges in the House.  Yes the POO was raised and dropped last week, but I don't think anyone here really knows why it was dropped - was it dropped as it wasn't valid, and the Amendments can be passed by the House, or were they dropped because of bill horse trading and such.  Only the elected reps really know at this point, how much of a POO danger the Senate Amendments are.

Patrick has never supported gun rights, between supporting red flag laws, universal background checks just saying you are interested in them is not a good pro-gun statement. Patrick back in ‘15 came out and said open carry and campus carry were dead when they were in the House. Then with Constitutional Carry he was ‘I don’t have the votes’  Best thing Patrick could do is just not say anything to the media, Patrick the media are not your friends.

Most of the bills being voted on the night the POO on HB 1927 was dropped, were Democrat bills. Mostly smaller bills so Democrats could say they got this or that done. Thing is those bills needed Republican votes, and in the 45 minute conference I bet that was brought up. Also HB 1927 passed with some bipartisan support.

I'm not the person quoted, but I've never known anybody to be arrested for that. But then again, I don't hang out with druggies or drunks so I don't personally know anybody that's actually gotten a DWI either except my father in the mid 70s.

LOL, I don't know anyone personally, either, but I've definitely heard of it happening!

When does the committee start meeting?

I had posted this morning as of 9:30 when I was talking to Schwertner's office no meeting has been scheduled yet. Still nothing on TLO.

Might be worth calling the 5 Senator and House members asking them when the committee is meeting.

ETA: IMO this conference committee will be a one time meeting and not more than a few hours.

Well stated. It seems many people feel they need someone to parent them.

GOA Texas zoom is about to start.

https://zoom.us/w/96931959033?tk=Fj4sNJV1TaBhupd3wwLXcfD7ukZ51j3-8_cBp_pVriM.DQIAAAAWkZhQ-RZNOUhzWWhBdFJ0R2hQMGk0d3V2WDRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&pwd=TzZlUVEzQkRONktKZnZNbmNZYWFZZz09

Zoom GOA on HughesNet makes about as much sense as a liberal.

ITS DEAD JIM.............

Any updates?

Far from it, Schaefer is very focused on HB 1927. Something should be worked out this week, hopefully to report to the House and Senate by Friday.

Need to call Patrick, Abbott and Phelan tell them to make sure HB 1927 passes.

Rubbish.  It’s being hashed out in a conference committee stacked with all pro-gun members.  Go back to sleep.

The GOA crew said lots of things are working behind the scenes, and for us to contact the conference committee members, and the Gov / LTG / Speaker to keep the pressure on CC.

Latest update:
https://texas.gunowners.org/goa-texas-bullet-5-17-2021/

And for comparison, the post on CC in the Louisiana forum has 15 replies and a whopping 143 views, compared to 840 replies and 18,500 views.   Take a bow- we’ve made quite a difference and are the verge of getting it passed.

Emails sent. Let’s get this done!

Tuesday Morning BUMP  


If any of y'all have time on your hands, if you could make 10 phone calls in support of Constitutional Carry quickly making it out of the conference committee, these are the folks to call:

House
Matt Schaefer(R)- (512) 463-0584
Dustin Burrows(R)- (512) 463-0542
James White(R)- (512) 463-0490
Terry Canales(D)- (512) 463-0426
Ryan Guillen(D)- (512) 463-0416

Senate
Charles Schwertner(R)- (512) 463-0105
Brian Birdwell(R)- (512) 463-0122
Donna Campbel(R)- (512) 463-0125
Brandon Creighton(R)- (512) 463-0104
Bryan Hughes(R)- (512) 463-0101

Be polite, even the House Democrats on the Committee support the bill, they just have to reconcile the clean House bill w/ all the amendments the Senate added to it to pick up LE support.

We really need to get some Polite & Professional yet Persuasive Pressure on the Conference Committee to get moving on HB 1927 because the Clock is not our friend in what remains of this legislative session!

BIGGER_HAMMER

How this is working out is negotiating between Schaefer and Schwertner. This is all behind closed doors and are being tight to the vest. Now the other 8 do have some influence but we won’t know until either Schaefer or Schwertner make a statement. Give the committee members a call, thank them for supporting Constitutional Carry especially the two Democrats. Tell them we want a bill that lets if you can legally own a handgun you carry a handgun.

Other three to call and maybe more important than the conference committee members is calling Abbott, Patrick and Phelan. The real loser if Constitutional Carry dies is Patrick, because Abbott and Phelan plus many house/senate members and the Texas Republican Party will all point at Patrick.

They are actually right about this.

There's not really a lot of debate.  There's a lot of vote counting with and without different amendments.

The House has a much larger margin of yeas to nas so expect the Senate to get most of what they want.... but ya just never know until the end.

This IS going to get all the way to Abbott's desk.

GOA bulletin

Constitutional Carry, HB 1927, is in conference committee. Five House members and five Senate members are now responsible to develop language that both chambers can agree on. 

Then both the House and the Senate need to vote "yes" on the conference committee report to send it to the Governor's desk. 

Several of the Senate amendments added complications and attached strings to Constitutional Carry. We are calling on the Senate conferees to agree with the House members that Constitutional Carry should mean those who can legally possess can carry a handgun without a permit - no strings attached.  

Action Item #1: Call the Conferees 

We have less than two weeks to get HB 1927 across the finish line before it dies. 

Please call the Senate conferees. Urge them to follow Rep. Schaefer's lead to ensure that HB 1927 restores the same protections for honest citizens that were included in the House bill. 

Senator Schwertner (chair): 512-463-0105 
Senator Birdwell: 512-463-0122 
Senator Campbell: 512-463-0125 
Senator Creighton: 512-463-0104 
Senator Hughes: 512-463-0101 


Action Item #2: Call the "Big Three" 

Please also call Governor Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick, and Speaker Phelan and let them know that you are holding all of them accountable to get a strong Constitutional Carry bill signed into law. 

Gov. Abbott: 512-463-2000 
Lt. Gov. Patrick: 512-463-0001 
Speaker Phelan: 512-463-1000 



Update on Major Gun Bills 


In addition to Constitutional Carry, these bills are also moving through the legislative process: 

2A Sanctuary: The House and Senate each passed their own version (HB 2622 by Holland and SB 513 by Hall). Last week, the Senate State Affairs committee heard HB 2622. There is still time for either the House or the Senate to send a bill to the Governor's desk. 

Emergency Powers: The House and Senate each passed their own virtually identical bill (HB 1500 by Hefner and SB 18 by Creighton). The House received the Senate bill and referred it to the House State Affairs committee on April 17, but the bill has not received a hearing. The Senate received the House bill and referred it to the Senate State Affairs committee last Friday, May 14. There is still time for either the House or the Senate to send a bill to the Governor's desk. 

Suppressor Freedom: The House passed HB 957 by Oliverson on May 4th and sent it to the Senate. The Senate State Affairs committee held a hearing last Thursday, May 13. There is still time for the Senate to send a bill to the Governor's desk. 

Update on Smaller Gun Bills 

Traveler Protection: HB 1856 by Hefner (the stronger bill) passed the House and has been in the Senate State Affairs committee since April 19. SB 20 by Campbell passed the Senate and has been in the House Calendars committee since May 6. 

Holster Freedom: SB 550 by Springer has passed the Senate and passed a House committee; it is scheduled for the House floor this week. HB 2112 by Metcalf is in a similar place in the Senate. Both of these bills repeal the "shoulder and belt" requirement for an open carry holster. (Note: the Constitutional Carry bill also repeals the "shoulder and belt" requirement for all open carry, whether LTC or permitless.) 

No-Knock Warrants: HB 1272 by Crockett, our preferred bill, was not scheduled for the House floor. However, HB 492 by Wu passed the House and was amended on the floor to be much closer to Rep. Crockett's bill. The Senate received it on May 10 and has not yet referred it to a committee. 

Vehicle Carry Anti-Discrimination: HB 2967 by Cason passed out of committee with a 7-2 vote on April 16 and died in the Calendars committee.  

GFZ Penalty Reduction: HB 854 by Burns passed the House and was referred to the Senate State Affairs committee on May 13. This bill would reduce the penalty for carrying in hospitals and amusement parks. 

2A Business Anti-Discrimination: SB 19 passed the Senate and the House. Because the House added an amendment, the Senate now needs to decide whether to concur with the amendment or call for a conference committee to work out the differences. This bill would help keep taxpayer dollars from being used to fund contracts with companies that discriminate against firearms-related businesses. 

I made a call to Patricks office and got "Tina" on the phone. I wanted Helen to answer so I could say "thanks" for taking all of our calls but Tina picked up because "we've gotten HUNDREDS of calls". Good sign I suspect.

Good info.  If there are no poison pill / point of order issues with the Senate amendments, I don't see there are problems with them.  A minimum 5 year felon in possession sentence might actually get some criminal off the streets, despite DA's such as Kim Ogg, the Felon's Best Friend.  Any other issues can be cleaned up next session - the big hurdle is getting CC passed, not having a perfect bill.

And much more wiggle room in the House than the Senate for votes.  Would be nice to have all 18 R's be able to vote yes on it in the Senate, as that's been the taller task this session.

When I was waiting to testify on CC at the House hearing, back in March, I was sitting next to some Mom's Demand Action drones, and some slimy dude in a suit - a lawyer or lobbyist by the looks of him.  I heard him tell the grabbers that the Senate felt that it was the House's turn to kill CC - that they had done it last session, so time for them to take the heat.  How that's all blown up in their faces - the House had a packed house for CC and a great committee, especially Rep White.  Huge number of co-authors for the bill in the House, then quick movement to the House floor and onto the Senate.

Then the heat of a thousand suns shining down on the Senate and LTG, getting them to whip it out in record time, and over to conference committee.

Still some things to do on the bill, but I'm cautiously optimistic that CC will be passed and signed into law.

As other's have said, it would be optimal to have Gov. Abbott send out a message saying how he's waiting for a CC bill to reach his desk to sign, so contacting him and the LTG will help the process along.  Say you're pleased the bill is moving along, and you are looking forward to it being signed into law.  All honey at this point - everyone knows the vinegar that'll be handed out if it doesn't pass.

I'm doing what I can.
I've made my third round of calls.

Good man, thanks.

CC has gotten this far from the efforts of all us gun owners.  The Senate was not planning on taking the bill up, till the heat was applied.  We've all done a whale of a job, and victory is in sight.