TexasCHLforum.com

From another thread, dated 2/20:

TrueFlog wrote: Rep. McCall personally returned my call today. He said that he had not read the bill but generally supports "guns in cars". He listed a couple of reasons why he supports this type of legislation, and I chimed in with a few reasons of my own. He closed by stating that he can't make a commitment to support (or oppose) HB1301 until he sees it in its final form, but stressed his support for the idea behind it. Overall, I was very impressed and believe that we can count on him to make the right decision if/when the bill comes to a vote.

Oh, to be young and naive again... I guess he was just telling me what I wanted to hear, or else somebody got to him.

Keith B wrote:I think employers could try to play games, but IMO the majority of them will just figure out how to rightfully meet the law or open up their lots to have it in their car. They would probably be surprised at how many folks do it already and just keep their mouth shut so no one knows it.

Agreed. Remember, similar legislation exists in a number of other states already, and we don't see those kinds of shenanigans going on. It's also worth noting that a secured parking lot isn't automatically off-limits. This bill states that employers may ban guns in secured lots - it doesn't state that they have to. I suspect that most employers would just allow guns in all parking lots rather than trying to buy land and pave it for new, unsecured lots or trying to install and manage gun lockers. Finally, I'm sure that there are a variety of federal and state regulations (such as OSHA, ADA, etc.) that govern employer-provided parking lots and dictate capacity, accessibility, etc. These regulations would undoubtedly cover any new unsecured lots and should assuage any fears about "What if the lot only has one parking space?" or "What if the lot is surrounded by land mines?"

I see that there's a public hearing scheduled for the Senate version of this bill next week. I'm new to Texas and politics in general, so I have to ask... How does the public hearing work, and what can we do to help make sure our side is fairly and accurately represented? For those of us who aren't in Austin, is there any way that we can contribute to this hearing?