Question about HB 86 (Campus Carry)

[Andiceman]

I just read the text of the Campus Carry bill that was filed recently for the upcoming session (http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLook ... &Bill=HB86. The main question I have is why limit it to "institutions of higher education"? Let's say the bill passes as filed. Great, awesome. However, I still have to disarm before walking my 1st grader to class. My buddy the high school history teacher still has to go about unarmed.

Is the concept of incrementalism the reason for this? Get colleges first, then kill the prohibition for other schools in subsequent session?

[Crossfire]

Baby steps. It has a better chance of passing if we only include higher learning right now. Then, when we have no history of mass murders by license holders on college campus, we can work on all schools.

BTW, my daughter is a middle school teacher, and a CHL holder. I would love nothing more than to see her able to defend herself at school. Right now, she can't even have it in her car at school. So again, she is defenseless on her long commute too.

[RHenriksen]

I can certainly sympathize with the people who feel we should go for the gusto (ie, open carry/constitutional carry/etc) with the momentum of this big election victory.

BUT... (you knew it was coming) we should look to history for guidance. I just finished reading Bill Hobby's new book, http://www.amazon.com/How-Things-Really ... 255&sr=8-1, and he mentions how Texas is a very conservative state, and past attempts to make big leaps (big changes) have been doomed to failure, no matter how great an idea they may be. Small bites at the apple, and taking the long view, has been what's historically worked in Texas. If the guy who ran the state senate for 18 years doesn't have good advice, I don't know who does.

We all like to say that the 2010 election was a referendum on ObamaCare, and the Democrats in Washington's overreaching, their huge increase in deficit spending, their charge into socialism. I haven't heard anyone say that the midterm election blowout results were a result of people's yearning for constitutional carry. I hate to be a wet blanket, but I think racing towards constitutional carry would be a similar mistake to the Pelosi crowd's interpretation of the 2008 election results as a vote for Socialism and ObamaCare.

Let's stick to the original game plan - parking lot, campus carry, and whatever else we can pick up. There'll be 8000 bills filed, there'll be contention on VoterID, AZ-style immigration enforcement, etc. LOTS of competition for space on the calendar. Stay grounded, set achievable goals in light of the big picture and the context in which we have to operate.

$0.02.

[steve817]

I can certainly sympathize with the people who feel we should go for the gusto (ie, open carry/constitutional carry/etc) with the momentum of this big election victory.

BUT... (you knew it was coming) we should look to history for guidance. I just finished reading Bill Hobby's new book, http://www.amazon.com/How-Things-Really ... 255&sr=8-1, and he mentions how Texas is a very conservative state, and past attempts to make big leaps (big changes) have been doomed to failure, no matter how great an idea they may be. Small bites at the apple, and taking the long view, has been what's historically worked in Texas. If the guy who ran the state senate for 18 years doesn't have good advice, I don't know who does.

We all like to say that the 2010 election was a referendum on ObamaCare, and the Democrats in Washington's overreaching, their huge increase in deficit spending, their charge into socialism. I haven't heard anyone say that the midterm election blowout results were a result of people's yearning for constitutional carry. I hate to be a wet blanket, but I think racing towards constitutional carry would be a similar mistake to the Pelosi crowd's interpretation of the 2008 election results as a vote for Socialism and ObamaCare.

Let's stick to the original game plan - parking lot, campus carry, and whatever else we can pick up. There'll be 8000 bills filed, there'll be contention on VoterID, AZ-style immigration enforcement, etc. LOTS of competition for space on the calendar. Stay grounded, set achievable goals in light of the big picture and the context in which we have to operate.

$0.02.

I agree. We need to be very careful in what we push through. If we don't, we will look as bad as they do and we could easily hand the whole thing back over to them.

[The Annoyed Man]

Right now, she can't even have it in her car at school.

I take it that this is in the employee manual, right? Otherwise, wouldn't CHL allow her to secure her weapon in her car before entering 'the premises?'

[74novaman]

Yep. Make good, positive progress on all fronts. Get reelected, come back and do it again. That simple.

If they try to eat the whole 72 oz steak at once, it won't be good for getting anything done.

[tacticool]

Do the Republicans have a chubber-proof majority?

[RHenriksen]

Do the Republicans have a chubber-proof majority?

The democrats in Washington did for two years. They used that advantage to ram a whole lot of bitter-tasting things down our throats, and generated a huge backlash for it (at least *in part* for their tactics, not just because of the content of the legislation).

Just because we *could* force large changes through the state legislature over the will of the minority, doesn't mean it would necessarily be the best long term approach.

[tacticool]

And just because fascists *could* get upset about spending cuts, lower taxes and more civil rights doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.

[lonewolf]

How does one eat an elephant?

One bite at a time....

Take the small, achievable steps. Get it right and make it last. Eventually everything will get done.

[frogbones]

Right now, she can't even have it in her car at school.

I take it that this is in the employee manual, right? Otherwise, wouldn't CHL allow her to secure her weapon in her car before entering 'the premises?'

In the CHL book..I read and understood that a CHL certified person CAN keep the firearm in the car on schoolgrounds so long those grounds aren't used for a school sponserd shin-dig.

You just can't bring on premises, which means upon entering the doors.

I am CHL, I work in a school district and I keep my firearm locked in my car out in the parking lot.

[RPB]

Right now, she can't even have it in her car at school.

I take it that this is in the employee manual, right? Otherwise, wouldn't CHL allow her to secure her weapon in her car before entering 'the premises?'

In the CHL book..I read and understood that a CHL certified person CAN keep the firearm in the car on schoolgrounds so long those grounds aren't used for a school sponserd shin-dig.

You just can't bring on premises, which means upon entering the doors.

I am CHL, I work in a school district and I keep my firearm locked in my car out in the parking lot.

I was just reading college newspapers.
It appears to me that car burglaries are way up on college campus parking lots, because the burglars are more likely to find guns in those than in supermarket or apartment parking lots.

[74novaman]

I'd believe that. I always kept my AK hidden under piles of clothes and other junk in the trunk, but conceivably a guy could have had an AK, a pistol, and a decent amount of ammo for both had my car been hit. Living on campus, I had no other place to put my stuff.

[Crossfire]

Right now, she can't even have it in her car at school.

I take it that this is in the employee manual, right? Otherwise, wouldn't CHL allow her to secure her weapon in her car before entering 'the premises?'

Yes, employee policy. Otherwise, I guarantee she would have it in her car.

She was threatened last year by one of her students. She is a tiny little thing, and most middle school boys are bigger than her. Not to mention, she was very pregnant. That was a scary time. They got the kid out of her class and into alternative school (which is on the same campus), so she didn't have to deal with him during the day, but there was nothing to prevent him from coming after her in the parking lot after school.

So, again this session, we are hoping for at least 2 good outcomes - school carry on college campus as a start, and employer parking lots.

[Bullwhip]

I understand baby steps, but every bill gets compromised before it passes. If you want x, ask for xyz. If you only ask for what you want, you get less than that. Negotiating 101. Doesn't take a college degree, just trade cars or livestock once in a while and you'll learn it.

I don't think we need to worry about gun backlash in Texas. The 2010 election was because Democrats in DC insisted on passing everything while they had the chance even tho they knew the American people didn't want it. Guns just ain't that big a deal in Texas, a few fringe lefties are really anti-gun but they can't turn out 51% in 2012 just to undo the TSRA's work even if we repeal chapter 46.