CJ Grisham is at it again

[ScottDLS]

As someone who has butted heads with CJ I will be the first to admit that I admire his drive and tenacity while simultaneously questioning his motives and most often denouncing his methods.

CJ and I butted heads to the point he blamed Charles for some of my responses which I promptly called him out for. CJ will tell you that he is responsible for the unlicensed carry we have today, and he is correct in part but let me explain.

He and his circus are responsible for making it an issue sooner than it had been planned for and it burned a lot of political capital that we could have used elsewhere. But him and his circus are also he reason that there is a holster requirement for open carry. They are also the reason that there is less trust between police and anyone opencarrying because LEOs approach these encounters anticipating a CJ Grisham style confrontation.

Our unlicensed carry law that we enjoy today is not the product of CJ Grisham and his circus, they fought tooth and nail to kill it all the way up to the point that their 'more pure' bill was dead, buried, and beyond hope of resurrection. When there was no other hope of passing unlicensed carry they suddenly went from doing their best to kill the TSRA backed bill to supporting it so they could claim they helped pass unlicensed carry. It passed, no thanks to CJ Grisham and OCT but in spite of them and their best efforts.

The unlicensed carry bill that did pass was actually a net negative for carry rights in Texas, particularly for those who already had a LTC. Moving the 46.035 prohibitions into 46.03 removed the ability to carry non-handguns in many locations where they were previously allowed. By replacing a prohibition on "weapons (handguns)", with a prohibition on firearms. It removed the ability to carry handguns in hospitals (with LTC and absent 30.0x) notice, as well as the ability to carry other non-handgun firearms in hospitals, 51% bars and some other places. Not all non-handgun firearms are long rifles. It includes SBRs, machine guns including machine pistols, AOWs, and folding carbine "rifles". This could be a good reason to have opposed the bill as it was passed. I'm not sure I would go that far, but I can see the purist point that CJ was making.

The issues with that bill are the price we paid to get it passed with reduced political capital in time to avoid being burned further the next session. The OCT 'pure CC bill' would never have passed and we would have bled political capital to repair damage OCT and similar groups caused. Remember that these guys first bill they shopped around which no one even filed IIRC was much much worse it would have done away with 30.06 and made gun busters apply among other things. Thanks to the TSRA bill we limited the damage and let the circus move on so we could fix the problems they caused.

The issues with the bill are why it shouldn't have passed. It was a step backward for gun rights in Texas for virtually no benefit. I see no "damage" caused by OCT. The CHL lobby was always lukewarm on licensed open carry, which is why it took 20 years after CHL to get it passed. There have been relatively few improvements in carry rights in Texas in the 30 years since 1995. The best were unlicensed vehicle carry in 2001, with some technical improvements in 2003. The reduction in the 30.0x penalties to a class C misdemeanor (2016?) and licensed open carry (2016). Most other legislation was pages and pages of complications and special carve outs for police, judges, DAs, Fed LEOs, emergency responders, volunteer EMTs, State Guard and all other manner of "special" people. I'm also not a fan of the 30.06 "solution" in 1997 to the advisory, and in my view unenforceable, opinion of far left AG Morales in 1995 saying that the criminal trespass (30.05) law could be used to preemptively prohibit concealed carry in ways that it never was able to prohibit anything else in the history of the law.

[srothstein]

Also while this spectacle was going on the East Side of the Courthouse behind the scenes the Chief Deputy contacted TCOLE and they said he is NOT qualified as what a retired (LEO) LEOSA is. Thus he was denied entry with a firearm.

While I may not like him and may agree that he is not a retired LEO, unfortunately neither TCOLE nor I get to make that distinction. PC 46.15 specifically defines it as any qualified person under the federal LEOSA act (18 USC 926c). If the Army said he was and gives him the credentials, it would probably take a federal court case to truly decide the interpretation of that law.

[PriestTheRunner]

Not a huge fan of a lot of the actions of CJ, but I can personally vouch that smith county is super Anti-2A despite being 'staunch republicans'. Its a 'right's for me and none for thee' attitude. They have several areas that are NOT courtrooms barricaded or signage from CC entry including the vehicle registration in Cottonbelt building, records area at Ferguson street. They are just as bad as Austin at 'any government building is a gun-free zone' and yet State AG does nothing to them.

Smith County won't get any love from me on 2A issues.

[nightmare69]

Not a huge fan of a lot of the actions of CJ, but I can personally vouch that smith county is super Anti-2A despite being 'staunch republicans'. Its a 'right's for me and none for thee' attitude. They have several areas that are NOT courtrooms barricaded or signage from CC entry including the vehicle registration in Cottonbelt building, records area at Ferguson street. They are just as bad as Austin at 'any government building is a gun-free zone' and yet State AG does nothing to them.

Smith County won't get any love from me on 2A issues.

I had a hearing in January this year family court at Smith County and I had to disarm and I’m a sworn Texas Peace Officer. They told me it’s not their rules but the judges. To avoid any conflict I walked backed and disarmed.

[BigGuy]

Not a huge fan of a lot of the actions of CJ, but I can personally vouch that smith county is super Anti-2A despite being 'staunch republicans'. Its a 'right's for me and none for thee' attitude. They have several areas that are NOT courtrooms barricaded or signage from CC entry including the vehicle registration in Cottonbelt building, records area at Ferguson street. They are just as bad as Austin at 'any government building is a gun-free zone' and yet State AG does nothing to them.

Smith County won't get any love from me on 2A issues.

I had a hearing in January this year family court at Smith County and I had to disarm and I’m a sworn Texas Peace Officer. They told me it’s not their rules but the judges. To avoid any conflict I walked backed and disarmed.

I think you made the right decision in that case, but I have absolutely no respect for that Judge. Apparently he has no respect for other Texas State agencies. One has to wonder if he should even be on the bench.

[PriestTheRunner]

I had a hearing in January this year family court at Smith County and I had to disarm and I’m a sworn Texas Peace Officer. They told me it’s not their rules but the judges. To avoid any conflict I walked backed and disarmed.

I think you made the right decision in that case, but I have absolutely no respect for that Judge. Apparently he has no respect for other Texas State agencies. One has to wonder if he should even be on the bench.

That is the problem, the culture is so pervasive that they genuinely don't see an issue. And they all swear up and down that they support the 2A.

Also, basically none of the sheriffs office can shoot worth a crap, but thats pretty common for LEOs.

[nightmare69]

Not a huge fan of a lot of the actions of CJ, but I can personally vouch that smith county is super Anti-2A despite being 'staunch republicans'. Its a 'right's for me and none for thee' attitude. They have several areas that are NOT courtrooms barricaded or signage from CC entry including the vehicle registration in Cottonbelt building, records area at Ferguson street. They are just as bad as Austin at 'any government building is a gun-free zone' and yet State AG does nothing to them.

Smith County won't get any love from me on 2A issues.

I had a hearing in January this year family court at Smith County and I had to disarm and I’m a sworn Texas Peace Officer. They told me it’s not their rules but the judges. To avoid any conflict I walked backed and disarmed.

I think you made the right decision in that case, but I have absolutely no respect for that Judge. Apparently he has no respect for other Texas State agencies. One has to wonder if he should even be on the bench.

I knew the bailiff for Judge Wilson’s family court room and even he said when he had a divorce hearing he had to disarm. Wild.