House Spkr Joe Straus and the Texas State Rifle Assoc have something to do with not reforming Texas gun laws.
Straus is worse than Dewhurst on the issue and meaningful gun reform won’t come out of the Lege while he’s in charge of the House. HB700 had 25 sponsors and co-sponsors this session. Never saw the light of day.
TSRA is also partly to blame. On key reform issues before the Lege, like campus carry and open carry, the TSRA won’t take a pro position. Their official position is that they don’t oppose either. Yes, but. If they made them litmus tests on endorsement, many more pols would come around.
Many pols in Texas live and breathe on the endorsement of the TSRA. They could single-handedly push open and campus carry past Dewhurst and Straus. But, they won’t.
We have a good chance of getting rid of Dewhurst this time around. Straus, because he gets a good chunk of his support from Democrats (and rewards them with Committee Chairs) will be a harder nut to crack. In the meantime, the TSRA needs to be lobbied by its members to take a more pro-active role in pushing real reform.
“TSRA is also partly to blame. On key reform issues before the Lege, like campus carry and open carry, the TSRA won’t take a pro position.”
We ran into the same thing in VA. Hence the birth of Northern Virginia Citizen’s Defense League. Which later became Virginia Citizen’s Defense League.
The more involved you get in gun politics, the less impressed you become with the NRA and it’s affiliates.