One huge obstacle to passage of an open carry bill has just been surmounted: the state senate’s rule that any new bill required a 2/3 majority for introduction.
The requirement was just removed, allowing a simple majority to introduce a bill.
There are currently 4 open-carry bills pending introduction in the coming legislative session, running the gamut from pure “Constitutional” carry to laws that would merely permit CCW-holders to also carry open.
Well, good ol’ Dan Patrick says passing constitutional carry is not a priority for him.
How to overcome Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus, who has fended off gun liberty for years now?
For all intents and purposes, Joe Straus is a leftwing Democrat. The Democrats do not run against him in his election to the House, and he is elected speaker with just a small number of liberal Republican votes, with all the rest of his support coming from Democrats.
He refuses to let any open carry bill be voted on, though it would pass by a huge margin. He refuses to let any campus carry bill be voted on, either. He refuses to let any anti-abortion laws be voted on as well.
The Wall Street Journal describes him as “The Harry Reid of Texas”.
He was once again elected to be Speaker of the Texas House on January 13 of this year. And Texas has neither an Initiative nor a Referendum process in their law.