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Senator Whitmire, D Houston, during his non-filibuster filibuster. I just watched hours of debate in the Texas Senate on Committee Substitute HB 910.  The Senate Committee had removed the Dutton amendment, that stipulated that the police could not stop you for merely exercising your right to carry openly, and ask for a permit or license.    Here is the amendment: CERTAIN INVESTIGATORY STOPS AND INQUIRIES PROHIBITED.   A peace officer may not make an investigatory stop or other temporary detention to inquire as to whether a person possesses a handgun license solely because the person is carrying a partially or wholly...

HB 910, the Texas licensed open carry bill, passed the House by 2/3 margins.  The bill went through the Senate State Affairs Committee, where the Dutton amendment was stripped from it.   Now, being debated on the floor of the full Senate, the debate is whether to put the Dutton amendment back in.   The Dutton amendment specifies that peace officers may not detain open carriers simply to ask if they have a license, but must have probable cause to suspect criminal activity, just like they need for any Terry stop.   The amendment is designed to protect open carriers from police...

 The group "Students for Concealed Carry on Campus" is organizing a call to have campus carry added to the open carry bill, HB 910 now being debated in the Texas Senate.    Their proposal would attach the Senate version of campus carry, SB11 to the bill.  They have 20 Senators that they are asking people to email.  From their facebook page: Please send an email to these twenty members of the Texas Senate, telling them you want to see House Bill 910 (open carry) amended to include Senator Birdwell’s campus carry language. You don’t have to email each member individually;...

Two popular bills that would reform antiquated knife laws in Texas are being bottled up by a Democrat legislator.   Both bills have bipartisan support, and passed the House unanimously.  One bill adds knives to the preemption law for the state, so that localities cannot pass insane knife laws that turn a person carrying a pocket knife into a criminal by walking from one side of a street to another, without any notice.  These bills are enforced very selectively to "get" people that the police cannot arrest for other crimes. One correspondent from Texas, reported a conversation with a San...

Early reports from observers at the Senate State Affairs committee in Texas have written that HB 910, the licensed open carry bill, has been passed and sent to the whole Senate.  From Texasguntalk.com: Texas Gun Legislation - 2015 84th Session Game on, they're back. Substitute approved.  It appears that the Dutton Amendment, which would prohibit police from stopping open carriers without probable cause, has been stripped out They removed the cop stop amendment. That's why they called it HB 910 Substitute.  The Senate might be able to pass an amendment returning HB 910 to the form passed by the...

HB 3884, which repeals the Texas prohibition on many popular knives, has passed the Texas house.  It is clear that knives, especially knives such as Bowie knives, swords, and daggers, are arms protected under the second amendment.  But these arms were banned from carry in Texas, along with handguns, during the carpetbagger government takeover of Texas after the Civil War, or War between the States, if you prefer.  When the Texas legislature reformed the law with shall issue concealed carry permits, they did not include knives. The law was very selectively enforced.   One correspondent from Texas put i, reporting...

Texas Knife Law Preemption Bill Passes House Print E-mail ShareThis May 5, 2015: Knife Rights' Texas Knife Law Preemption bill, HB 905, passed the House on the consent calendar 145-0. HB 905 would rid Texas of its patchwork of local knife laws more strict than state law. It now moves to the Senate. Preemption repeals and prevents local ordinances more restrictive than state law which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state. Preemption ensures citizens can expect consistent enforcement of state knife laws everywhere in the state. Two Texas cities made Knife Rights'...

Texas open carry is moving again.  Because the licensed open carry bill had an amendment added in the House, the process in the Senate needs to be repeated.   The amendment seems to be simple common sense.  Police may not harass open carriers unless there is a crime involved.   Stopping them to check on a license is not allowed, just the same way that automobile drivers may not be stopped simply to check on their license.  Texas is only one of six states that does not allow the open carry of modern handguns in most public locations. In the Senate,...

Team Hillary is pushing Julian Castro as her VP nominee. “The Republicans are making a big push for the Hispanic vote, so that makes Castro an obvious pick.” Julian Castro, and his twin brother, Congressman Joaquin, were early backers of 2008 Clinton......the odds of Mrs. Clinton picking another woman for the ticket are “zero” .... which eliminates Wendy Davis, the liberal darling of Texas Democrats. --SNIP--That leaves Julian Castro. At just 40 years old, he’s a a two-term mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and is Obama’s HUD Secy. The Castro brothers — twins born to a single mother whose grandmother...

From nbcdfw.com: “He stood there and we talked for a while, [him] just asking for directions and me giving them to him,” Turner recalled. “Never thought that when I turned my head that that young man would stick a knife to my throat.” But the 74-year-old grandmother had an option: An NAA Guardian that she had decided to carry with her that day. “I seen the gun laying there. And I figured that would work better than the knife,” Turner said. “I just reached down, got the gun and turned around and pointed it to his face. And I...

Texas Capitol Building KnifeRights.org Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- Knife Rights’ bill to repeal the ban on prohibited knives in Texas needs your help. HB 3884 sponsored by Knife Rights friend Representative Harold Dutton needs to be heard as soon as possible in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.The Chairman of the committee, Representative Abel Herrero, is a proven pro-Second Amendment legislator and we have no reason to believe he is holding the bill for philosophical reasons, but the clock is ticking and if the bill is not heard in committee very soon, it will end up dead for the session. In Texas...

The Texas licensed open carry bill has passed the third read vote in the House. An amendment by Dutton was added on the third read.  The substance of the amendment is that merely possessing a holstered handgun is not sufficient reason to detain or make an investigatory stop.   On the third read, an amendment must obtain a 2/3 majority to be approved.  This amendment reads: CERTAIN INVESTIGATORY STOPS AND INQUIRIES PROHIBITED.   A peace officer may not make an investigatory stop or other temporary detention to inquire as to whether a person possesses a handgun license solely because the person...

On Friday, the New York Times stated, in a blaring headline, that my support for Second Amendment rights is “strange.” In particular, the writer took issue with my statement that “”the Second Amendment to the Constitution isn’t for just protecting hunting rights, and it’s not only to safeguard your right to target practice. It is a constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny — for the protection of liberty.” In addition to “strange,” the NYT described this view as “ridiculous,” “silly,” and “absurd” (methinks the...

Producers of the new thriller "Beyond The Reach" needed a villain. Specifically, they needed a bad guy to costar with Michael Douglas, who plays the murderous multimillionaire out to kill an innocent hunting guide played by Jeremy Irvine. Requirements for the role included beauty, speed, agility and toughness, and the ability to withstand long shooting days in New Mexico desert near Four Corners. The casting call led them to a most unusual candidate. Douglas' evil partner in crime is played by a Mercedes 6x6.

Tomorrow, April 14, the Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to consider House Bill 910, NRA-supported open carry legislation sponsored by state Representative Larry Phillips (R-Sherman). HB 910 removes the requirement that Concealed Handgun Licensees (CHL) keep their handguns concealed and gives them the option of carrying them either wholly or partially visible in a belt or shoulder holster. After having established a 20-year record of law-abiding and responsible behavior, Texas CHLs have earned this personal protection option that 43 states currently allow. Eighty members of the House have signed onto the bill. Rep. Phillips deserves strong praise for his...

It seems that Michah Grable attacked William McBride.  McBride accessed a firearm, and used it to drive off Grable, but he did not continue to pursue him or to shoot at him.  The case seems to revolve around timing.  Did McBride reasonably believe that he was still under threat?  Did witnesses think so? Both men were arrested.  Grable is out on $4,000 bond, while McBride is still in jail on $20,000 bail required by the court.   From kagstv.com: According to the probable cause statement, Grable was upset with McBride and confronted him in the parking lot of Jesse's Taqueria...

The young woman shown above was clearly justified in shooting the ex-boyfriend who attacked her.  There were witnesses.  She repeatedly attempted to disengage, and only resorted to shooting after being repeatedly attacked.  From clicktohouston.com: The woman said she was forced to shoot her ex-boyfriend in the leg because he was threatening to hurt her. Houston police said the man started following the woman near Highway 59 and South Gessner Wednesday morning and things escalated from there. Investigators said at one point he forced his way into her car and tried to crash it. Even though it was self defense,...

Senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX) expressed pride that “Washington elites despise me” because “it’s both parties that aren’t listening to the American people” on Monday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.

Oh, how I wish Texas lawmakers cared as much about our children as they do their guns. And wouldn’t it be terrific if the folks who represent us in Austin despised injustice as much as they do immigration and taxes? I suppose, given the makeup of our state Legislature and the leadership in the top statewide offices, that’s a little too much to hope for. It is no surprise that new gun legislation has been put on a fast track at the Capitol, sailing through committee and floor votes with ease, while our underfunded public schools likely will languish.

“I have a biology degree, okay?”– Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), in remarks at the Lincoln Labs “Reboot Congress” conference, Feb. 12, 2015This column has been updated with an additional explanation by Paul’s spokesman.We first spotted a version of this quote in a Bloomberg column by David Weigel, and then checked the quotes with our colleague Jose DelReal, who had attended the conference.This is a bit of an odd one, given that Paul does not have a college undergraduate degree.The Facts Paul mentioned his alleged degree at the conference not once, but twice. First, in an exchange with TechCrunch founder Michael...