3 Boxes of BS

Woot! Woot!
Progress has been made !

I’m really digging the ability to check the status of my renewal online  and the rumors of me checking it 10 to 15 times a day are slightly exaggerated.

Even though I’m not going to be able to make the N.R.A. Convention, I thought I would help out the visitors to our great state. Please remember; I’m not a lawyer, this isn’t legal advice (you are on your own), mileage may vary and I didn’t even sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

First off, here is a link to determine if your license is valid in Texas.  Texas has reciprocal and unilateral recognition of state permits so just because your state doesn’t show an agreement with Texas doesn’t mean you can’t carry here.

Second – all the usual Federal laws/rules/regulations/restrictions apply, e.g. post office, federal buildings.

– Just realized how long this post is and how it appears on first page so I’ve moved the rest of it below the fold. Click  to continue reading. thanks

Continue Reading

I don’t agree with the idea of needing a license to carry a firearm but to keep out of jail I abide by the law. The Texas Department of Public Safety at least tries to stay up with current technology by letting people apply and check the status of their application online.

Or in my case, my renewal.

The question becomes; Will there be a snag before my current permit expires ?
I’m not sure what the outcome will be; there are a lot of people applying/renewing now days.

Stay tuned for the further adventures and exciting updates*.

*Hey it is better, only slightly, then watching paint dry.

Sooner or later, I hope, criminals are going to learn it is dangerous to try robbing someone in Texas.

FORT WORTH — A suspected robber was killed and his intended target was hospitalized with minor injuries in a shooting Tuesday afternoon outside a southeast Fort Worth business, officials said.

Desmond Paige, 20, of Fort Worth was pronounced dead at 1:08 p.m. in the parking lot of a business in the 7400 block of Wichita Street, the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office reported.

20 years old and he owned a pistol; unless it was a gift from a parent, he owned it illegally. Imagine that.

The other man was not identified.

Investigators believe the two men met because one of them had advertised on Craigslist that he was buying cellphones. One tried to rob the other, police said.

The robbery target was a licensed concealed-handgun carrier, police said.

Not quite Thunderdome in Bartertown but a stark reminder — when you answer an ad on Craig’s list you never know who you are truly dealing with or their motives. Be careful out there folks.

MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky said paramedics told him that the robbery target “took out his gun, and he shot the alleged perpetrator in the chest several times.”

The man with the gun was shot in the arm. His injury was not life-threatening, Zavadsky said. It was not clear late Tuesday whether he was shot by Paige or shot himself, officials said.

I’m going to guess a person cool enough to draw when he is already has a pistol aimed at him isn’t likely to shoot himself but it isn’t impossible.

And I want to take a moment to address the stupidity that anti-rights cultists often throw out with “Your property isn’t worth someone’s life even if he is a criminal”.  The moment the thug threatened deadly force it stopped being about ‘property’ and became about the victims life !!! What is so hard to understand about that?

From the Texas Penal Code Section 9.01

(3)  ”Deadly force” means force that is intended or known by the actor to cause, or in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing, death or serious bodily injury.

The thug threatened to use deadly force in order to get what he wanted. It isn’t as if he walked up empty handed, said “Please give me your cell phone, wallet and money” and would have walked away peacefully if told NO.  When threatened with deadly force the best answer is deadly force, not cowering in submission.

So Mr./Ms/ Anti-Rights Cultist, instead of asking gun owners to not defend themselves; why don’t you spend a little time reaching out to the criminals- see if you can get them to stop threatening to kill people?

(H/T to GregTag)

Let’s make a few phones ring off the hook for this one folks. This is the main portion of Texas House Bill 3143.

AN ACT

                relating to the creation of certain offenses concerning firearm sales at gun shows; authorizing a fee.

                                       SECTION 2.   Chapter 46, Penal Code, is amended by adding

                Sections 46.065 and 46.066 to read as follows:
Sec. 46.065.  CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SALES AT GUN         SHOWS. 
(a)  A person commits an offense if the person knowingly sells a firearm to another person in exchange for money or other consideration at a gun show without complying with the national  instant criminal background check system in the manner required by 18 U.S.C. Section 922 before completing the sale. A person who conducts a criminal background check as required by this subsection may charge a fee in an amount equal to the cost incurred by the person to obtain the background check.
 (b)  A person commits an offense if the person knowingly  sells a firearm to another person in exchange for money or other  consideration at a gun show and the person does not maintain a record of the sale.

Never mind the fact that currently an FFL can not perform a background check on firearms (s)he does not own; we need to defeat this attempt because it is bad law. Criminals will still use straw purchasers to buy firearms so this stops nothing.

If you don’t already know who represents you in Austin, you can find out here.

According to the Legislative assistant in Rep. Patrick’s office it appears this bill stands little chance of getting out of committee    But let’s make sure it is buried under an avalanche of  comments, emails and calls from Texans anyways. The more the Reps hear from us opposing bills like this, the fewer of them will be introduced.

These bills are working their way through the biennial Legislation; let try to push our Senators and Representatives into passing a few (or all) of them.

House Bill 47 reduces the class time required for a CHL to 4 to 6 hours from the current 10 or so.

House Bill 508  Makes it illegal for a public employee to wrongly post or provide notice that a place or building is posted 30.06 (prohibited for Concealed Carry ). This would be helpful because some public employees are illegally posting notices.

House Bill 698 a — This one is really needed. Currently everyone has to submit digitally taken fingerprints to the state to get a CHL. Problem? Some areas don’t have an authorized location with easy travel distance. Heck, here in the metroplex there are only 1 or 2 locations near me. The bill allows changes to rule to allow for normal finger printing if there is no facility within 25 miles.

House Bill 700  OPEN CARRY – this bill would let anyone with a Concealed Handgun License Openly Carry in the State. I really want this one to pass.

Senate Bill 182 and House Bill 972  Campus Carry  — It does not make sense that we trust people to carry on one side of an imaginary line but not the other. Schools are not more stressful then other places (like roads, eh). And the majority of people who are qualified to carry aren’t the 18-21 year olds living on campus getting drunk every week the media and the antis try to make them out to be. They are the veterans, the cops, the homemakers and people seeking second careers.

Senate Bill 299   Hadn’t heard of this one until recently. It is a great idea. In Texas, if your firearm “prints” (is discernible because the shape is visible through your cover garment) or is or is otherwise noticeable, even accidentally,  then it is not ‘concealed’. And that comes with a hefty fine. This bill removes the penalty for accidental exposure. Even if we pass Open Carry, we still need this bill because many folks will still carry concealed.

HB 1077  Parking Lot bill for colleges and universities — makes sense to keep them from implementing policies on what students can keep in their cars.

HB 1078 Removes the penalty for carrying on college or university premises. I would rather remove the restriction completely but this works also.

HB 1142  One to make the nannies and ninnies wet the bed. Teaching the 2nd Amendment and firearm safety in high school as an elective course. I like it but low priority. It would be a start to changing the culture .

HB 1194   Another Open Carry Bill. Will have to look at the differences between this and HB700

HB 1298  This one is needed. Currently if a school is having a field trip someplace; any CHL holder near by or in that location suddenly is violating the law. This would remove that restriction for everyone not a student, teacher or associated with the field trip.

HB 1304  House version of SB 299 removing restriction against inadvertent or accidental display of a concealed firearm.

Find out who represents you (if you don’t already know) here and let’s get on the ball contacting them. Lots of great bills here.
We don’t have to just resist the anti-rights bills; we can push to expand our rights and keep the antis on defense.

Has been introduced in the Texas State Legislature, time to start making some phone calls folks.

Students with concealed handgun licenses could soon carry guns on Texas college campuses.

More than adozen state senators have signed on toSenate Bill 182, also known as the  “Campus Personal Protection Act.”

The bill’s primary author,Senator Brian Birdwell,said the bill is about preserving the 2nd Amendment.

“This affords CHL holders, one of the most lawful group of citizens in our state, to be able exercise that 2nd amendment right to go on to the campus of higher learning to be able defend themselves and protect their right to self-preservation, God forbid, some act of evil be perpetrated,” Birdwell said.

This is a bill that really needs to pass this year. We came close last year but ran out of time. Let’s start with the phone calls and emails early this year and push for this bill.

Hancock said the bill would not just affect students.

“And really more what you’re talking about more with a CHL on a college campus is really you’re probably addressing more professors, university employees then you are actually students,” Hancock said.

That is a point that many people overlook; prohibiting Concealed Carry on campus affects more than just students. Think of the people working on campus getting there before sun up and leaving long after sunset; they are forbidden from the most effective means of protection. We trust those people with the care and instruction of our kids yet we say we don’t trust them to carry a gun. It defies common sense, doesn’t it?

State Senators who have signed on as Authors for Senate Bill 182 -

Birdwell, Campbell, Deuell, Eltife, Estes, Hancock, Hegar, Nelson, Nichols, Patrick, Paxton, Schwertner, Taylor, Williams

There is a companion bill in the House HB 972. So far –

Primary Author – Fletcher;  Joint Authors – Flynn,  Lavender, Burkett; Coauthors – Bohac, Carter, Goldman, Larry Gonzales, Hughes, Doug Miller, Ralph Sheffield, Simpson, Springer, Stickland, Van Taylor, Ed Thompson, Toth, Scott Turner, White, Zedler

I’m not surprised but am disappointed that neither Senator Wendy Davis or Representative Diane Patrick aren’t listed on those bills.

This folks is a great opportunity to fight back against the anti-rights cultists. Let’s make them defend why our kids, our brothers/sisters, moms and dads can’t protect themselves on campus. Let’s push them into trying to explain which of the professors or administrators they don’t trust to carry a firearm. The harder we push on this, the less time they have to push on magazine capacity limits or outlawing private sales.

Please join the discussion.