Man, Texas is doing it right

[n8thegr8]

Man, that's a lot more bills than we passed...

http://www.nraila.org/legislation/s...-key-items-remain-as-unfinished-business.aspx

...
The state Legislature did pass*Senate Bill 1907*by Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) and Representative Tim Kleinschmidt (R-Lexington), which prohibits public and private colleges and universities from adopting or enforcing policies restricting the possession, transportation and storage of any lawfully-owned firearms and ammunition by CHLs in their locked, privately-owned motor vehicles while driving through or parking on campus.**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

Below are even more pro-Second Amendment measures*passed by the state legislature this session:

Senate Bill 17*by Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) and Representative Fletcher*allows for two employees of a school district or an open-enrollment charter school without security personnel, who are CHLs and authorized by their school board to carry*on campus, to participate in a school safety training program developed by*the*DPS and the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT).**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

Senate Bill 299*by Senator Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) and Representative Kenneth Sheets (R-Dallas)*protects against charges of unlawful carry for the inadvertent or accidental display of a handgun by a Concealed Handgun Licensee.*This bill has been signed into law by Governor Rick Perry!

Senate Bill 864*by Senator Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) and Representative Dan Flynn (R-Van)*reduces the minimum number of required classroom training hours for original and renewal Concealed Handgun Licenses from 10-15 to 4-6.* This change would make it far more convenient for CHL applicants to obtain a license to carry and exercise their right to self-defense.*This bill has been signed into law by Governor Rick Perry!

Senate Bill 987*by Senator Hegar and Representative Patricia Harless (R-Spring)allows the Texas Attorney General to seek a temporary or permanent injunction against a city or county that adopts a regulation in violation of the state firearms preemption law. *This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

Senate Bill 1400*by Senator Estes and Representative Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)*protects BB guns and other air guns against most local regulations by including them in the state firearms preemption statute.**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

Senate Bill 1857*by Senator Estes and Representative Geren*directs the Department of Public Safety to establish a process by which qualified concealed handgun instructors may obtain additional certification in school safety.* Successful completion of the advanced training course would allow the instructor to teach these security techniques to employees of school districts or open-enrollment charter schools who hold Concealed Handgun Licenses (CHLs).*This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

House Bill 48*by Representative Flynn and Senator Patrick*streamlines the process for renewal of a Concealed Handgun License by eliminating the continuing education requirement and handgun proficiency demonstration.* Applicants would still be required to renew their licenses every five years, but they would be provided with an informational form regarding pertinent firearms and deadly force laws, which would have to be signed and turned in with the CHL renewal application.**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

House Bill 333*by Representative Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City) and Senator Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen)*requires hotels which restrict the possession, storage or transportation of firearms to notify guests of such policies on their websites or when confirming reservations.**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

House Bill 485*by Representative Sarah Davis (R-Houston) and Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston)*reduces fees for original or renewal Concealed Handgun Licenses charged to veterans who are honorably discharged after at least one year of military service, reserve and part-time peace officers, TDCJ correctional officers and members of the Texas Military Forces from $70 to $35, respectively, to $25.*This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.*

House Bill 698*by Representative Drew Springer (R-Muenster) and Senator Estesrequires DPS to establish procedures for the submission of fingerprints by CHL applicants who live in counties with populations of less than 46,000 and do not live within 25 miles of a designated facility capable of processing them digitally or electronically.* Availability of such services continues to be a problem in rural areas, as the state only contracts with one company.**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.*

House Bill 1009*by Representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) and Senator Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills)*creates a new category of law enforcement called a “school marshal.”* In order to become a school marshal, applicants would have to complete an intensive training program developed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE).* However, the program would also be open to any employee of a school district or open-enrollment charter school who has a Concealed Handgun License.* The governing bodies of the institutions would decide whether to appoint marshals to certain schools.**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

House Bill 1349*by Representative Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) and Senator Campbell*prohibits the Texas Department of Public Safety from requesting or requiring that an applicant’s social security number be disclosed during the process of obtaining an original or renewal Concealed Handgun License.*This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

House Bill 1421*by Representative Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) and Senator Estes*allows firearms seized by law enforcement in connection with a crime, and not returnable to a rightful owner, to be sold at a public sale to federal firearms licensed dealers rather than be destroyed.**This bill has been signed into law by Governor Rick Perry.

House Bill 3142*by Representative Cecil Bell (R-Magnolia) and Senator Estesrepeals both the requirement that Concealed Handgun License applicants demonstrate proficiency with a specific category of handgun (semi-automatic or non-semi-automatic) and the limitation on CHLs carrying the category of handgun with which they qualified.**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

Additionally, no gun control legislation passed during the regular session – including proposals that were introduced to restrict private firearm transfers at gun shows, ban standard capacity magazines, gut the state firearms preemption law and require drug testing for CHL applicants.**Thanks for all your e-mails and calls to state lawmakers over the past five months on all of these measures – keep up the pressure on your elected officials to*complete their unfinished business on protecting your Second Amendment rights during the current special session!

 

[WessonOil]

And the mainsteam media won't report this.

 

[O4L]

Senate Bill 17*by Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) and Representative Fletcher*allows for two employees of a school district or an open-enrollment charter school without security personnel, who are CHLs and authorized by their school board to carry*on campus, to participate in a school safety training program developed by*the*DPS and the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT).**This legislation has been sent to Governor Perry for his signature.

This bill allows for two employees to carry on campus. Why just two?

That's much better than none, but it seems odd to me that they would only allow two per district to carry.

 

[BIG_MIKE2005]

Dang, we need the same to start happening here. This is a great list of pro 2A things being done for Texas.

 

[Poke78]

Let's compare TX apples to OK apples, using the TX bill numbers in the order given in the quote:

1907 - Already the law in OK for public universities/colleges/technology centers.
17 - Similar efforts failed in the legislative session.
299 - OC, baby!!
864 - 8 hrs. training in OK with waivers for some categories.
987 - Not sure in OK but a great approach for slapping down those who like to overstep.
1400 - Good idea and ought to be done in OK.
1857 - See 17 above.
48 - No refresher required for renewal, just a stamp and photos and a check.
333 - Good move but not exactly "business-friendly"
485 - OK needs to do that, too
698 - Fixing a TX problem, not sure that's an OK problem, too
1009 - Again, see 17
1349 - Wondering how they run a background without SSN
1421 - Good move, eliminates local petty tyrants playing politics. OK ought to go there, too!
3142 - OK has a version where qualifying with the semi-auto gets you all three on the license.

So, overall, I'd say TX is catching up with us some things and showing us the way on others, especially the school safety issues. I'm not packing to move across the Red River any time soon.

 

[n8thegr8]

This bill allows for two employees to carry on campus. Why just two?

That's much better than none, but it seems odd to me that they would only allow two per district to carry.

Maybe that's all the funding they have for it? Notice it just mentions allowing two CHL holders that have been approved to carry at their school to participate in a training program. I haven't looked at the bill, but the summary doesn't mention the training program being a prerequisite for carrying in the school.

 

[WessonOil]

This bill allows for two employees to carry on campus. Why just two?

That's much better than none, but it seems odd to me that they would only allow two per district to carry.

Two per district is of little use, unless a distict has just two campuses.

This should be two per campus, at least.

 

[O4L]

Maybe that's all the funding they have for it? Notice it just mentions allowing two CHL holders that have been approved to carry at their school to participate in a training program. I haven't looked at the bill, but the summary doesn't mention the training program being a prerequisite for carrying in the school.

I see what you are saying, but if several employees are allowed to carry, it seems even stranger that only two employees per district would be allowed to participate in the training.

 

[n8thegr8]

I see what you are saying, but if several employees are allowed to carry, it seems even stranger that only two employees per district would be allowed to participate in the training.

I Just read the bill

According to section 46.03(a)(1) of the penal code, they can already carry on campus with written authorization of the school.

Also, it's 2 per district, per year to attend the training at UT San Marcos, free of charge. If the district wants to send more, they have to pay for the training.

 

[TallPrairie]

Lots of good stuff here. Congratulations to our Texan brothers and sisters! Oklahoma also made some very good progress this year. While we did not enact the sheer number of bills that TX did, much of OK's new legislation is quite significant in practice. I have in mind especially the measure freeing up private schools to authorize carry, and the one clarifying the status of posted private property.

There's also going to be some potentially big stuff coming down the pike next year in OK -- stay tuned.

Both states are moving in a positive direction on RKBA. Hopefully each state's example will continue to spur the other on!