Looks like some movement is happening on Austin’s “feels-good-to-do-something-that-accomplishes-nothing” desire to ban gun shows.

First, Don Dahl, Director of Range Safety at the Austin Rifle Club, writes that “I put some chinks in the armor” and the Travis County Commissioners want a session with their attorneys. Apparently Nordyke v. King, 681 F. 3d 1041 – Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 2012  is playing a part.

TSRA sent out a mailer:

Background and History on Gun Shows

Texans love their gun shows. Until the mid-80’s gun shows were a venue soley for private seller and the collector’s clubs across the country. Anyone holding a federal firearm license was limited to doing business at the address on their license. Congress was successfully lobbied by licensees wanting to “even the playing field” and today’s gun shows developed.

In 1999 Todd Beiter was the only promoter who answered the call to come to Austin during the legislative session to work with TSRA and fight down Rep. Debra Danburg’s attempt at a statewide Gun-Show-Loophole bill. The legislature was out to level the playing field some more and this time the private seller would be out the door.

Beiter testified in House Public Safety Committee and explained the laws covering private sales and those covering the sale of a firearm by an FFL. He also explained the safety precautions taken at the door of his gun show, including the number of off-duty police officers who check and cable firearms brought in for sale by both the vendors and the general public.

At the end of the day, the House committee voted and the Democratic majority defeated Rep. Danburg’s bill. This was a giant win for Texas gun owners and the outcome could have been different if Todd Beiter had not come to Austin.

That’s an interesting and significant bit of history.

The TSRA mailer continues:

The Contract:

Todd Beiter has a contract with Travis County for the use of the facility until January 2014. He pays a great deal of money to Travis County. The county does not want to lose a good tenant. Remember it’s pressure from the City of Austin.

Pressure from the city? or from a select few council members?

More from the TSRA mailer:

The Federal Court Ruling:

In 2000, Todd Bean, owner of High Caliber Gun and Knife Show was handed a list of requirements by the City of Houston. High Caliber contracted to use Houston-owned property. The list included, among other things, a requirement to register attendees and another to remove the firing pins from firearms.

There was a legal challenge and the case went to federal court. NRA’s general counsel, Bob Dowlut, wrote an amicus brief in support of High Caliber. Bean prevailed against Houston. The language of the ruling was unusually broad and likely applies to Saxet.

Todd Beiter runs a safe, legal business, takes care of the public, the facility, his vendors, and Todd is a good tenant. The attempt to break his contract comes from the City of Austin and “feel-good” city politics.

So the legal pressure builds.

But if you REALLY want to see what legal pressure is, just look at the response Lawrence Person received from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott:

If Austin or Travis Co. try to ban gun shows they better be ready for a double-barreled lawsuit.

Granted, it was over Twitter and isn’t anything official, but I think it speaks volumes for itself.

So like I said, Austin City Council, is this really the wisest way to proceed? To try to ban gun shows is not going to make one bit of difference in terms of reducing violent crime. But for certain if you proceed, you are going to lose revenue from the lost contracts and sales tax, and then spend too much money out of the city’s coffers to fight the inevitable lawsuits. This is not a wise move for a city struggling with finances. If you really want to spend that money, there are tangible issues in our city that you can address that would make an actual reduction in violent crime. Why not start there.