Politics

Guns in bars

/ hsoi

There are people who wonder why anyone would want to allow someone to carry a gun in a bar.

This past Friday I went to a local club to see a band play. I don’t know of the venue policy towards concealed carry, but having been there in the past I don’t recall seeing any prohibitive signs (e.g. 30.06, 51% or other signs that prohibit legal concealed carry in Texas), nor do I recall any sort of check done at the door (e.g. wands, frisking, bag searches). So I’m pretty sure I would have been fine to carry. If I did carry, I would have chosen a more restrictive means of carry, since being in tight crowds, people are going to bump into it, you will get jostled about if you’re near the mosh pit, and things could be revealed or loosened.

Nevertheless, just because the venue was one way before doesn’t mean it’s that way this time around (I’ve been to venues with changing behaviors), so I just equip myself with alternative but acceptable mechanisms and leave the carry gun at home.

What always bothers me about it is I know what goes on at shows — especially heavy metal shows. There’s beer, there’s pot, and there’s a lot of testosterone. Mix that up with aggressive music, and it could mean trouble. Granted, most of the time it does not mean trouble. In fact, the only trouble I saw at this show was some kid and his friend getting kicked out for underage drinking. I’ve been to hundreds of shows over my life, and most of the time it is not a problem. If someone does get a little too stupid, usually it’s someone drank too much and can’t handle their alcohol so their friends or the bouncers take care of things easily. I’ve seen the pit get ugly a couple of times, but the group usually clamps down on that because there’s an unwritten code to follow and malicious violence is not tolerated.

But I guess… the day Darrell Abbott, better known as “Dimebag Darrell” legendary guitarist for Pantera and Damageplan, was brutally murdered while performing on stage…. and then some other stories not too long after that (I recall one of someone getting knifed)…. it gives you pause.

Then you have stories like these.

So why would it be bad if I carried my gun in a bar/restaurant/venue? Under the license agreement, I cannot drink. In fact, I didn’t drink at the show anyways because 1. it’s expensive, 2. I prefer having my faculties about me, not just if something went down but I can enjoy the show a lot more if I’m sober.

The reality? I’m sure there were people packing guns and other weapons at the show, likely illegally. You know… gang members don’t really care about laws. Even if the venue had signs prohibiting it, do you think they would have cared? Obviously no signs nor fences nor bouncers or lack of ticket nor much of anything deterred Nathan Gale.

Yes, statistics show that things are generally safe. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have gone in the first place. But statistics are of little comfort to Rita Haney and Vinnie Paul.

The Ding-a-Lings

/ hsoi

Carnac: The Ding-a-Lings

Question: Who is managing the US economy these days?

🙂

Was flipping through channels this morning and Carson Comedy Classics was on. This was one of Carnac’s answer/questions.

Amazing (sad?) how the more things (hope and) change, the more things stay the same.

For them, but not us.

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Yesterday, the Texas Senate overwhelming and very quickly passed a bill that would allow THEM to carry concealed handguns where normal citizens could not.

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said the measure that would allow legislators, statewide elected officials, some former legislators and some state employees to carry their concealed weapons in bars, churches and hospitals and at sporting events and other places they are currently prohibited — including businesses that post signs outside saying concealed handguns are prohibited.

“This bill is really about logistics,” Patrick said earlier, when the bill was approved by a Senate committee. “We go from one place to another — maybe five or six places in one evening for functions and events — and we may be faced with either leaving (guns) in the car or taking them inside and violating the law.

“This bill is just to solve that problem.”

It’s not like us mere peasants could ever face that problem… no. How nice of them to grant themselves privilege. Meantime, campus carry struggles in the legislature.

I did see Wentworth voted against this: good for him.

The linked-to article was also updated with this:

Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, just released the following statement on why he voted against allowing lawmakers to carry their concealed weapons in additional places:

“Today, I voted against the Committee Substitute to Senate Bill 905. As a strong proponent of Second Amendment rights, I could not in good conscience grant myself a privilege that I had failed to first grant law-abiding citizens. Concealed handgun license holders are allowed to carry almost everywhere they go. In my judgment, if we are going to expand when and where Texans can legally carry a concealed firearm, we should start with our citizens — not our lawmakers.”

Good for him.

Texas Senate passes Concealed Carry on Campus

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

It looks like the Texas Senate has passed concealed carry on campus.

Or maybe not.

I’m not sure about the news report. It says:

The issue was attached to SB 1581 , a bill intended to collect about $30 million in fee adjustments out of education.

Debate between Sen. Jeff Wentworth , D-San Antonio, and the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Judith Zaffirini , D-Laredo, went back and forth.

But, the SB 1581 sponsored by Zaffirini was out of the 79th Legislative session. We’re in the 82nd, and THAT SB 1581 was sponsored by Ogden.

So… I’m trying to verify. It’s still too early and the legislature’s website isn’t fully updated yet.

Updated: I’d say it’s verified. See here. Seen a couple other reports. I think KXAN needs to improve their reporting.

Personally, it’s a tainted win. I don’t like this sort of “passed via amendment” process. We all hate it when crap we don’t like gets through because of this sort of thing (here, tack it onto a bill we know no one will vote against!), and just because this is something we like doesn’t mean it justifies how it got through.

It also looks like our “benevolent leaders” have spoken that they feel they are somehow better and more important than the rest of us lowly citizens, and are trying to exempt themselves from places one is prohibited to carry.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Daley

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

As Daley leaves office as Mayor of Chicago, he requests armed bodyguards.

So, guns are good when they protect him, but the peasants aren’t allowed to have guns to protect themselves.

I see.

Progress!

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I’ll just let Alice Tripp tell it.

SB 321 by Kleinschmidt/Hegar to allow the legal possession of firearms in an employee’s personal, locked vehicle when parked on their employer’s parking lot passed the second reading in the Texas House today at 7:48 pm.  The vote came after nearly 3 hours of debate and attempted amendments.

SB 321 was substituted for HB 681, Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt’s bill.  SB 321 by Sen. Glenn Hegar had already completed the process and had passed in the Texas Senate.

Rep. Kleinschmidt and his 98 co-authors successfully fought-off gutting amendments that would have turned the bill on its head by requiring specifically designated “gun parking areas” offered by Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) and another amendment would allow the employer the right to vehicle inspections.  It was offered by Rep. Juan Castro (D-San Antonio).

Seven amendments, not acceptable to Rep. Kleinschmidt,  were attempted and all failed.

The debate led off with Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) calling a point of order.  If the point of order had been sustained, the bill could have been slowed down or killed.  The point of order was overturned.

Senator Glenn Hegar, Jr. (R-Katy) has passed this legislation twice in past sessions but it’s a first for the Texas House.   The legislation has always stalled in House Calendar’s committee.   In addition to the hard work of Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt (R-Lexington), special thanks must go to Calendars Committee chairman, Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi) and Speaker Joe Straus.

Thanks also to our House Committee Chairman, Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont), for his patience and for his help at the front microphone.

The next step is the vote on third reading.  Then SB 321 will return to the Senate for a last approval or discussion.    If all goes well, it next moves to Governor Perry’s desk and could take effect Sept. 1, 2011.

Texas Open Carry Bill progresses

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

There’s a bill working its way through the Texas legislature right now that would bring open carry to the state. It passed committee with a 5-3 vote.

Well, sorta. I covered this before. HB 2756 pretty much just takes the existing laws and crosses out the word “concealed”. So little changes, other than a requirement to conceal.

“Really all they did is some editing to the existing law that’s on the books. They basically just struck out the word ‘concealed,'” said Robert Greene. “Meaning you would be able to do conceal or open depending on the policy. The same restrictions on where you carry would be in place.”

I do appreciate the change to the lawbooks because it’s not adding to, it’s taking away. The engineer in me appreciates simplification like this.

Do I think this will make it through? Hard to tell. All sorts of strange things going on in the Legislature right now. We’ll just have to see, but keep pushing.