Just like in Florida the other day, now in Texas a REPUBLICAN NRA-rated "A+" committee chairman has defeated the Texas Constitutional Carry bill, and lied about the reasons for it. Representative Phil King is a graduate of, and instructor at Dallas Baptist University, and a former police captain. In three of the past House elections his sole opponent has been a Libertarian candidate, whom he defeated by garnering at least 80% of the vote. King has consistently been rate "A+" by the NRA.

Excerpt from email from Lone Star Gun Rights this morning:

On Tuesday, Phil King made the decision to not vote on HB375, instead opting to bring forward a vote on the far more restrictive HB1911. Prior to the vote, 5 of the 6 Republicans made statements that HB1911 did not go far enough to be Constitutional Carry, but all 6 voted to pass it out. This means that had King brought HB375 up for a vote, it would have passed.

King stated that his reason for doing this was because Rep. Stickland had not yet brought up a Committee Substitute and that Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, had issues with HB375. Both of these statements are blatant lies! AG Paxton released the following statement on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon:

"Throughout my entire life in public service, I have been a constant and steadfast supporter of Constitutional Carry..."

* * * * *
Meanwhile, here in Hawaii, we have an AG who believes that no citizen has any right to bear any firearm outside their home except for hunting and shooting at a range (and I suspect he'd do away with those if he could). Once again I have to shake my head in disbelief and ask "Are we really part of the United States and are these people reading the same Constitution?"

* * * *
Edited to add a further detailed quote from the NRA about the justification for their "A+" rating:

The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced this week that State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) has earned an ‘A+’ rating, the organization’s highest score, on their legislative scorecard, as well as the organization’s endorsement.

“Representative King’s high rating and endorsement is based on his strong and tireless support for Second Amendment issues in the Texas Legislature,” said NRA spokeswoman Tara Reilly Mica.

“Protecting the Second Amendment is more important today than ever before as our right to bear arms faces constant threat from the left,” commented King, “This is an issue that is extremely important to both my constituents and conservatives across the state, and I look forward to continuing to fight to preserve our Second Amendment rights in the coming legislative session.”

Just got an email update from Lone Star Gun Rights in Texas. That REPUBLICAN state senator committee chairman has apparently been successful in defeating the constitutional carry law again this year. Read the whole disgusting story at the link below:

[Aside: I wonder how many calls Tulsi Gabbard gets a day asking her to support HR38?]

https://lonestargr.com/legislative-updates/phil-king-kills-constitutional-carry/

Exceprts:

Lone Star Gunners, this is not a post I was hoping to write. This piece is sure to infuriate each and every one of you. On Tuesday, April 25, Phil King all but said that he does not care about what We the People want. Taking a point of personal privilege at the committee meeting, King said, “I can tell you on numerous days, my office has received anywhere from 100-300 calls, and uncounted emails and other communications” regarding HB375 and HB1911. That said, since HB1911 has already been voted out, it is highly unlikely that any calls were for that bill.

That is not the infuriating part, however. This whole mess started the week prior when Phil King said that Attorney General Ken Paxton’s staff had indicated some issues they had with HB375.

Because of these contradictions, Phil King decided that he absolutely had to address the issue. He called the issue "fake news" and slammed us for spreading an "internet myth." He went on to bash us for "harassment and bullying of my staff, and threats made against me and others by various... supporters of HB375."

Let me be perfectly clear to Mr. King: No one at Lone Star Gun Rights has ever told anyone to call and curse out Phil King's staff. That said, we completely understand how infuriating it is being constantly ignored by a public official elected to serve us; however, that does not give King a valid excuse to deny us our rights. While serving in the capacity of a committee chairman, Phil King represents ALL of Texas, not just his district. Only when he is on the House floor does he represent District 61.

King continued from his throne, but admitted he is ignoring us. "My staff had to clear off 400 voicemails in just the last few days, many of which were language none of us would use in public." Right here, King admits that he is receiving between 100-300 phone calls per day, an undisclosed number of emails and taken calls, and has deleted over 400 voicemails just from the past few days. I guarantee that no other single piece of legislation is garnering anywhere near this level of attention from across the State. He is blatantly admitting that he does not care about our support for HB375.

The evidence is clear. While Phil King may continue to dismiss us as "fake news," he cannot escape the facts. King clearly was hoping that the AG's Office would take the heat for his act to leave HB375 pending. Fortunately, Mr. Pier's testimony only further proves that Phil King is no friend to our right to bear arms. He ignored the over 75,000 petitions that were brought back in March specifically for HB375. He is deliberately ignoring 100-300 calls per day, and hundreds of voicemails and emails, also for HB375. Phil King is NOT for Constitutional Carry.

"Aside: I wonder how many calls Tulsi Gabbard gets a day asking her to support HR38?]"

I know she has at least one call. 
But you are talking to animals as dumb as posts
when it comes to written down personal rights.
The moderator has warned me about disparaging Democrats.
so I won't say the truth.

"Aside: I wonder how many calls Tulsi Gabbard gets a day asking her to support HR38?]"

I know she has at least one call. 
But you are talking to animals as dumb as posts
when it comes to written down personal rights.
The moderator has warned me about disparaging Democrats.
so I won't say the truth.

I DO know that each time I've called, the person answering the phone does not know what HR38 is, and they have to go look it up, even after I tell them it's the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017... so they can't be getting very many calls if they have no idea what it is nor what her position is on it, nor even if she has taken a position. It's you and me, bro... maybe a couple of others... it for sure isn't hundreds of calls per day as in the Texas case...  that's why we've got what we've got (though if we had enough people on our side to make hundreds of calls per day she wouldn't likely be "representing" us... though this
Republican guy in Texas...). Of course the Texas Republican got 75,000 petitions signatures delivered to him in addition to all the calls and emails and he still screwed the people of Texas.  I can see why people don't bother... to even take a couple of minutes a day to do something.

Update. Note the strategy adopted by the Republicans so they won't have to go on record as opposing "constitutional carry".

Texans could carry a handgun without a license under a House bill that's stuck in the chamber

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texa...ll-stuck-limbo

A bill allowing Texans to tote handguns without a license is creeping slowly through the Texas House, infuriating law enforcement groups and emboldening advocates who want fewer gun restrictions.

The legislation passed through the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee last month, the farthest such a proposal has ever moved through the Legislature. But with a web of procedural deadlines fast approaching, it's unclear if the Legislature is prepared to pull the trigger and bring the measure to the floor.

"If you really feel passionate about something, you keep talking to your colleagues and keep making changes. That's what we're doing," Rep. James White, R-Hillister, the bill's author. "I'm always confident, but confidence doesn't amount much to probability."

House rules create a number of avenues for those in leadership to kill bills without ever putting them to a vote. Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said it looks like White's unlicensed carry bill could run the risk of getting lost in the calendar shuffle. Thursday is the last day the House can give preliminary approval to bills that originated in the lower chamber.

"This is the time of the year where Todd Hunter does that voodoo he does so well," Jones said, referring to the chairman of the powerful Calendars Committee that sets the House schedule. "Since there doesn't seem to be a real groundswell of either public support or even party support to push it through, that Rep. Hunter may just never schedule it to be considered on the floor. In which case, when the clock strikes midnight on May 11th, it will be dead."

<snip>

A majority of Republicans support leaving Texas gun laws alone, except for tea party Republicans, who support less-restrictive regulations, according to a 2015 poll from the Texas Politics Project.

Jones said that if the bill made it to the House floor, it would likely pass, because few Republican lawmakers would be willing to cast a vote against a proposal colloquially called "constitutional carry." If they did vote against it, Jones said, lawmakers could open themselves up in a primary election race to questions about whether they support Second Amendment rights.

"This is a good example of where Speaker [Joe] Straus will protect the majority of the Republican delegation," Jones said. "What Straus and Team Straus will most likely do is keep Republicans from ever having to cast a vote on this, with the full knowledge that they're going to take the heat for it. That's one of the reasons Straus keeps getting elected speaker."

"Aside: I wonder how many calls Tulsi Gabbard gets a day asking her to support HR38?]"

I know she has at least one call. 
But you are talking to animals as dumb as posts
when it comes to written down personal rights.
The moderator has warned me about disparaging Democrats.
so I won't say the truth.

I don't have a lot of "friends" on Facebook. Mostly I have childhood friends, a few from high school and family. Some of my HS friends are fairly liberal though I see them espousing conservative ideas which they believe are liberal ideas. Yeah, they are confused. And a few are women who will support just about any women's causes no matter what the real meaning/outcome will be or the significance of their nativity. Anyway,  yesterday one of them reposted something on Facebook about Tulsi and she commented how much she loves Tulsi and hopes she runs for president next election. Sigh........