Good morning, 

We asked readers about a new Biden initiative to circumvent the Second Amendment and due process rights. Below, you'll find their thoughts about how Texas should respond.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Slams Adams on Border Crisis

• An ongoing feud between Gov. Greg Abbott and New York City Mayor Eric Adams is escalating. Luca Cacciatore has the details. 
     
• Last year, Adams went after Abbott for giving Texas agencies the greenlight to transport illegal aliens into Democrat-run cities like New York. Texas has sent 40,300 to New York City since August 2022.
      
• Adams has blamed Abbott for his city's fiscal problems in dealing with the flood of illegal aliens—despite NYC being a self-proclaimed "sanctuary city" for illegals. 
      
• During an interview with Fox News, Abbott accused Adams of "aiding and abetting" President Joe Biden’s crisis at the southern border.
      
• "Joe Biden has created this open border policy that has allowed illegal immigrants into our country ... And Mayor Adams is just aiding and abetting that by having a sanctuary city status, welcoming in anybody from across the world to live there or stay there in New York City on the bill of New York City." – Greg Abbott

Conservative Lawmakers Propose 'Contract with Texas'

• A group of current and incoming Republican lawmakers are proposing a Contract with Texas. Brandon Waltens reports the document proposes a dozen specific reforms aimed at improving the integrity, transparency, and efficiency of the Texas House.
      
• Chief among the concerns addressed by the "Contract" is the outsized role Democrats play in the management of the Texas House. The lawmakers propose ending the practice of Democrats holding committee chairmanships in the GOP-dominated chamber.
      
• The "Contract" is designed to decentralize power in the chamber, such as by prohibiting individuals from serving as the speaker for more than two terms and limiting the power of the chamber's parliamentarians.
       
• The Contract with Texas' original signatories include current Republican State Reps. Brian Harrison (Midlothian), Nate Schatzline (Fort Worth), Steve Toth (The Woodlands), Tony Tinderholt (Arlington), and J.M Lozano (Kingsville). Prospective incoming members Mitch Little, Don McLaughlin, Matt Morgan, Wes Virdell, Janis Holt, Shelley Luther, Brent Money, and Mike Olcott also signed the letter.
       
• "It’s NOT business as usual. We need new leadership. Our constituents expect Texas to LEAD the way for the conservative movement!" – Nate Schatzline
       
• Other House members and prospective members have been invited to sign on.

Teacher Accused of Injuring a Child

• A YMCA teacher who worked inside Pflugerville Independent School District has been arrested and accused of injury to a child after multiple instances were caught on surveillance video. Emily Medeiros has the details.
      
• In one instance of the alleged abuse, 45-year-old Geraline Wilson Browning was caught on video with her hands around a child’s throat. At the time of the incidents, Browning was a teacher in the YMCA of Central Texas Childcare Development Center at the district's Northwest Elementary School. 
      
• Reportedly, the video was discovered when Pflugerville ISD staff were sifting through classroom videos for an unrelated request when they found the disturbing footage.
      
• Allegedly, abusive actions occurred on January 29 and February 12, 20, and 21, and involved three separate children in the Pflugerville ISD program.

Runoff Candidates on Gambling Expansion

• With out-of-state gambling interests spending big to launch government-protected casinos in Texas, some lobbyists want the legislature to grant competition-free licenses to their clients. As Amelia McKenzie reports, the issue threatens to overshadow the 2025 legislative session.
     
• Candidates in the runoff elections were asked their thoughts about expanding the footprint of state-sanctioned gambling in Texas. All but 28 Republicans in the House rejected a casino proposal in 2023.
   
• Some candidates gave lengthy replies, while others were more blunt.
      
• "Gambling destroys families and livelihoods," said Chris Spencer, a candidate in the HD 1 race. His opponent, incumbent Gary VanDeaver, did not respond to inquiries.

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Quote-Unquote

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
who was executed by the Nazis on April 9, 1945

Y'All Answered

The Biden administration has launched a center designed to help bureaucrats undermine Americans’ Second Amendment rights through "red flag" style laws and actions.

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought Texas’ response should be, with three options: go along with it, ignore it, or ban all "red flag" actions. Overwhelmingly, readers want "red flags" banned (94.4 percent). Just 3.6 percent think the Biden action should be ignored, while 2.1 percent want Texas to go along with it.

Here is a sampling of the responses I received...

• “Any laws or 'centers' proposed to subvert Texans’ rights for gun ownership must be challenged IN COURT and dismissed as unconstitutional. … This illicit administration will do anything to strip away the Right of gun ownership, and Texas must stand strong to preserve it in its entirety! We even have a flag that displays our Right, ‘Come and Take It!’” – Michael Edinburgh
          

• “And who can forget that our very our Texas Senator, John Cornyn, helped to author the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act? Traitor. The government needs to keep their hands off our guns.” – Dana Krasinski
      

• “Once the anti-American forces succeed in destroying the Second Amendment, the rest of the Constitution will be NULL AND VOID!” – John R. Makow
       

• “It’s imperative that we disarm the most dangerous people in our country, but not with this sinister, unconstitutional ‘center,’ rather by unseating every Democrat at every level of every government and firing every deep state Marxist at every three-letter agency. Then the most dangerous criminals will be unable to continue to harm citizens using the deadly weapons of unlimited tax dollars and unchecked powers.” – Elissa Harrell
      

• “They sure do hate due process when it applies to their pet causes.” – Bruce Delater
      

• “Any action that deviates from the Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process is completely unacceptable.” – David Crites
      

• “I believe that every American who has not committed a crime using a gun should be able to buy and keep guns without fear of reprisal. We want productive citizens to have guns and the criminals not to have guns. Just common sense.” – Virginia Platt
      

• “Why is everyone acting so surprised and upset? Wake up. We are under the control of a Communist dictatorship.” – Coach Hobbs
      

• “Texas needs to do more when it comes to defending citizens’ rights to self-defense and the 2nd amendment.” – Landon Capozzi
      

• “Biden is raging war against Texas…Enough is enough!” – Brenda Schwartz
      

• “It’s not just our Second Amendment rights at stake here. This new waste of tax dollars is another of the cancerous growth the federal government has. Texas must stand for its citizens first, especially in the face of such overreach.” – Chris Cyr
     

• “Secede. Time for a divorce from lunacy.” – Corey Mayo
     

• “This agency was brought to you by the vote of Sen. John Cornyn. Thanks RINO. Texans need to vote him out.” – Herbert Richards
      

• “The federal government is the greatest enemy of the U.S. Constitution, and the center to advance red-flag laws is just another example of the Biden Administration attacking our constitutional rights.” – Roger White
     

• “We have an overabundance of people judging others’ motives without red-flagging every single choice we make every single day.  If I choose to skip breakfast, does that make me unstable? The Lord will make His will known, rest assured.” – Laura Nunn

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