Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Monday, April 26, 2021
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• It’s been a couple weeks since the Texas House passed constitutional carry House Bill 1927.
   
• A perennial legislative priority of the Republican Party of Texas, the bill would remove the requirement of individuals to hold a gun permit from the state.
   
• But despite passing the House with bipartisan support, the proposal has hit a new roadblock in the Texas Senate.

• At the beginning of last week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the bill did not currently have enough support in the Senate. 
   
• “If we have the votes to pass a permitless carry bill off the Senate floor, I will move it. At this point, we don’t have the votes on the floor to pass it. I plan to meet with law enforcement who oppose permitless carry and with the [National Rifle Association] and [Gun Owners of America], who support it, to see if we can find a path that a majority of senators will vote to pass.” –Lt. Gov Dan Patrick
   
• This fact was also reflected in Senate Bill 540 by State Sen. Drew Springer (R–Muenster), the only constitutional carry bill  filed in the Senate at the time, not being heard in the State Affairs committee despite being filed in February. 

• With citizen advocates spending the last week trying to get their state senators on the record on where they stand on constitutional carry, pressure is building up on the Senate to do something. And the pressure is working...
   
• On Thursday, State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R–Georgetown) filed Senate Bill 2224, a version of permitless carry, and it was referred to the Administration Committee, which Schwertner chairs. Almost immediately, gun rights advocates expressed skepticism over both the content of the bill and the fact that a completely new bill was filed with just weeks left in the legislative session, rather than just referring the house’s version. 
   
• Seemingly overnight, the Texas Senate created a new committee called the Senate Special Committee on Constitutional Issues—also chaired by Schwertner. Then on Friday morning, they referred House Bill 1927, the constitutional carry bill that passed the House, to the committee.
   
• The newly created committee is comprised of State Sens. Charles Schwertner (R–Georgetown), Brian Birdwell (R–Granbury), Dawn Buckingham (R–Lakeway), Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe), Bob Hall (R–Edgewood), Chuy Hinojosa (D–McAllen), and Eddie Lucio (D–San Benito).
   
• Of these members, so far Buckingham, Hall, Schwertner, and Creighton have publicly come out in support of constitutional carry.
   
• With just 34 days left in the legislative session, and with impending self-imposed deadlines on how and when the Legislature can take up certain bills, the clock is ticking.

Join us in wishing a happy birthday to our lawyer, Tony McDonald!

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