Texas Gubernatorial Race a Referendum on Gun Rights

As this year’s Texas gubernatorial race continues to unfold, one thing is certain – voters who participate in the November election will not only be casting a vote for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) or state Senator Wendy Davis (D), but also for or against gun rights and the 2nd Amendment.

Abbott is one of the most pro-2nd Amendment politicians to grace the political landscape since current Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) took the stage, while Davis holds Terry McAuliffe-like views on gun control.

Abbott believes “the gun control debate was settled in 1791, when the 2nd Amendment was ratified.” He is a hunter, an NRA member, a member of the Texas State Rifle Association, and on USA Carry’s list of “30 Influential Pro-Gun Rights Advocates.”

He supports the current concealed carry laws in Texas, but wants to expand them to allow open carry and campus carry as well.

Politifact reports that Davis opposes campus carry; she voted against it in the Texas senate in 2009 when the vote was to allow “carry on college campuses.” She voted against it again in 2011 when the vote was to allow “carry inside campus buildings.”

Davis did vote for a bill to allow concealed carry permit holders to keep guns locked in their cars on campus. However, according to the Star-Telegram, she first sought assurances from the bill’s sponsor that he would not allow the bill to broaden into “carrying on campus.”

Politifact also reported a Dallas Morning News story showing that Davis, while a Fort Worth City Council member in 2000, proposed an ordinance which “included provisions that would allow only licensed dealers to sell firearms on city premises.” Since many gun shows are held at city convention centers, this would have been a perfect way to end private gun sales at gun shows.

In 2000, she also supported a failed resolution “that would have asked the federal government to require background checks of gun show buyers.”

In September 2013, The Texas Tribune reported that Davis’s “position on gun shows” hadn’t changed. Rather, she simply hadn’t pushed it as a senator because “it’s like spitting in the wind.”

The NRA gives Abbott an A rating. It gives Davis an F.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.