Charles Butt, the Texas billionaire magnate behind the H-E-B supermarket chain which forbid the open carry of firearms law that went into effect January 1, 2016, opposes school choice, funds anti-school choice lobbyists, and is even credited for his role in killing a 2011 state bill banning “sanctuary cities.”
Texas State Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) asked the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton to clarify the meaning of the word “premises” in the state’s new open carry law, which goes into effect on January 1. At issue is what constitutes school premises and if open carry will be allowed on K-12 campuses. Whitmire filed for the opinion (RQ-0054-KP) on behalf of lobbyists groups.
On May 22, the Texas Senate gave its final approval to House Bill 910: a bill expanding concealed carry to include the Open Carry of handguns in the Lone Star State.
Three groups with seemingly divergent viewpoints came together in Dallas to peacefully express their views about the situation in Baltimore. Peaceful, respectful, but a smaller than expected turn-out was how the #DallasToBaltimore demonstration went in Dallas on Friday night, May 1. The groups gathered to show solidarity with Baltimore, a city torched by the incendiary behavior of its residents in the wake of the tragic death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray.
Open Carry Texas has denounced the activities of a North Texas group that has been reportedly stalking police officers while being openly armed. The group is known by Open Carry Tarrant County and received publicity lately for their activities that allegedly included confronting police officers in the performance of their duty. The group members are openly carrying weapons during these encounters.
With Texas Governor-elect Greg Abbott’s (R) pledge to sign open carry legislation once it reaches his desk, and state lawmakers introducing six open carry bills since the November 4 midterm elections, it appears Texas is getting closer to the open
