When the Texas Legislature convenes in Austin early next month, the topic of guns will come up.
There are nineteen bills that have been put forward by lawmakers to restrict guns – who owns ‘em and how they get ‘em.
Democrats Joe Moody and Jose Rodriguez, both from El Paso and both in the state House, are looking to impose what are called “Red-Flag Laws,” allowing a judge to remove weapons from someone the court deems a threat.
Derrick Cavaco of the Armed Citizen’s Project thinks that’s a mistake. “Anybody can accuse anybody of anything in an attempt to weaken them from being able to defend themselves,” he says.
Red-Flag Laws became a popular topic of conversation following the school shooting at Santa Fe High this past year, but Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick both say they are opposed to the measures that are being proposed.
Closing the gun show loophole, as some call it, is also going to come up, again. Similar legislation failed to get approval in 2013. And 2015. And 2017. “You can’t just walk into a gun show and purchase a firearm without some kind of background check being done. The thought process that restricting that will actually save anyone’s life is just a falsehood,” says Cavaco.
Constitutional carry will also be back for a third time. In the two previous sessions the bill never made it out of committee.