TexasCHLforum.com

2firfun50 wrote:

TxLobo wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I'm too mad to comment at this time. I'm going to draft an open letter to Governor Perry sometime next week and I hope our Forum Family will endorse the letter by contacting the Governor in support.

Chas.

Got my support..

I don't have the tact or eloquence of TAM when writing letters, and I sure don't have the full legalese that Chas has..

I look for form letters and try to turn them into my words, or at least some of them being my words, that being said, I look forward to your letter sir. and will throw whatever support I can behind it.

I have the same issue with writing letters. So I too will be waiting.

However, I'd like to get some feedback from the members about the appropriateness of going public with letters to the editors of major newspapers. A polite, professional letter, calling out Senators by name for the region of the newspaper. This is not just a gun issue, but an issue of the Senate attempting to create a special privilege. If they as a legislative body, get away with this, what will they try next?

My two cents:
It's usually not the best idea to write a letter when our emotions are fired up. Sending a letter to a news source - you have to remember that the audience is made up of pro-2A, antis, and mostly, indifferent readers. Unfortunately, most of the major news sources are not 2A friendly, so it is likely that our letters would fall on deaf ears or be used against us. In a large city such as Dallas and Fort Worth, you would likely get the attention of city government, who would certainly do anything they can to prevent this bill, including using our words out of context.

I think we all feel the same as you do. I actually started to draft a letter to Senator Carona, and stopped after about 15 minutes, because I realized while my intentions were good, it wasn't beneficial. My advice: Wait for respected, veteran people such as Mr. Cotton, who understand the legislature process, have a rapport with lawmakers, and know best how to strategize to our advantage. If he feels the need to mass-contact elected officials, he will ask us to do so.

Concerning the dilemma of how to construct/what to write to our lawmakers, I think it would be pretty cool for us to share copies of our letters on this forum.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I'm too mad to comment at this time. I'm going to draft an open letter to Governor Perry sometime next week and I hope our Forum Family will endorse the letter by contacting the Governor in support.

Chas.

Please consider it done. Thanks for your tireless dedication.

My problem is that, Sen. Carona's amendment - completely unrelated to the purpose of HB 508 - was considered to be the deal breaker for the Senate. Please correct me if I'm looking at this wrong, but isn't this simply the Senate putting themselves before us? I understand the argument if it had passed with the amendment, that it would give a bigger chance for 3218 in 2015, but how does that excuse our elected officials willingness to allow local government to illegally bully the common citizen for another 2 years? As far as im concerned, we were sold out because Carona and company couldnt get what they wanted. Before I would vote for any of these men/women, I would demand an explanation. This was a cheap attempt at trying to use this good, well intentioned bill, written for the people as a method to sneak some extra privileges in for themselves, and it backfired, screwing all of us.

I wouldn't compare these guys to Stalin, King George, or Santa Ana. I'm just saying that if they are willing to sneak some amendment that is not related to the bill in, its time to consider other candidates. If this were actually done, I think a lot of politicians would think twice before trying this kind of shadiness.

puma guy wrote:The troubling part is using the amendment process to get something done that didn't pass muster before. Especially at the last minute. I don't know anything about Sen. Carona except he puts himself above us "plain folks" and has no problem jeopardizing a bill that has had great support in both houses. While I agree legislation should been done carefully and cautiously, this is not a process I support. We all know even if HB508 doesn't pass he'd get off scott free if he was caught violating an improper 30.06 where as us plain folks would be spending time, money to fight an arrest and probably some time in jail. And during that time our weapon would be taken and probably never returned w/o a lot of frustration, attorney costs, etc.

That is something important to remember when it is time to vote. Don't just look at the NRA grades, remember their trickery in the past. Regardless of whether or not this bill passes, we should remember this stuff as voters.

Here is a summary of what went on with HB 508. I've already written to each representative and my representative to get 508 done.
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/05/23/ ... /comments/

While personally, I'm disgusted with Sen. Carona's amendment, passing it as is, does not take away/restrict rights, does not cost anything, gives added protection to some, and gives hope that these freedoms will be extended in the future to all.

I don't care whether the amendment stands or not. However, the greater loss is for this bill to die. Senator Carona & company will have to explain to their constituents why they feel they deserve rights not granted to CHL's either way at this point.

I also think passing this bill with or without fuels more talk about bills along the lines of HB 3218 in 2015.