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by Papa_Tiger
Fri Apr 07, 2017 10:17 pm
Forum: 2017 Texas Legislative Session
Topic: HB1911 and HB375 Editorial Opinion
Replies: 28
Views: 13829

Re: HB1911 and HB375 Editorial Opinion

G.A. Heath wrote:Charles also makes it clear that he does not speak for the NRA except when he is authorized to. I do not know about the by-laws and authority the Texas Gun Sense Board Member is bound by but he may have provided a similar disclaimer as Charles does (I have even joked with Charles about his disclaimer prior to recording him as a guest on my podcast).
Mr. Camacho did not make any disclaimers in his testimony. The entirety of his testimony is transcribed above. I wasn't aware he was on the board of that Bloomberg group until someone brought it up.
by Papa_Tiger
Fri Apr 07, 2017 9:17 am
Forum: 2017 Texas Legislative Session
Topic: HB1911 and HB375 Editorial Opinion
Replies: 28
Views: 13829

Re: HB1911 and HB375 Editorial Opinion

He wasn't testifying as a member of Texas Gun Sense. Just as a private citizen and the owner of Safety Matters. He might not have permission from the other organizations he is a member of to testify, or he just might not want to.

Just because I'm a member of a church doesn't mean that I represent them if I give legal testimony.
by Papa_Tiger
Fri Apr 07, 2017 8:49 am
Forum: 2017 Texas Legislative Session
Topic: HB1911 and HB375 Editorial Opinion
Replies: 28
Views: 13829

Re: HB1911 and HB375 Editorial Opinion

For better or worse, if you want to hear and see what Mr. Camacho stated in his testimony to the House committee, it can be found below:

House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety - 3/28/2017

HB 375 Testimony - Starting at 2:41:06

Chairman King - Mr. Camacho?
Raul Camacho - Yes.
King - I'm sorry we've only got two mics there.
Camacho - That's ok, that's ok. Uh good afternoon. My name is Raul Camacho, I'm a licensed peace officer, firearms instructor and the owner of Safety Measures. Um. How you call it. Eight years or so I've been in law enforcement.
King - And are you testifying…
Camacho - I'm going to be testifying against it.
King - All right.
Camacho - 375
King - All right, and you are representing yourself.
Camacho - Yes sir, and Safety Measures, yes sir.
So the 8 years I've been a licensed peace officer, two times I had to draw my gun on someone, two times it was off duty, so four times total. My staff and I exercise our Second Amendment rights responsibly and we hope others do the same.
I'm here to oppose HB 375 because it's taking away much needed education and training standards for citizens that want to carry. Today you are going to hear a lot of rhetoric that people have a right to bear arms and that the right should not be infringed. Their belief and ideology that any right is unrestricted is totally at odd with history, the law, and reality. Nearly every idea in the Bill of Rights comes with restrictions, limitations, and some sort of regulation. The right to bear arms is no different. You are also going to hear rhetoric that constitutional carry will lower crimes. We’ve passed out a packet for you guys to review. You’ll see some data of each state that shows different. Overall crime has gone down throughout the nation, but violent crimes such as murder and aggravated assault has gone up in many states including several states that practice constitutional carry, such as Arizona and Alaska, Montana and a couple other states. The License to Carry program has played a huge role in educating people about laws relating to the use of force, proper storage, firearms safety, correcting bad habits and much more. No one in this building would want a police officer to carry a gun who has not gone through mandatory training. The standards should be the same for those who want to carry in our streets. Carrying a gun on a daily basis is a lifestyle that requires skills, discipline, continuous training, and a proper mindset. I rest my case.
King – Thank you.

HB 1911 Testimony – Starting at 5:39:39

Chariman King – Mr. Camacho, if you would please state your name, who you represent and if you are testifying on, for, or against HB 1911.
Raul Camacho – Yes sir. My name is Raul Camacho, with Safety Measures. I’m here to oppose bill 1911. I’m a firearm instructor, practitioner of the Second Amendment. I train people to get their license and so forth, I train people who don’t want to get their license as well, so I’m a big, a very big proponent of the, what’s it called, of the Second Amendment. I wanted to share that paper there with ya, as it is the reason why I oppose 1911. Bill 1911 and the previous bill that we talked about will make it harder for law enforcement to deal with some of the radicals that we’re dealing with in our state. We have constitutional extremists, we have folks out there that misinterpret the Constitution and there are folks out here that do not respect other people’s opinion. And so, an hour ago, I was being bombarded by one of the staff members here because I had a different opinion about the Second Amendment.
King – Don’t feel bad. I had one post the other day that I had a target on my back.
Camacho – I’m used to it, I’m used to it. But this behavior was not like this 20 years ago.
King – Someone who actually testified today, by the way.
Camacho – Ok. Good. <laughter> But this behavior has changed drastically. I understand that people want more rights and I think that we’re going that route, but to demean others because others don’t agree with your rights or whatever, there are some things in here that you guys propose every year that I might not agree with, but I’m not going to bash ya. I at least have the respect to do everything civilly. The problem with this bill here, like I said is it is going to open up a can of worms for more folks to act childish I guess. Their behavior should not be tolerated. And this is why I oppose this bill. It is going to allow more of these people to speak whatever they want and bash others. There’s a lot of shooting ranges, a lot of gun stores that feel the same way I do. Actually on the previous handout I gave you on the previous bill, it shows that 92 % of my LTC students support training and so, we have a whole different view of the Constitution. I’m all for it. If I wasn’t for it I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. But I just wanted to bring up this matter that behavior, childish behavior will affect the future of Texas if we continue allowing this to happen. Thank you.
King – Members? Thank you.
Camacho – Thank you.

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