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This thread is about Speaker Bonnen, not anyone else. I've had calls from two reporters asking questions I'm not going into now. We all know enemies of the Second Amendment monitor and copy posts. Keep the thread on topic.

Chas.

Ruark wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:52 pm Keep in mind also that while some of us tend to eat, sleep and breath gun issues, to most legislators, it's just one tiny crumb on a very large table.

This is the political reality that we have to deal with every session. This is why the all-or-nothing approach does not work.

Chas.

mojo84 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:53 pm Charles,
I am not trying to be confrontational or knock/bash you or the NRA. Again, I will remind you and others, we are on the same side of when it comes to gun issues. I am just confused as I seem to be getting conflicting info regarding how the NRA develops it's ratings. See the thread at these links. www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1 ... s#p1173537
www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1 ... s&start=30

Re: Straus not running for a new term.
#23 Post by Charles L. Cotton » Wed Oct 25, 2017 11:12 pm
Captain Matt wrote:
ScottDLS wrote:
I would assume the NRA ratings are based on actual votes or legislation sponsored, not just surveys.
Maybe so but (1) they don't seem to be based on results and (2) gun rights bills do get killed behind the scenes and I can't recall anybody getting downgraded for it. Either way the lack of transparency in grading results in a lack of usefulness for myself and others. Which is fine if that's what they're shooting for.
As ScottDLS noted, grades are based on votes, not questionnaires unless the person is a freshman with no voting record. You act as though we don't pass pro-gun bills and that complete garbage. Gun bills die in the House based upon the Speaker and in the Senate based upon the Lt. Governor. Yet you want to blast all Republicans you call RINOs and the NRA for its rating system. You clearly don't know how the Legislature works.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:52 pm
mojo84 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:06 pm
The Annoyed Man wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:01 pm My sense is that Bonnen will lose his NRA “A” grade in one fell swoop after this session. What a catastrophe his speakership has turned out to be.
We'll see. Not sure how they take into account such as this since they use recorded votes and published positions on gun issues. I understand them trying to keep their ratings as objective as possible but as long as reps can hide behind not voting and killing bills in committee with them getting a vote, I do not know how they will change the system to consider such.

Hopefully, they'll figure something out.
We can and do consider any action taken that impacts the Second Amendment.

Chas.
Here is a quote of me when I said I think the NRA should take more into consideration than just votes.

Re: Straus not running for a new term.
#33 Post by mojo84 » Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:30 am
My point is that I am not sure the TSRA or NRA takes enough into consideration when they assign their ratings. I think one has to look beyond just voting record when it comes to the speaker of the house.

First, you need to block the quotes properly so it doesn't appear that I wrote statements that were made by other members.

Secondly, the posts you quoted are not inconsistent with what I posted in this thread. Here, you stated that NRA/TSRA only grades based upon votes. The two year old post you quoted dealt with votes v. questionnaire responses. For the first time in decades, a Republican Speaker appointed one F-rated Democrat and one D-rated Democrat to chair the two most important committees for gun-owners. Bonnen earned his A-rating with his votes. Once in power as Speaker, he betrayed Texas gun-owners. Unlike most representatives, we have more upon which to rate Bonnen down.

Straus-haters and the all-or-nothing crowd want to equate him with Bonnen's actions and they are not equivalent by any stretch of the imagination.

Chas.

Ruark wrote: ↑Wed Mar 27, 2019 6:01 pm
Charles L. Cotton wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:00 pmWe also had good Chairmen, so we didn't have to fight multiple dozens of anti-gun bills like we are doing now, thanks to Bonnen. (We are tracking on the order of 140 bills, most of which are bad.

Chas.
Are there ANY pro-gun bills that look like they're headed towards passage this session?

We will get very little this session. I predict it will be the most unproductive session in many years.

Chas.

Jason Todd wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:18 pm
The Annoyed Man wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:01 pm My sense is that Bonnen will lose his NRA “A” grade in one fell swoop after this session. What a catastrophe his speakership has turned out to be.
I hope you're right but Straus did the same thing and didn't get downgraded.

Straus was no friend of gun owners, but he didn't do anything that approaches what Bonnen has done. He kept permitless-carry bottled up, and he didn't push my pet project of removing off-limits areas. But we passed a lot of pro-gun bills with him as Speaker, some only because Straus made sure they passed in the House. We also had good Chairmen, so we didn't have to fight multiple dozens of anti-gun bills like we are doing now, thanks to Bonnen. (We are tracking on the order of 140 bills, most of which are bad.

Chas.

mojo84 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:06 pm
The Annoyed Man wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 4:01 pm My sense is that Bonnen will lose his NRA “A” grade in one fell swoop after this session. What a catastrophe his speakership has turned out to be.
We'll see. Not sure how they take into account such as this since they use recorded votes and published positions on gun issues. I understand them trying to keep their ratings as objective as possible but as long as reps can hide behind not voting and killing bills in committee with them getting a vote, I do not know how they will change the system to consider such.

Hopefully, they'll figure something out.

We can and do consider any action taken that impacts the Second Amendment.

Chas.

BCGlocker wrote: ↑Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:03 am
Charles L. Cotton wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:24 pm Below is an article posted on TexasFirearmsCoalition.com. I'll be releasing a podcast on this today or tomorrow.
Charles, did you release the podcast already? I must miss it.

No, I've been swamped! I won't get to it this week, but maybe next week.

Chas.

SewTexas wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:31 pm
Scott Farkus wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:57 pm
SewTexas wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:13 pm as for "why are certain people chairs...?"
my husband says that apparently in Texas the chairmanship goes to the most senior person in the committee, personally I would say that it should go to the most senior person in the majority, but ...well, that's me....
I absolutely agree. What's the point of having a political party if not this at the very least? And again, it's not like the Republicans just barely hold a one or two seat majority - they've had basically 2/3 of the House for like 15 or 20 years. It's ridiculous.

I don't know one way or the other about the seniority thing but I looked up Nevarez and he's only been a state rep since 2013. So if five years is the most senior member of a committee, I don't know what to think.
wow, I thought Poncho had been around for longer than that.
I don't know....I'm honestly just repeating what my hubby told me. I suppose it could work some other way, maybe someone will come around and correct me.

Some committee appointments are "seniority appointments," but the chairman and vice-chairman are solely the Speaker's choice. There have been freshmen chairmen and vice-chairmen.

Chas.

I want to apologize to some of our Members for a few of my posts. I was less than statesmanlike and I have no excuse. I guess I was/am still steaming over Bonnen's appointments and I let that color my responses.

All we can do at this point is keep the pressure on the Speaker and get every possible gun owner involved in this and future sessions.

Chas.

E.Marquez wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 12:32 pm Chas, are there rules in place that a bill must go to committee A vs B?
If a bill historically goes to Homeland security for consideration, is it required, or just normal?

Could the type of bill that in the past has always gone to homeland security, in this session be put to some other committee?

If so, who controls what bill goes to what committee?

The Speaker can send any bill to any committee they wish. However, sending a bill to a clearly inappropriate committee would have repercussions.

Chas.

RoyGBiv wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:20 am
Papa_Tiger wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:52 am https://texasscorecard.com/state/bonnen ... xas-house/

Interesting take on the House Committee appointments:

The Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety has now been given to Democrat State Rep. Poncho Nevarez (Eagle Pass). While pro-gun legislation had traditionally been sent to this committee, it may be a sign that bills such as constitutional carry could be sent to the Committee on State Affairs instead.
Let's hope so.... I suppose we'll find out shortly.

I don't recall gun bills ever being sent to State Affairs. If they are this session, it will be solely because of the firestorm his committee appointments to the Homeland Security & PUblic Safety Committee and the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee have generated. This is Bonnen's only way out of the political disaster he has created for himself and his fellow Republicans.

Chas.

1911 Raptor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:24 am
mojo84 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:54 am
1911 Raptor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 6:31 am Didn’t someone post about Straus supporting this guy? Red flags should have went up then!
It's my understanding he is and has been a Straus ally.
2nd red flag should have been when every single democrat voted for him. It just amazes me how the minority party seems to always get what they want. We are being played by both sides!

No, that's not a red flag. Once it is clear that a specific person has the votes to be elected Speaker, everyone who wants the committees of their choice and wants to get their bills passed will vote for the chosen one. When a handful of Representatives voted against Strauss, their bills didn't pass and they didn't get the committees they wanted.

That may not be right, but that's the way it is.
Chas.

crazy2medic wrote: ↑Thu Jan 24, 2019 9:24 am I was worried my representative Phil King was going to be speaker of the house, I guess Bonnen was a chameleon!

Phil King would have been fantastic on our issues! He has an A+ rating and you don't get the "+" unless you carry our bills and work hard to get them passed.

Chas.

mojo84 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:57 pm
Charles L. Cotton wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:25 pm
mojo84 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:48 pm
Charles L. Cotton wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:21 pm
mojo84 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 4:00 pm Not the least bit surprised. What is his NRA 2nd Amendment rating?

http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluati ... EjX9GlMGyU
Then you're the only person in Texas who isn't surprised. Bonnen has an A rating and, until now, it is well-deserved. He always voted with gun owners. Today is a new day.

Chas.
No, I'm not the only one in Texas. There are many that knew he would be Strauss 2.0.

He is not a conservative and is no different than the other RINO's. http://index.empowertexans.com/legislat ... 2017-index

This here indicates he has no interest in advancing guns rights. http://votesmart.org/candidate/politica ... EkqMWlMGyU

He is ok with the status quo.

I wil agree that I may be one of the few Texans that doesn't believe the NRA ratings are the holy grail when it comes to legislators' position on gun rights. I know the NRA tries its best but I do not believe their ratings are as sound as many others think.
Show me any evidence that he was not fully supportive of the Second Amendment. Show me where he voted against gun owners. Do that, then I'll believe you thought he would betray gun owners.

Chas.
Look at his chairman choices. Look at who his donors are and who he aligned himself. He is a Strauss ally.. Look st the link I provided that shows his position on gun rights. He indicated he supports what we currently have.

Much of the problem with the Republican party is we can't figure out who is a real Republican and who is playing the game to gain power.

It's known he was a Strauss ally. Why would we think he would do different? http://ballotpedia.org/Texas_state_legi ... l_conflict

Texas Monthly reported be was a Straus ally.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/t ... peaker/ven

Don't point me to general crap that doesn't address my questions. Show me where he voted against Texas gun owners. Show me evidence that he does not fully support the Second Amendment. I looked at your links and didn't see anything on these issues. The VoteSmart website didn't show any answers to the gun-related questions.

You want to point to issues other than the Second Amendment, but that's your problem, not mine. I was talking about guns, not other issues. The NRA rates based upon votes on gun issues, not abortion, taxes or anything else you want to consider.

You said you knew he would betray gun owners. I'm still waiting for your proof.

Chas.

Oldgringo wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:30 pm The FIX is in! This is worse than the officiating in the Saints vs Rams game last Sunday.

Where is Governor Abbott, who appointed this anti-2A POS to this position?

The Speaker of the House is not appointed by the Governor. He is elected by House members.

Chas.

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