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Just got this in my NRA-ILA Alerts. Was a snoball's chance it got this far. thought these were all dead?
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Critical Right-to-Carry Reform Bill May Be Considered by
Texas House Tomorrow!
Please Contact Your State Representative Today!

The House Calendars Committee has finally set NRA-backed Senate Bill 534 by State Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) and State Representative Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs) for Tuesday's House Calendar. This is the last day that Senate bills may be considered by the full House.

SB 534 allows Texas Concealed Handgun Licensees (CHLs) to transport and store their handguns in locked motor vehicles while parked on their employers' property.

Business groups and industry lobbyists are pulling out all the stops to defeat this measure. It is critical that you call your State Representative TODAY and urge him or her to support SB 534. Contact information for your State Representative can be found at http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/welcome.php.

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/welcome.php

It is out of committee and will be considered for a vote as soon as tomorrow (22 May)!

Click on the above link and it will help you determine who your representatives are.

If this passes, it's a slam dunk that Gov. Perry will sign.

As far as I can tell, SB534 was not voted on yesterday.

I am not familiar with the rules by which the House does its business. Does the fact that it was scheduled to be voted on yesterday but wasn't mean that it is dead for the session, or could it be voted on today, tomorrow, etc.?

From what I understand… DEAD!

We need to hold the reps on the Calendars Committee responsible for this. They put Business and Special interests ahead of the safety of their constituents. We really need to raise about this so it doesn't happen again next session.

SB534 died on the House Calendar at midnight last night, along with 169 other bills. The Calendars Committee did us in on this one, but it was just the tool, not the instigator. The business community organizations came out against this bill like no other opposition I've ever seen on any bill.

2009 is right around the corner and as Gen McArthur said, "We shall return."

Chas.

"...business community organizations..."

Need to go back and look at the discussions here...

I know we must have a list (in our discussions) of those folks that lobbied against this, and a few other things during those hearings...

Need to keep this in mind for a while...

Well;

We gave them (the big business associations) a chance at a bill that few CHL'ers would utilize. What with notifying the employer in writing and providing copies of your CHL and all. They shot us down.

Next session we need to get behind a bill such as HB 1037. If they are going to oppose us on a bill such as SB 534, might as well go for the gusto and get some real protection for firearms owners in employers parking lots.

yes sir.

you ARE correct. this issue has to be resolve. It's basically ridiculous for an employer to be able to circumvent (or trump; haha) State Law.

the state (and federal gubmint) says I'm okay to carry, but gahlly gee, boss says I can't...

I would like to submit the Oklahoma wording for consideration in 2009...

No person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity shall be permitted to establish any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting any person, except a convicted felon, from transporting and storing firearms in a locked vehicle on any property set aside for any vehicle.

Simple, direct, and to the point.

I just wanted to point out that it was not really the businesses fault that the bill died. In this case (this specific legislature), it was the politicians fault with the way they played politics all session. It started with the battle for the Speaker of the House, and then the 60 days with do nothing rules made/enforced put a lot of bills behind schedule. A lot of the stalling at the end of the session came from the political reactions to the original stalling and from the new battle for the next Speaker of the House.

Sure, the opposition from the business community certainly did not help us, but the real blame is the reps and senators themselves and the two major parties.

srothstein wrote:I just wanted to point out that it was not really the businesses fault that the bill died. In this case (this specific legislature), it was the politicians fault with the way they played politics all session. It started with the battle for the Speaker of the House, and then the 60 days with do nothing rules made/enforced put a lot of bills behind schedule. A lot of the stalling at the end of the session came from the political reactions to the original stalling and from the new battle for the next Speaker of the House.

Sure, the opposition from the business community certainly did not help us, but the real blame is the reps and senators themselves and the two major parties.

You are absolutely correct about what went in in the House. However, as for SB534, it would not have come out of House Calendars Committee until it was too late to pass, even if it had go to Calendars earlier than April 25th. Not only did the Texas Association of Business (TAB) oppose it, virtually every Chamber of Commerce in the State was sending emails and faxes opposing SB534. The money lined up against SB534 was staggering and this is why this battle will be hard fought again in 2009.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

srothstein wrote:I just wanted to point out that it was not really the businesses fault that the bill died. In this case (this specific legislature), it was the politicians fault with the way they played politics all session. It started with the battle for the Speaker of the House, and then the 60 days with do nothing rules made/enforced put a lot of bills behind schedule. A lot of the stalling at the end of the session came from the political reactions to the original stalling and from the new battle for the next Speaker of the House.

Sure, the opposition from the business community certainly did not help us, but the real blame is the reps and senators themselves and the two major parties.

You are absolutely correct about what went in in the House. However, as for SB534, it would not have come out of House Calendars Committee until it was too late to pass, even if it had go to Calendars earlier than April 25th. Not only did the Texas Association of Business (TAB) oppose it, virtually every Chamber of Commerce in the State was sending emails and faxes opposing SB534. The money lined up against SB534 was staggering and this is why this battle will be hard fought again in 2009.

Chas.

Every business especially small business will fight tooth and nail when the state makes attempts on telling them what to do. The people I work for are not antigun, but their spine will stiffen when the legislature meets and starts talking about how adding more rules to the way they do business. This is an educational issue. Companys need to understand we can take our handguns almost anywhere, and us CHL owners and travellers aren't going postal in our churches, schools, and even our post offices.

I believe the issue needs to be addressed at the school level. While the unions might seem to be powerful, they represent the leftist. The leftist generally aren't our friends anyway. Whereas the typical Chamber of Commerce are folks that tend to be middle or even to the right.