TexasCHLforum.com

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Ashlar wrote:Sen. Patrick, for all his virtues, fails to grasp a fundamental tenet of democracy and rule of law

Namely, that the legislative branch of government should on no account be permitted to exempt its members from the laws it imposes on the general citizenry. It is the basic deterrent against the creation of bad law that the lawmakers themselves will be affected by it if they adopt it.

The quote, "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS" springs to mind.

I agree with you, and quoting Animal Farm is perfect. That said, I'm not going to make a stink about this to my representative or senator, because once is a fact of law, I can use it to bludgeon them into giving my rights the same respect they give their own, and I can hold that over their heads as a campaign threat if I ever decide to support an opponent or run myself.

...but the fact is that we have a lot of situations at the State and the Federal level where the Elites have granted themselves results that will never be available to we common folk. I can only hope that there is some leverage from the existence of this legislation that can help us obtain the same results. I hope it isn't another flying pig scenario.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

hirundo82 wrote:

speedsix wrote:...it's just one more way to say they're more important than we are...I understand that they're in danger...and should be armed...most of 'em, anyways...but no more so than we are living daily in the world they created for us...legally speaking...I prefer the Guvnah's policy...if we can go there...we can carry there...now THAT'S the way it oughta read!!!

I agree. They all have the right to defend themselves, but their right to do so is no greater that the right the rest of us have to do the same.

I'm sure I'm repeating what others have posted, but wouldn't it be far simpler, and more politically palatable, to simply extend those exemptions to ALL CHL holders?

I can understand how it would be easier for them to pass the proposed bill in an environment where democrats held a bigger share of the power pie in the capitol, but they don't have to deal with that with the current makeup of the Legislature. They could easily extend it to all CHL holders with the current balance of power. They only need to political will to do it.

On the other hand, if they do pass it as is, particularly with the exception extending beyond their terms of service to their CHL renewal dates, then how long will it be before someone mounts an "equal access before the law" challenge to it?

I made the same points with my local Representative's contact today on the phone. I told her that I respected the need for our elected officials to protect themselves and would encourage them to do so - just as I would any other Texan.

But I also told her that I, as a voter, would absolutely not stand for elitist legislation in Texas. I pointed out that our elected officials in Washington had carved out situation after situation which either gave them special treatment or exempted them from the rules that were supposed to be good for the rest of us. I cited Janet Napolitano's refusal to go through the same back scatter scanners as she was demanding that the rest of us use. We get Obamacare and they get a specially designed health care package.

I told her that I would very much appreciate it of our representative helped to make amends with the citizens of Texas and particularly the hand gun licensed community within it. I referred her to the DPS website which documents the stellar record the CHLs have held since the original bill was passed and asked for the representative's support in amending this bill to recognize CHLs as part of the covered group within the bill. I told her I could very much support then legislation with that change.

We'll see what happens. While I was at it, I put in plugs for the campus carry and parking lot bills.

I've placed a call to my representative, too, my story is going to be a little different. I agree with Charles that I'm not sure that it is good thing to be opposed to this bill completely. I do want to talk with my representative about the elitist attitude in this or any other bill. I want him to understand that our Legislature at all levels of government should be subject to the same laws as the rest of us - period. That applies to all laws - healthcare coverage for Legislators, exemptions from the PC for handguns, etc. Elitism is elitism, regardless of the subject matter to which it is applied.

I do want to add the encouragement that opening up the number of places where handguns are permitted is a good thing. I want to remind him that there can be no arguing with the success of the CHL population in Texas and that to exempt us from this bill seems to ignore that success.

I'd rather see this bill amended to include CHLs, regardless of what the bill was originally intended to do, than to see it defeated completely. A good way to prove that it isn't elitist in intent is to make sure that it doesn't just cover the Legislators.