SCC Calls on Texas Governor to Include Campus Carry in Any 2016 Special Session

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because after two years with more than likely zero issues (as occurred in all other states with campus carry) there should be far less opponents to campus carry.

So you're suggesting waiting until the 2019 regular session to address the issue? That's the only way there could be two years of campus carry prior to the session.

You even acknowledge that the opponents were forced to "surreptitiously" attempt to run out the clock on this bill, don't you think that they are going to do everything in their power to "surreptitiously" remove the entire bill if not make even more restricting provisions?

Surreptitiously killing a bill during a regular session is easy if it has opponents in the right places. The only way to surreptitiously repeal a law without anyone noticing would be to attach the repeal to an omnibus bill or sunset bill and hope that nobody notices, and that is highly unlikely.

In other words, killing a bill requires the support of one person in the right position, whereas repealing a law requires the support of a majority in each chamber.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Honestly I would rather hold the ground that we do have for 2 years and let the smoke blow over, much in the same way as open carry. I am more nervous about losing the ground we have made on campus carry at least at my school (I know it's selfish) that I think in two years when the house and senate meet again we could gain much more ground than we could lose from a special session.

How is waiting two years and then trying again with an unknown legislature during a regular session in which opponents can surreptitiously run out the clock by simply scheduling other bills first better than trying again during a special session of the same legislature that passed campus carry but was forced to accept a vaguely worded eleventh-hour compromise after opponents surreptitiously ran out the clock by scheduling other bills first?

because after two years with more than likely zero issues (as occurred in all other states with campus carry) there should be far less opponents to campus carry. You even acknowledge that the opponents were forced to "surreptitiously" attempt to run out the clock on this bill, don't you think that they are going to do everything in their power to "surreptitiously" remove the entire bill if not make even more restricting provisions? It would make much more sense to hold the ground we have now then to attempt to gain more ground at the risk of losing what we have. We won a major battle in 2015 with campus carry and the way things currently sit via the bill itself and the AG opinion on how schools are to conduct themselves, we sit in a very good position as is. Your comment on the unknown legislature while true is not likely to change drastically in two years. I can't find the state statistic at this time but incumbents are very highly likely to hold their position when facing a new candidate. I don't see our state house/senate changing so much that we would elect such people that would be up for changing a law that has served to protect the youth of our state, without incident (which I feel very comfortable saying).

Not only will we have several months without incident, we will have evidence that some schools have abused the discretion given to them by the Legislature. That never sells well with the Legislature. Addressing the issue during a special session before the Bill even goes into effect will be useless.

Chas.

By the end of the first semester, the dust will have barely settled on the protests by professors and students angry about the new law taking effect. Rather than everyone having had time to cool down a bit, everyone will still be fired up and looking for a fight. Given how easy it is to throw obstacles in front of a bill during a regular session, my concern is that opponents in the legislature will play on their colleagues' campus-carry fatigue, to keep the issue on the back burner.

I understand and you are correct about the ways to kill a bill. However, trying to sell a "reform" bill to the legislature before SB11 has even gone into effect would be a futile effort. It's easy to kill such a bill because the opposition will simply say "reform what[?]"

Chas.