Constitutional carry still alive in the Senate

AUSTIN — Reports that constitutional carry handgun legislation has stalled in the Texas Senate may have been a bit premature. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick seems to have found a way to keep the bill moving through the state capitol. After first saying permit-less carry handgun legislation didn’t have the votes in the Senate, Patrick has now created a new Senate committee to ensure it keeps moving. Rice University political scientist Mark Jones says, “I’ve never seen a committee created literally overnight for the sole purpose of providing a venue for a single bill.”

Jones doesn’t think Patrick wants the bill to pass, but he’s facing all kinds of pressure from Second Amendment rights groups. According to Jones, “This way, he…is actually seen as doing something on behalf of the legislation — and even if it fails, he’ll be able to claim, ‘I created a full special committee.'” Jones still doesn’t think there are enough votes in the Senate. The original bill, passed by the House, was authored by Tyler state Representative Matt Schaefer.