Good month for Texans' gun rights

The good news has been coming fast and furious down in the Lone Star State. It's enough to make me wish that Texas would annex southern Illinois. Sure, I realize that there would be a lot of territory in between, but we could work something out.

First, we have SB 378, the Castle Doctrine bill, signed by Governor Perry on March 27th. Texas has always been respectful of law-abiding citizens' exercise of their right to self-defense, but this codifies that respect, and perhaps more importantly, provides the would-be crime victim with protection from civil lawsuits by their assailant or his family. Then, a month later on April 27th, he signed an Emergency Powers bill, outlawing the confiscation of legally held firearms during disasters. Nice to see that Texans realize that Constitutional rights are not subject to cancellation due to bad weather.

Let's not stop there, though--the House has passed House Bill 991, which would ensure that the media cannot commit the kind of attack on concealed carry licensees' privacy that Christian Trejbal perpetrated on Virginia gun owners in his Roanoke Times column. That bill has passed a Senate committee, and now heads to the Senate floor for a vote.

Finally, just yesterday, Governor Perry had the courage to say the obvious--that victim disarmament zones are safe for no one but those who wish to kill with impunity.

"It's time for us to have that debate in Texas from the standpoint of whether or not a law-abiding citizen in the state of Texas can take their appropriately licensed and permitted weapon anywhere in this state, whether it's on a college campus or wherever," Mr. Perry said.

The governor said deranged individuals don't pay any attention to signs that bar guns on certain premises and that citizens ought "to be able to protect themselves from that standpoint."

Asked whether such a wide- open weapons policy would include bars and courthouses, Mr. Perry said: "A person ought to be able to carry their weapon with them anywhere in the state if they are licensed and they have gone through the training.

"The idea that you're going to exempt them from a particular place is nonsense."

Amen, Governor. Now, about that annexation idea of mine . . .

By the way, JR has much more about Governor Perry's call for an end to victim disarmament zones here and here.