As the National Rifle Association meets this weekend in Houston, our Solons in Austin ponder new laws that bear on your right to bear arms in the Lone Star State.
See if you can tell the real bills from the ones Blawgletter made up.
Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) sponsors HB 47, which would, for purposes of getting a permit to conceal a handgun on your person:
a. Lower the number of hours you must spend in a classroom to four from six
b. Require extra training on how to deal with a "criminal assault" involving a gun
Under HB 1009, which Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) offers, schools could
a. Arm all teachers
b. Appoint a secret "school marshal" who "would be trained extensively to protect students should something arise"
A bill by Rep. Allen Fletcher (R-Tomball), HB 972, relates to handguns on college campuses and would mandate that
a. Anyone with a handgun permit may take the weapon into almost any college building, including chapels and gyms
b. A professor who questions a student's exercise of second amendment rights may not obtain tenure
The crux of HB 1314, the brainchild of Rep. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), would make a criminal of any federal or state "officer or employee" who "seizes a firearm" under any federal law "that does not exist under the laws of this state" unless
a. The federal law "is consistent with the United States Constitution"
b. The officer or employee who seized the firearm used it to stop a serious state-law crime
Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) urges passage of HB 1349 so that the Texas Department of Public Safety "may not request or require" a handgun permit applicant or holder to
a. Pass a field sobriety test
b. Disclose her federal Social Security number
The entry by Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth), HB 928, would treat enforcing a purely federal ban on extra large ammunition clips, assault-style rifles, or the like as a crime if the enforcing person serves
a. As sheriff or district attorney
b. In no official capacity