Abbott Shrugs at Constitutional Carry
The Texas House of Representatives passed — for the first time — a constitutional carry bill that would eliminate the need to obtain a permit to carry a handgun.
When asked about his view of the bill, Governor Greg Abbott pivoted to his list of legislative emergency items.
“You know, I and my office, we are looking at all these bills as they are working their way through the Capitol. And while we are working to see what happens with legislation like that, what I am focusing on are the items that I listed as emergency items, items that I talked about in my State of the State address,” Abbott stated.
“One thing that I’ve made clear…is in order to avoid a special session, we have to pass the emergency items. We have to pass the items that I talked about in my State of the State, and so we are working to make sure that those issues are positioned in a way that we can get them across the finish line, as we do continue to watch other legislation working its way through the process.”
Earlier this week, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said constitutional carry does not “have the votes” to pass the Texas Senate. The bill must pass that overcome that hurdle before it could find itself on Abbott’s desk.
The Texan reached out to Abbott’s office about his position on constitutional carry and did not receive a response.
Special Election Ads
Here’s a look at the campaign ads from candidates looking to replace the late Congressman Ron Wright in the May 1 special election for Texas’ 6th Congressional District.
Mike Egan – R
Jake Ellzey – R
Brian Harrison – R
Shawn Lassiter – D
Dan Rodimer – R
Jana Lynne Sanchez – D
Michael Wood – R
Susan Wright – R
Outside Groups
Governor Abbott Wades Further into Austin Homeless Debate
Voters in Austin will provide their say on the city’s camping and laying policy for homeless individuals due to a petition that succeeded in qualifying the issue for the ballot box. Governor Greg Abbott has maintained staunch opposition to the recission of its camping prohibition since the city council first passed it in the summer of 2019.
But with the campaign in full swing, Abbott is throwing his political weight behind the effort, tweeting this week, “I just cast my vote in Austin for YES on Prop B to reinstate the public camping ban. Voting YES on Prop B will ensure greater health & safety for everybody in the entire Austin area.”
His campaign commissioned an ad in support of the ballot initiative.
The Texas legislature is poised to approve a statewide ban on public camping this session and the two authors of those bills, Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway) and Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake), joined Abbott in a video supportive of Proposition B.
“I encourage everybody to come out and vote. The citizens of the City of Austin have an opportunity to make a change in this community to make sure that this community going to be safer in ways that will also provide a better situation and a better pathway forward for those who are homeless,” Abbott concluded.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
