Last week, the Texas House of Representatives took steps to enhance the rights of gun owners and help protect public servants. Representative Andrew Murr expressed gratitude to his colleagues for their work in supporting Second Amendment Rights. Open Carry Legislation On April 20, 2015, House Bill 910, also referred to as Open Carry, passed the House with a vote of 101-42. This bill expands the scope of a license to carry a concealed handgun to include the ability to carry openly so long as the gun is holstered. As Texas is one of the few states that completely prohibit the open carrying of a handgun, Murr said he believed it was time to remove the restriction to better comply with the Second Amendment. Murr is a co-author of H.B. 910. The bill will now head to the Senate for consideration, or alternatively to a conference committee of House and Senate members to reconcile any differences between H.B. 910 and the Texas Senate version of the Open Carry bill. Courthouse Protection Murr is also the primary author of House Bill 2241, which was voted unanimously out of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee earlier this month and is waiting to be debated on the House floor. This bill will allow county elected officials who possess a concealed handgun license (or CHL) to carry a handgun in their place of work -- often in small towns being the courthouse. County employees working in the courthouse would also be permitted to carry a handgun so long as they have a valid CHL and receive permission from both their supervisor and the commissioner's court. Currently only peace officers, judges and prosecutors are permitted to carry a firearm in the courthouse without restriction. Murr notes that many rural Texas courthouses are packed with a variety of offices serving the public, with everything from appraisal districts and tax offices to adult probation departments and criminal and family law courts. In his experience as a county official, he is familiar with the potential for volatile emotions to arise when visitors come to pay taxes, pay a traffic ticket, dispute child custody, report for probation, or passionately discuss a matter. Murr explained, "I believe in local control, wherever possible. County officials and the commissioner’s court should have the ability to determine what's best to protect the public and meet their employees' safety needs. This bill would allow for county-tailored needs to be considered without subjecting certain county officials or employees to a criminal charge." Contact Representative Murr Representative Murr welcomes your comments, thoughts and concerns about important issues facing Texas and being considered during the 84th Legislature. Please contact his Capitol office at 512-463-0536, via email at andrew.murr@house.state.tx.us, or by writing P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768-2910. |