Why Insult the Most Law-Abiding of Texans?

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Published on Tuesday, 19 March 2013 12:54

Every Texas legislative session sees several thousand bills filed, the vast majority of which will never come up for debate, much less pass. Some of these bills are filed purely to make a political statement, but rarely if ever does a member of the Texas House of Representatives file a bill purely to insult a large segment of the Texas population. Unfortunately, Texas Representative Yvonne Davis, a Democrat representing House District 111 (Dallas), has done precisely that with HB3288.

If HB 3288 were to pass, every person seeking to obtain or renew a Texas Concealed Handgun License would have to submit to drug testing before the license could be issued. What on earth were you thinking Ms. Davis!? Texas Concealed Handgun Licensees (CHLs) are the most law-abiding segment of the Texas population. This is not merely this writer’s opinion or political hyperbole, it is an absolute fact supported by crime data published by the Texas Dept. of Public Safety (DPS).

The DPS has published data concerning Texas CHL’s since shortly after Texas enacted its first concealed handgun statute in 1995. Texas CHLs have always had an excellent track record proving that they were many times less likely to commit a crime than the general population in Texas. For many years, Texas CHLs have been over six times less likely to commit a crime than the general population age 21 and over. This is a remarkable record that was far better than Texas peace officers. For the last four years, Texas CHLs have posted and even better track record with DPS data proving they are between fifteen and sixteen times less likely to commit a crime than the general population in Texas and seven times less likely to commit a crime than Texas peace officers. This is a phenomenal record deserving respect and admiration, rather than a not-so-veiled insult by an elected official.

Representative Davis filed HB 3288 without any need or justification whatsoever. Her motivation was not to solve the problem, as no problem exists. Rather, Representative Davis was showing her disdain for Texas gun owners, especially Concealed Handgun Licensees, and wasting legislative time and taxpayers’ money in the process. Representative Davis, you should be ashamed of yourself, but since that would require you to have some respect for your fellow Texans, it is highly doubtful that you that you feel the slightest remorse.