NRA...Senate Vote on Campus Carry Bill Moved to Next Week; Parking Lot Bill on the Move in the House!

[Lone Star State Sentinal]

Senate Vote on Campus Carry Bill Moved to Next Week; Parking Lot Bill on the Move in the House!   On Thursday, the Texas Senate postponed action on Senate Bill 354, NRA-backed legislation by state Senator Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) that would allow Concealed Handgun Licensees to protect themselves on the campuses of public colleges and universities.  A 2/3 vote is necessary to suspend the regular order of business in order to take up and consider any piece of legislation on the Senate floor.  Several Senators who had committed to the bill sponsor to vote for suspension asked for more time to work on amendments to the legislation.   Gun control advocates and university administrators who oppose the bill are expected to use this delay as an opportunity to try and flood Senate offices with calls and e-mails, so it is critical that your state Senator hears from you!   Please contact your state Senator over the weekend or first thing Monday morning and urge him or her to (1) support the motion to suspend the regular order of business to take up and consider SB 354; (2) support passage of SB 354; and (3) oppose any gutting amendments to the bill - including any proposal to allow public colleges and universities to "opt-out" of the law. Contact information can be found at the end of this alert. If you need help identifying your state Senator, please click here.   Also this past week, the House Business & Industry Committee reported out Senate Bill 321 by state Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy), NRA-backed legislation that would allow employees to transport and store firearms in their locked motor vehicles while parked at work.  This bill joins its House companion bill, House Bill 681 by state Representative Tim Kleinschmidt (R-Lexington), in the House Calendars Committee - the body which decides if and when a bill gets scheduled for consideration by the full House.     Unless House leadership and committee members hear from you, either bill could fail to be scheduled or be scheduled too late in the game to pass - which is what happened last session when House action stalled on a voter identification bill that was ahead of the parking lot bill on the House Calendar.    Please contact the House Speaker and the following members of the Calendars Committee and politely urge them to set HB 681/SB 321, NRA-backed employee parking lot legislation, on the House Calendar as soon as possible!   House Speaker Joe Straus 512-463-1000 To send an email, click here   Calendars Committee:   Todd Hunter, Chairman 512-463-0672 [e-mail]   Dennis Bonnen, Vice-Chairman 512-463-0564 [e-mail]   Dan Branch  512-463-0367 [e-mail]   Byron Cook 512-463-0730 [e-mail]   Charlie Geren 512-463-0610 [e-mail]   Jim Keffer 512-463-0656 [e-mail]   Tracy King 512-463-0194 [e-mail]   Lois Kolkhorst 512-463-0600 [e-mail]   Eddie Lucio III 512-463-0606 [e-mail]   Allan Ritter 512-463-0706 [e-mail]   Burt Solomons 512-463-0478 [e-mail]   Vicki Truitt 512-463-0690 [e-mail]   John Zerwas 512-463-0657 [e-mail]       State Senators   SD 1  Sen. Kevin Eltife - Tyler 512-463-0101 [e-mail]   SD 2  Sen. Bob Deuell - Greenville 512-463-0102 [e-mail]   SD 3  Sen. Robert Nichols - Jacksonville 512-463-0103 [e-mail]   SD 4  Sen. Tommy Williams - The Woodlands 512-463-0104 [e-mail]   SD 5  Sen. Steve Ogden - Bryan/College Station 512-463-0105 [e-mail]   SD 6  Sen. Mario Gallegos - Galena Park/Houston 512-463-0106 [e-mail]   SD 7  Sen. Dan Patrick - Houston 512-463-0107 [e-mail]   SD 8  Sen. Florence Shapiro - Plano 512-463-0108 [e-mail]   SD 9  Sen. Chris Harris - Arlington 512-463-0109 [e-mail]   SD 10  Sen. Wendy Davis - Fort Worth 512-463-0110 [e-mail]   SD 11  Sen. Mike Jackson - Pasadena 512-463-0111 [e-mail]   SD 12  Sen. Jane Nelson - Flower Mound 512-463-0112 [e-mail]   SD 14  Sen. Kirk Watson - Austin 512-463-0114 [e-mail]   SD 15  Sen. John Whitmire - Houston 512-463-0115 [e-mail]   SD 16  Sen. John Carona - Dallas 512-463-0116 [e-mail]   SD 17  Sen. Joan Huffman - Houston/Lake Jackson 512-463-0117 [e-mail]   SD 18  Sen. Glenn Hegar - Katy 512-463-0118 [e-mail]   SD 19  Sen. Carlos Uresti - San Antonio 512-463-0119 [e-mail]   SD 20  Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa - McAllen 512-463-0120 [e-mail]   SD 22  Sen. Brian Birdwell - Waco/Granbury 512-463-0122 [e-mail]   SD 24  Sen. Troy Fraser - Horseshoe Bay 512-463-0124 [e-mail]   SD 26  Sen. Leticia Van de Putte - San Antonio 512-463-0126 [e-mail]   SD 27  Sen. Eddie Lucio - Brownsville 512-463-0127 [e-mail]   SD 28  Sen. Robert Duncan - Lubbock 512-463-0128 [e-mail]   SD 29  Sen. Jose Rodriguez - El Paso 512-463-0129 [e-mail]   SD 30  Sen. Craig Estes - Wichita Falls 512-463-0130 [e-mail]   SD 31  Sen. Kel Seliger - Amarillo 512-463-0131 [e-mail]