Today around noon, a guy showed up at Texas State Senator Dan Patrick's Capitol office asking to meet with one of his staff, alone. He was told no. He left, walked out of the Capitol, and shot five rounds from a "small caliber" handgun into the air. DPS troopers apprehended him without incident and no one was hurt.
But Dan Patrick is calling for the installation of metal detectors at every entrance of the state capitol.
Texans are specifically *allowed* to carry in the Capitol under current legislation. This cannot come up as a legislative agenda until next year, since, thank God, we only allow them to get together for 90 days every other year (minimizes the damage they can do to the state.) However, he got all the news media in his office (down here, he wasn't at the capitol) to opine how "everybody" is worried about security and how DPS can't keep everybody safe and "keep track of everybody".
I'd ask all Texans (and everybody else too!) to write Dan Patrick at http://www.patrick.senate.state.tx.us/dist7.htm#Form and encourage him to rethink his Brady-esque response to this. That he was deeply affected by his staffer's apparent close call is totally understandable. That he wants to limit the freedoms of the rest of law abiding Texans because of one dingbat is not.
Springmom
But Dan Patrick is calling for the installation of metal detectors at every entrance of the state capitol.
Texans are specifically *allowed* to carry in the Capitol under current legislation. This cannot come up as a legislative agenda until next year, since, thank God, we only allow them to get together for 90 days every other year (minimizes the damage they can do to the state.) However, he got all the news media in his office (down here, he wasn't at the capitol) to opine how "everybody" is worried about security and how DPS can't keep everybody safe and "keep track of everybody".
I'd ask all Texans (and everybody else too!) to write Dan Patrick at http://www.patrick.senate.state.tx.us/dist7.htm#Form and encourage him to rethink his Brady-esque response to this. That he was deeply affected by his staffer's apparent close call is totally understandable. That he wants to limit the freedoms of the rest of law abiding Texans because of one dingbat is not.
Springmom