New TX rights group: Lone Star Citizens Defense League

C

CliffH

New member
During a weeks-long discussion this past summer, a group of patriotic Texans decided that it was past time for an organization that will fight for the rights of Texans. Since then we have dotted the "i"s and crossed the "t"s to become the Lone Star Citizens Defense League. We have been in touch with our counterparts in the AZ Citizens Defense League, TX attorneys and TX legislators in order to be ready for the next legislative session.

Lone Star CDL believes that the emphasis of laws should be on criminal activity and that law-abiding citizens should not be burdened by unnecessary laws or regulations. Towards that end, we are pursuing the following legislative improvements:

•Education
◦One of our main goals is to educate the citizens of Texas on their rights and restrictions under state law. The great State of Texas does have many fair and just laws, but there are also many laws that severely restrict the freedoms and rights of the citizens. We will educate as many citizens as possible, with the goal of gaining support to have these restrictions eradicated.

•Legislation
◦We will fight for the rights of the citizens of Texas. With your support, we will be able to work with the State Legislature to have the existing laws amended or revoked in order to restore the freedoms lost by these unjust laws.

•Criminality
◦We believe that some of the currently allowed criminal penalties are too lenient; we will fight to have more stringent penalties for those who choose to break the law. As it stands now, a criminal may receive a 10 year sentence but be released in as little as 2 years. We find this unacceptable and ineffective. If a person chooses to break a law, that person should serve the entire length of the sentence.

We are not advocates for violence and expect the same from our members. The paragraph below is from our membership application page:

“I hereby apply for membership in the Lone Star Citizens Defense League. I certify that I support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights of the United States of America and the State of Texas. I am not a member of any organization or group which has as any part of its program the attempt to overthrow the Government of the United States or any of its political subdivisions by force or violence.”

WWW.LONESTARCDL.ORG
 
So you want people to join, but you didn't even post a link to your partially completed website?
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If you'll read my original post, you'll see that I included not one but two links to the site; one at the end of the post and another in my signature.
 
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Just so everyone knows, I'd asked permission before starting this thread. The decision was to start it in the General forum, it would be moved to L&CR if appropriate.

....your partially completed website
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Our site is constantly evolving, as most sites are. The current content may be lacking by some standards. If there is something you'd like to see added to the site, please let us know what it is. Be assured we will listen to all concerns.
 
What makes you different than Texas State Rifle Association?

TSRA has a pretty darn good history of doing exactly what you promise to do in the future.
 
What makes you different than Texas State Rifle Association?
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The two organizations have different goals for the coming legislative session. Our first goal will be Constitutional Carry for the state of Texas; the TSRA is concentrating on Campus & Parking Lot Carry. This doesn't mean that we can't or won't work together in the future. And we do support the work the TSRA is doing for Campus & Parking Lot Carry.

We do not plan to concentrate all our efforts on gun rights. As is mentioned in our Goals, in coming legislative sessions we plan to introduce bills stiffening the sentences for criminals.

Some of our members have expressed a desire to see the knife laws changed. Did you know that carrying a Bowie knife is specifically prohibited under current Texas law? We don't plan to introduce a knife bill this session, but there's always the next session.
 
If you'll read my original post, you'll see that I included not one but two links to the site; one at the end of the post and another in my signature.
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Sorry, I must have gotten sidetracked by the "I'm not a violent paranoid anti-government gun nut militia member" certification proclamation. Just the notion that such a proclamation is necessary is rather disturbing. I guess it is to separate members from the members of other pro-gun organizations with memberships full of those people?

I was hoping to see what your Newsletter had to offer on your website, getting beyond the promo mission statements and posturing - showing what y'all are actually doing. But that part of your site isn't finished yet.

I liked this...
Please leave a message as we are typically away from the office, fighting for your rights.
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So this is your full time job and most of your work takes place in the field somewhere? Odessa seems to be a long way from Austin to be working with our legislature.
 
Sorry, I must have gotten sidetracked ....
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Apology accepted.

Just the notion that such a proclamation is necessary is rather disturbing.
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I'll admit that portion was taken directly from the AZCDL membership application - with their permission. If they considered it important enough to add it to their forms, they must have had a good reason. We figured that statement was used to "CYA".

In case you're not familiar with how an organization such as this is usually run; we're all volunteers. Even though the directors would like to spend all of their time on this project, they do have other things to do, things that pay the bills. Sometimes these other things take them away from the telephone. So you're asked to leave a message.

Double Naught Spy

It would be a lot easier to address your concerns if you'd make them known, rather than making snarky comments from the sidelines.
 
VCDL

Y'all should get in touch with Philip Van Cleave of the Virginia Citizen's Defense League. Like AZCDL, they are a grassroots, all-volunteer outfit that has been stunningly successful in reining in and even rolling back infringements of our gun rights here in Virginia. "Shall issue" CCW, CCW in restaurants, CCW in you vehicle on school grounds, educating local LEOs about legality of open carry, on and on. They were also successful in thwarting that "gunshow loophole" malarkey even in the immediate aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, when you had victims' family members braying for action Their track record is truly impressive, and they pounce like panthers as issues and legislation come up.

Mr. Van Cleave may have some helpful suggestions to get your outfit rolling.

www.vcdl.org

Best of luck to you!

Bob James
 
Thank you Mr. James. Contacting the VCDL does sound like a good idea; they should have a wealth of knowledge to draw from.
 
I'm all for expanding our rights; but it seems to me like the fundamental problem that Texas has is that open carry (of handguns) is illegal.

One reason VCDL and AZCDL have been successful is that open carry is legal in both places. I am wondering how you plan to adapt their tactics to suit the different legal environment here in Texas?
 
The AZCDL has been a great help with advice ranging from tips on setting up our accounting software to suggestions on how to approach legislators. Simply having samples of their brochures etc. have saved us hundreds of man-hours, allowing us to concentrate on other matters.

Of course we won't be able to copy the exact legislation that AZCDL submitted; but we will welcome their input & advice on our proposed legislation. Our President has more than a few conversations with people at the AZCDL regarding our proposed changes. I understand that, in order to provide accurate advice, some of their people are studying our laws.

Having been pretty busy the last couple of days, I haven't been able to contact the VCDL yet. I will send Mr. Van Cleave an email tonight.
 
The two organizations have different goals for the coming legislative session. Our first goal will be Constitutional Carry for the state of Texas; the TSRA is concentrating on Campus & Parking Lot Carry. This doesn't mean that we can't or won't work together in the future. And we do support the work the TSRA is doing for Campus & Parking Lot Carry.
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I know this is going to sound sarcastic, but that's not my intent. I'm really curious to understand where you're coming from and how you see your organization's path to success progressing.

Given that parking lot carry and campus carry (bills which only slightly ease the restrictions on background-checked license holders) have been proposed and have failed at least once each, it seems to me that it would be overreaching somewhat to try to push a law at this time that completely removes all restrictions on carrying firearms in TX. It seems pretty clear that if the legislature won't go for easing the restrictions only slightly on background checked individuals they're not going to be even less enthusiastic about completely eliminating all restrictions on handgun carry for the entire adult population of TX.

I guess what I'm asking, is: what sort of new strategies or techniques are you going to employ that will put you in an entirely different league compared to the TSRA in terms of being able to drive bills through the TX legislature?
 
....what sort of new strategies or techniques are you going to employ that will put you in an entirely different league compared to the TSRA in terms of being able to drive bills through the TX legislature?
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Our policy is to not post specifics on a public board. I can say that our President has contacts throughout the state which should prove helpful in our endevors.

The makeup of the new legislation; the changing attitudes of the general population; recently passed legislation in other states and the unfortunate increase in crime should also prove helpful.
 
CliffH
Quote:
....what sort of new strategies or techniques are you going to employ that will put you in an entirely different league compared to the TSRA in terms of being able to drive bills through the TX legislature?
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Our policy is to not post specifics on a public board. I can say that our President has contacts throughout the state which should prove helpful in our endevors.

The makeup of the new legislation; the changing attitudes of the general population; recently passed legislation in other states and the unfortunate increase in crime should also prove helpful.
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So.........who is your President? I see names but precious little else on your website. Biographies of your board would be helpful.

And what statistics do you have showing an "unfortunate increase in crime"? Everything I've seen shows a decrease in violent crime, thanks in part to Texas CHL laws.
 
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And what statistics do you have showing an "unfortunate increase in crime"? Everything I've seen shows a decrease in violent crime, thanks in part to Texas CHL laws.
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You're correct; so no, I don't have any statistics. Looks like I stepped on it with that statement. All I can say is that I let acquaintances' perceptions of the crime rate influence my statement, something I really need to watch out for. Misrepresenting facts as I did will create problems we don't need.

As I said earlier, we are a new organization. As such, we're still working on getting it all in one bag. I'll pass on your thoughts regarding the bio's.

ETA: Would anyone here be willing to volunteer to proof and/or fact check our public statements?
 
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It would be a lot easier to address your concerns if you'd make them known, rather than making snarky comments from the sidelines.
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Sorry you didn't like my snarky comments. I am also sorry you didn't answer the question I asked directly, so let me requery...

Your website says,
Please leave a message as we are typically away from the office, fighting for your rights.
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So is LSCDL the full time for you and the other oranization officers? Or is it as I suspect, not your full time job, and the reason folks have to leave a message is not because y'all are really out and about fighting for our rights, but getting on with your lives like the rest of us and LSCDL is just your pasttime gig?

Your statement makes it sound like y'all are out of the office most of the time and fighting for our rights, but then again, your office is a really long way from Austin. This is salient given that part of your goals is working with the Texas legislature. Y'all are going to have a very tough time effectively working with the legislature (lobbying) if you aren't located anywhere near the legislature.

Our policy is to not post specifics on a public board. I can say that our President has contacts throughout the state which should prove helpful in our endevors.
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Having a president with contacts doesn't sound terribly substantial. Lots of people have contacts. Having contacts does not set your organization apart from any others, especially when it is only the president who has them.

And what statistics do you have showing an "unfortunate increase in crime"? Everything I've seen shows a decrease in violent crime, thanks in part to Texas CHL laws.
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dogtown tom, there is no correlation in the rate of crime with concealed carry. Crime rights are affected by numerous factors and on a much greater scale than a few people around the state who might be carrying guns. People want to believe it, but the facts simply aren't there to prove it and if anything, the data are quite ambiguous.

See these related links...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=389890&highlight=concealed+carry+crime+rate
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361216&highlight=concealed+carry+crime+rate
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=275256&highlight=concealed+carry+crime+rate
 
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