Saturday, May 30, 2015

Texas Laws - Gas (It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over) and Guns

Fracking Operation - Planet Investigations
My good friend, Jack Garner, had this Letter to the Editor published in the Denton Record-Chronicle on May 20th.

"When Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address, November 19, 1863, it was applauded by friend and foe as a celebrated statement of national purpose and intent.

He concluded his freedom masterpiece with ‘this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’

Would tears flow down the cheeks of the great man were he to know that his declaration of freedom has morphed into ‘Government of the Oil and Gas industry, by the Oil and Gas industry, and for the Oil and Gas industry’ is apparently the law of the land? 

If the passing of Texas House Bill 40 is a bitter pill for you to swallow; knowing that Oil and Gas industry money cleared the way to extinguish majority rule and institute rule by the rich and powerful, consider this: the same thing is happening in Broadview Heights, Ohio, Mora County, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado, and Highland and Grant Townships in Pennsylvania.

This constitutes a power grab whereby freedom is not being taken from us by the sword but by the big buck. If they can negate one man, one vote, if they can abolish the principal that the majority rules, that positions them to grant and reverse the freedom foundations by which this country was established.

If you love freedom, recognize the threat to its existence generated by the Oil and Gas Industry, and make a vow to fight against it." .. John Nance Garner V


HB 40 is the new state law passed ostensibly to overturn the frack ban that Denton voters passed last November. Other Texas cities have also expressed their intentions of banning fracking in neighborhoods for health reasons -- which of course, the Oil and Gas Industry denies there being any danger. The anti-fracking activists are intent on challenging this law as unconstitutional.

From The Denton Record-Chronicle"In addition to nullifying Denton’s ban, HB 40 greatly limits the ability of Texas cities and other local governments to write local rules pertaining to the oil and gas industry. Many legal experts call the new law sweeping and unprecedented."


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Poster created Ca. 1980
10,728/year vs 32,000/year in 2013
Open Carry Law -- This bill passed May 29th, after lawmakers made concessions to law enforcement groups, removing an original provision that barred police from questioning people carrying guns if they have no other reason to stop them. Concealed handgun license holders are even allowed to skip the metal detectors at the state Capitol, as state troopers providing security assume they're armed. 

Taking a handgun into the Capitol? What if someone decides to get rid of a few lawmakers? Of course, it's probably mostly conservative Republicans who are  or will be openly carrying -- or even concealing their weapons. They wouldn't shoot the ones who granted them this privilege -- would they?

(Houston Record-Chronicle)


The Campus Carry portion of the bill passed the Senate this afternoon, which will force public universities to allow concealed handguns on campus, but it did not apply to private schools, who in this latest version would be able to opt out of the requirement altogether. (Democrats finally got at least one concession out of their 101 proposed Amendments approved, allowing regents to define gun-free areas on public campuses, which includes classrooms.) The final vote by the House will take place Sunday afternoon before heading to Governor Abbott for his signature.


Biker Shootout May '15 (CNN)

Do you wonder what would have happened if all of the bikers at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco on that terrible day had their handguns exposed on their hips? Is anyone foolish enough to think they wouldn't use them?

Federal gun violence statistics in 2014 showed that every day in America nearly 90 people are killed by guns, a total of roughly 32,000 annually. Over 7,000 children are hospitalized or killed due to gun violence every year, according to one study published in the medical journal Pediatrics in 2014. An additional 3,000 children die from gun injuries before making it to the hospital, bringing the total number of injured or killed adolescents to 10,000 each year. We should stay on top of gun death statistics here in Texas with the new gun laws passed.

What is it going to take for Texas citizens to overrule the overzealous GOP majority in our Legislature? 

Love and Peace, please..
Marilyn

Sunday, May 31st: The Texas House voted to pass the Campus Carry bill, which will now go to Governor Abbott.

2 comments:

  1. We have the same sickness in Oklahoma. I cannot even imagine what kind of or how many tragedies it will take for people to vote these people out of office, or even if that will happen in my lifetime. I vote in every one of these elections and will continue to do so, but it is very discouraging.

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  2. We need more people like you here in Texas. I take that back, we need more people like you TO VOTE in Texas! I know there are many of us who are so discouraged with our politicians (here and in Washington) and their voting records to please the big bucks that put them there instead of the people.

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