Convene a Special Session for Constitutional Carry

WHEREAS, the Governor is the de facto leader of the Republican Party in Texas and has the authority and duty as Governor of the great State of Texas to call a special session of the Legislature when circumstances warrant; and

WHEREAS, the #1 legislative priority for the Republican Party of Texas for the 85th Legislative Session is to “pass constitutional carry while maintaining licensing as optional for reciprocity purposes”; and

WHEREAS, on November 15, 2013, Governor Greg Abbott – a strong advocate for the right to keep and bear arms – proclaimed on his social media platforms that “The gun control debate was settled in 1791”; and

WHEREAS, the 85th Legislature failed to pass constitutional carry during the regular session; and

WHEREAS, 33 other states currently have some form of unlicensed carry and 13 of those states have passed constitutional carry legislation to remove infringements on the right to keep and bear arms by its citizens – a 160% increase in the two years since the 84th Legislature convened; and

WHEREAS, constitutional carry in other states has not affected the number of licenses to carry issued in those states nor contributed to any increase in criminal activity nor negatively affected the ability of law enforcement to do their jobs; and

WHEREAS, over 100,000 thousand Texans have signed petitions, made phone calls, written emails, testified before relevant committees, and personally visited their elected representatives in support of constitutional carry legislation;

NOW THEREFORE, the undersigned do hereby implore Governor Greg Abbott to convene a special session of the Texas Legislature for the sole purpose of passing constitutional carry and bringing Texas in line with our Article I, Section 23, protected right to keep and bear arms or to add constitutional carry to any special session call prior to the 86th Legislature.