Written by Jet Harris –

Texas House Bill HB1238 is set to make it out of committee and is likely to be passed – allowing every single person in Texas to carry a firearm without a permit.  Permits require a safety course and a background check, and that is something that the Texas House will soon vote to decide whether is necessary or not.

Of course, they will not vote to eliminate gun permits, they simply vote to make them unnecessary. They always vote to eliminate abortions, though, and refuse to pass legislation that makes them unnecessary. Maybe if we started giving out free firearms with abortions they’d treat women’s rights to their own bodies as important as their right to own guns?

Since Sutherland Springs (27 dead), Plano shooting (10 dead), El Paso Wal-Mart (23), Midland-Odessa (7) and Church of Christ (3), the GOP has decided to fight for less restriction on guns. In 2020, there were 19,223 American lives lost to gun violence. If guns prevented crime as ammosexuals claim, we’d have the fewest gun deaths on the planet. Spoiler: we don’t.

We went from licensed concealed carry to licensed open carry and now, the GOP wants permitless carry. Next, every single Texan with white skin and a Trump tattoo will be mandated to carry an assault rifle to the Whataburger to pick up a Dr. Pepper Shake (those are delicious, by the way- it’s like a Dr. Pepper float slushie). If this bill passes, any person can buy a gun at a gun show without a background check and carry the gun openly or concealed anywhere in the state without a permit.

I honestly wonder if these good old boy Republicans go through the news and select the most heinous crimes committed this year and have a brainstorming session where they determine how to make it easier for the next guy to pull off.

Today’s the 30^th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan with a gun bought from a pawnshop. The background checks that are in place today were strengthened after Reagan was shot. These gun laws never have any real teeth, though. Any bad guy with a brain just goes to a gun show and signs a waiver that promises on their honor that they’re really allowed to buy the gun.

Then, if this bill passes, they’ll be able to carry that gun anywhere guns are allowed, and the police won’t be able to ask them for a permit because a permit won’t be required. What happens next is like a “Choose Your Adventure” book, except instead of choosing your own adventure, what happens next depends on what color your skin is.

Any person of color openly carrying a gun can be shot by the police, and the police have a built-in get out of jail free card. A police officer has free reign to kill anyone they believe is a threat. I believe we all have enough evidence by 2021 to know what that means for a person of color carrying a gun, legal or no. Permitless carry puts Texans of color in extreme, immediate danger.

In fact, Biedermann, the Republican from Fredericksburg that introduced this bill says that it is necessary for Texans to be able to carry guns without permits because of the “riots and calls to defund the police.” He is basically letting everyone know that we need to defend ourselves against the existential threat that is Black Lives Matter – it’s not even a dog whistle at this point. The white men need their guns because the black people are trying to be their equals again. It’s a tale as old as Texas.