A Tragedy Waiting To Happen In Texas

The Texas legislature opened its biennial session yesterday while the nation continues to mourn the tragedy in Arizona.   And while there is a lot of talk about a huge budget shortfall and redistricting for the state, the two biggest obstacles facing the legislature this year, everyone had to have security on their minds at least a little bit.   Could the dastardly actions of an Arizona madman be repeated in Austin, Texas?

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) tried to put everyone at ease.   They reminded the media and the legislators that they have increased Capitol security over the past few months.   They have assigned more officers to the Capitol Building and put in more security cameras.   They have also instituted airport-like entrance procedures for the building also -- making everyone go through metal detectors and searching purses, briefcases and packages.

That all sounds good, but there is a glaring hole in Capitol security -- a hole that the DPS can't do much about because of the extremely lax gun laws in Texas.   While all the unarmed people will be waiting in a long line to be searched before entering, there is another line for those who have a concealed-carry permit to have a firearm.   Anyone with that kind of permit can just flash it at a DPS officer and quickly get into the Capitol Building while carrying a loaded firearm.

This applies to both legislators and the general public.   The DPS says this does not present a problem because those people have "already gone through training and a background check."   That has to be a joke, because the training required to get a permit is minimal and anyone without a criminal record can pass the background check.   I don't doubt that even the Arizona shooter could have gotten a Texas concealed-carry permit.

Making things even worse is the fact that the concealed-carry permit does not even have to be a Texas permit, and there are other states that don't require either a class or demonstrated proficiency with a firearm to get a permit (in fact, the Texas Land Commissioner holds an out-of-state permit).  

The fact is that many people, both in the crowd and on the floor of the House and Senate, are carrying a loaded gun.   Many lawmakers got their permit so they wouldn't have to wait in the long line (with the unarmed people).   If some nut did start shooting inside the Capitol, there are enough loaded guns and poorly-trained shooters there to make the shootout at the OK Corral look like an elementary school fight.   It would be a bloodbath.

I know there are some that will say all the armed people in the building make it safer, but I don't buy that even for a minute.   Most of those armed people have never been in a crises situation and there's no telling how they would react or who they would shoot (perhaps unintentionally).

This Texas love affair with guns has created a crazy situation.   Politics is one of those things guaranteed to inflame passions, and just because a person hasn't committed a crime in the past doesn't mean they aren't going to go off half-cocked when they get upset.   And it isn't like it couldn't happen.   Just last summer a man fired several shots right outside the Capitol Building before being disarmed by the DPS, and it's just fortunate that the legislature wasn't in session and no one was hit.

This is just a tradegy waiting for a time to happen.