Texas G.O.L.D. Featured Bills Gun Owners Lobby Day, March 2, 2017 Constitutional Carry: HB 375 ● Allows those who may legally possess a handgun to carry it open or concealed without a license. ​ ​ ● Over 20% of US states recognize constitutional carry. ● From Crime Prevention Research Center: “The five states in 2013 that allowed concealed carry without a permit had much lower murder and violent crime rates than the five jurisdictions with the lowest permit rates. Indeed, the murder rate was 33 percent lower in the states not requiring permits. The violent crime rate was 32 percent lower.” ● HB 375 does not allow gang member and felons to carry handguns. ​ ​ ● The licensing process will remain intact for those who choose to obtain an LTC. ● The right to life and the right to self-defense are fundamental rights which should not be denied any citizen who can legally own the handgun.

Made in Texas: HB 131 ● Exempts firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition that are manufactured, sold, and used in Texas (intrastate) from Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. ● Several other states have passed intrastate protection bills for firearms, etc., including Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wyoming, and most recently Missouri. ● Texas Legislature passed HB 2510 (82R) overwhelmingly, which exempted intrastate manufactured incandescent light bulbs from federal regulations.

LTC Holder Freedom to Carry: HB 560 ● Allows LTC holders to carry in the same places where law enforcement may carry ● Adds nonapplicability of 46.03 for LTC holders; repeals most 46.035 bans on LTC carry ● Gun-free zones mean that only criminals will be carrying guns. ● With a couple of exceptions, every public mass shooting in the USA since 1950 has taken place where citizens are banned from carrying guns.* ● When shooting to stop a threat, law enforcement has an 11% error rate (meaning more innocent people are killed); armed citizens have a 2% error rate.* ● According to DPS statistics, from 2005-2008, LEO were 10x more likely than LTC holders to commit felonies and misdemeanors, and 7x more likely to commit firearms violations. *Sources can be found at www.americangunfacts.com

Knife Freedom in Texas: HB 1935 ● Removes “Illegal ” from Texas statutes, adds paragraph prohibiting their possession in schools. ● “Illegal ” includes any knife with a blade longer than five and a half inches and any , , , poniard, , throwing knife, sword, or spear. An “illegal knife” may be possessed but may not be carried outside the possessor’s home, motor vehicle, or watercraft. ● The current law is fundamentally unfair and unenforceable because there are no definitions for these knives ​ ​ in Texas statute. ● Knife laws are disproportionately enforced against people of color all across the United States. ● A person can be arrested, fined $4,000, and sentenced to a year in jail for a carrying an “illegal knife” in a location where the person is allowed to carry a rifle or shotgun. ● Ironically, Texas, the state most associated with the “Bowie knife,” is one of the very few states that specifically prohibit citizens from carrying bowie knives.