Gun-Control Backers Voice Optimism
Advocates heartened by one bill's progress;
firearm groups oppose others
By Jeff Mosier
The Dallas Morning
News
February 6, 2001
Texas is a tough place for gun-control advocates, but a group gathered at
an East Dallas church Sunday said that lax state laws are under fire in Austin.
Nina Butts, a lobbyist for Texans Against Gun Violence, said the state
Legislature was traditionally a hostile place for gun-control supporters
but that seemed to be changing slightly.
"It's been as receptive as I've ever seen it," said Ms. Butts, who has been
a lobbyist in Austin since 1993. "There's an increased awareness that we
can tighten the laws and save lives."
More than 60 gun-control supporters met with several state legislators and
the state's top gun-control lobbyist to discuss their successes in the current
legislative session and what is still to come.
The speakers said it was a good sign that a Senate bill passed Thursday would
ban firearm possession by people who are under restraining orders or who
have been convicted of domestic assaults within the last five years. The
bill now goes to the House for approval.
State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who sponsored that bill, was scheduled to
appear but was unable to arrive in time, organizers said. Reps. Dale Tillery,
Helen Giddings and Harryette Ehrhardt, all Dallas Democrats, and Rep. Lon
Burnam, D-Fort Worth, attended the legislative update workshop at East Dallas
Christian Church on Peak Street. It was sponsored by the Dallas Peace Center
and the Million Mom March Foundation.
Mr. Tillery said he had been pessimistic about the chances for gun-control
legislation before the session started this year.
"When I was invited to this forum, I didn't know what I could discuss except
what we couldn't get done," he said.
Now, he said, the success of Mr. West's bill has given many people hope.
Bob Cooper, a member of the Dallas Peace Center, said he was optimistic that
some of the state gun-control bills could pass. There were about a dozen
listed as priorities by Texans Against Gun Violence, including proposals
to require background checks at gun shows and require the use of trigger
locks.
In a phone interview from Austin, Alice Tripp, a lobbyist for the Texas State
Rifle Association, said she had not taken a stance on the bill sponsored
by Mr. West, although she successfully recommended a change from a lifetime
to a five-year ban on firearm possession for people convicted of domestic
violence.
However, she said her organization, which has doubled in size to about 40,000
members in the last couple of years, was opposing the gun show background
checks and mandatory trigger locks.
"I think that the climate for gun control is even less receptive than it
has been," she said. "We wholeheartedly support punishing criminals, but
most of these bills would not do that."
Ms. Tripp said gun-control advocates could get their wishes if the existing
laws were enforced.
Gun-control supporters say they have heard that argument and will still push
ahead with proposals that they hope could prevent some gun violence.
"This is a complex issue, and we don't pretend to have a solution," Mr. Cooper
said. "But these bills will help." |