You Ain't Special
So, I read from my twitter feed that state Senator Dan Patrick proposed a bill exempting himself and other legislators from certain onerous provisions of Title 10, section 46.035 of the Texas Penal Code. What's more impressive is that he managed to get it passed in the Texas Senate. I can only hope the Texas House isn't so foolish.
For those of you not in the know, this section of the code governs where I, as a fine citizen and CHL holder, cannot lawfully carry a concealed weapon. Sen. Patrick feels that his exalted status as a legislator in the state of Texas means he's superior to us lesser mortals and should be exempt from most of these annoying rules.
Well, fuck that. He ain't special, and neither are his 180 colleagues up there in Austin doing their level best to screw things up. You want to pack heat in a bar just because you're a state legislator? Screw you, Dan. You're just a radio announcer who won an election, and all of sudden you think the rules shouldn't apply to you? What kind of nonsense is this? You possess no special wisdom or experience beyond that of winning elections. How that gives you any more need or qualification to carry a gun in a bar, sporting event, hospital, amusement park, church or state meeting is beyond me.
I have this funny theory: legislators aren't special. They are simply the citizen patsies we delegated to go off to Austin or DC and handle things so the rest of us can lead our lives. Therefore, legislators should be subject to all the same rules the rest of us are since they are fundamentally no different. Additionally, since we have reposed a significant amount of trust in our legislators, when they screw up in a criminal fashion, they get to go away for longer and get treated worse. SB 905 flies in the face of these beliefs.
The bill as written has one other fatal flaw: it is contrary to reality. The bill presumes state legislators have better judgement than the rest of us CHL holders. I can knock that theory dead with one simple thought: if Dan Patrick had 'better judgement', he wouldn't have gone into politics.
For those of you not in the know, this section of the code governs where I, as a fine citizen and CHL holder, cannot lawfully carry a concealed weapon. Sen. Patrick feels that his exalted status as a legislator in the state of Texas means he's superior to us lesser mortals and should be exempt from most of these annoying rules.
Well, fuck that. He ain't special, and neither are his 180 colleagues up there in Austin doing their level best to screw things up. You want to pack heat in a bar just because you're a state legislator? Screw you, Dan. You're just a radio announcer who won an election, and all of sudden you think the rules shouldn't apply to you? What kind of nonsense is this? You possess no special wisdom or experience beyond that of winning elections. How that gives you any more need or qualification to carry a gun in a bar, sporting event, hospital, amusement park, church or state meeting is beyond me.
I have this funny theory: legislators aren't special. They are simply the citizen patsies we delegated to go off to Austin or DC and handle things so the rest of us can lead our lives. Therefore, legislators should be subject to all the same rules the rest of us are since they are fundamentally no different. Additionally, since we have reposed a significant amount of trust in our legislators, when they screw up in a criminal fashion, they get to go away for longer and get treated worse. SB 905 flies in the face of these beliefs.
The bill as written has one other fatal flaw: it is contrary to reality. The bill presumes state legislators have better judgement than the rest of us CHL holders. I can knock that theory dead with one simple thought: if Dan Patrick had 'better judgement', he wouldn't have gone into politics.
posted by T at 1:40 PM
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