Wondering when to get your license to carry – how about right now!

ELLIS COUNTY – Ellis County resident Kay Wiggs decided to take a beginner’s handgun class this month as well as a class to pass her License to Carry certification.

Wiggs said, “It is time to take these classes. I am worried with everything that is going on including the presidential election that at some point this right might be harder to come by that it is now.”

Ferris’ own Hatfield and Associates is offering handgun courses for men and women this month from the beginner’s women only class called Charlie’s Angels Brigade to the Dead Aim Defender dad’s class, and after you have your aim perfected you can take the Texas Handgun Course and get certified to carry too.

Hatfield and Associates owner Charles Hatfield, a Texas Licensed Handgun Instructor said, “This is a good time to brush up on your handgun skills, because the world is in a place right now where we don’t know what is next.”

A website called www.tacticalshit.comreports, “Imagine the destruction that will be caused by an administration that refuses to acknowledge that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s rights. 

“Or, a President who believes is it is okay to confiscate millions of commonly owned firearms. 

“That’s what we are facing if Joe Biden wins the 2020 Presidential Election.”

The site mentions Biden’s ideas regarding Universal Background Registration Checks and notes, “Biden will enact legislation to give states and local governments grants to require individuals to obtain a license prior to purchasing a gun. 

References about UBCs that are reminiscent of the leaked Obama-Biden Administration’s NIJ memo said, “Effectiveness depends on the ability to reduce straw purchasing, requiring gun registration.” 

The site also notes Biden is looking at the federal background check system (the National Instant Criminal Background Check System) as one of the best tools to prevent gun violence and reports, “Biden will enact universal background check legislation and close other loopholes that allow people who should be prohibited from purchasing firearms from making those purchases. 

“Specifically, he will end the private sale of firearms, except for gifts to immediate family… for  now.”

The 2021 Texas Legislature session begins on Jan. 12, and there are a number of pre-filed bills regarding gun control in Texas too. 

These are as diverse as banning private firearms sales at  gun shows, to banning private firearms transfers between certain family members and friends, to banning long gun open carry with limited exceptions, to raising the minimum age for the  purchase of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.

While some handgun laws being introduced in the Texas legislature in 2021 do make sense, like the bill being introduced by State Representative Carl Sherman (District 109) – in which the Castle Doctrine is looked at more closely after an innocent man named Botham Jean was killed by an off-duty police officer in his own home. 

Many advocates of the right to bear arms are concerned about the number of additional bills that could be passed in the 87th legislative session.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said on Nov. 12 in a speech regarding “The  Declination of Individual Liberty” talks of the “alarming erosion of our fundamental constitutional rights – notably, the right to religious freedom, the right to freedom of speech, and Second Amendment rights.”

Justice Alito also pointed out the current pandemic has given rise to “never before seen restrictions” on liberties of the American people.

“Regarding the Second Amendment – the right to bear arms – the U.S. Supreme Court had never even ruled on a case as such until 2008. Remember the landmark cases District of Columbia v. Heller and in 2010 McDonald v. City of Chicago. 

“As a note, with just the exception of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. City of New York, the Supreme Court has refuted every petition that was looking for a Second Amendment review of a court decision regarding American’s right to bear arms.

“While there are many different opinions about a person’s right to bear arms in the United States, the fact is our forefathers added the Second Amendment to our country’s Bills of Rights for a reason. 

“As we determine how to change laws in this country and in the State of Texas, our political leaders – though with a difference of opinion – are charged with assuring that Americans continue to have the rights to their freedoms established on what the United States of America was based on when birthed. 

“While some changes are required as we move into new situations and a new era in our country, most Americans will agree on the importance of freedom whether it be freedom of speech, religion or the right to bear arms.”

HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS:

• House Bill 52 & House Bill 245 BANNING private firearms sales at gun shows.

• House Bill 118 BANNING private firearms transfers between certain family members and friends, requiring FFLs to process these transactions that would include federal paperwork for government approval at an undetermined fee.

• House Bill 127 BANNING long gun open carry with limited exceptions.

• House Bill 164 & House Bill 395 red flag GUN CONFISCATION legislation requiring firearms surrender without due process.

• House Bill 172 & House Bill 241 BANNING the sale or transfer and possession of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms.

• House Bill 178 & House Bill 234 BANNING the sale or transfer and possession of standard capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

• House Bill 185 MANDATING firearms to be stored in locked gun cases, safes or cabinets.

• House Bill 196 REPEALING key elements of Texas’ Castle Doctrine law, including stand your ground and no-duty-to-retreat.

• House Bill 201 REPEALING Texas’ Campus Carry law.

• House Bill 231 RAISING THE MINIMUM AGE for purchase of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.

• House Bill 236 GUTTING the “30.06 and 30.07” signage requirements for businesses and making it easier for establishments to ban License To Carry holders from their premises.

• House Bill 238 REPEALING the state firearms preemption law and allowing local governments to restrict guns as they please.