Texas Lawmakers Hit Panic Button On Guns
When you think a legislator isn’t going to vote your way the best option is to go to his office with threats…. /NOT!
Texas lawmakers quickly approved the use of panic buttons at their offices after a tense confrontation with open-carry supporters at the Texas Capitol on the first day of the legislative session.
Written by state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, the amendments to House Rule No. 3 passed on Wednesday. They allow representatives and staff to exclude visitors from their offices at their discretion.
“If a person refuses to leave the member’s office when requested the member may request assistance from the Department of Public Safety,” the amendments state .
The amendments provide the option of installing a panic button in each office to alert state troopers of an emergency.
The new rules came one day after members of Open Carry Tarrant County lobbied lawmakers in their Capitol offices to support a measure by state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, to repeal handgun licensing requirements in Texas.
More: Courthouse News Service