[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

Plano mayor unhappy with proposed state gun bill
03/05/2003

From Staff Reports


Texas lawmakers will consider a proposal that would allow people with permits to carry concealed handguns into city buildings.

However, the mayor of Plano believes it would make city buildings less safe, and take power away from cities to decide for themselves whether to allow guns.

The doors on Plano's City Hall make it very clear: under state law, handguns are not allowed inside. A House bill backed by pro-gun groups would change that, allowing anyone with a concealed handgun permit to carry a gun inside government buildings or on public property.

"It takes away the city's ability to make its own decisions about where concealed handguns should be allowed," said Plano mayor Pat Evans.

Evans said if the handgun bill becomes law, it would bring an element of danger to city council meetings, libraries and even parks.

"Not to be overly dramatic, but every year we have parents involved in fights on the soccer fields," Evans said. "Are you going to have to worry that someone on the soccer field ... is going to have a gun?"

Texas State Rifle Association Executive Director James Dark said the current concealed handgun law is unclear.

"The Legislature never intended for local governments to have this kind of control," Dark said. "I'm not aware of any instances where anybody with a concealed handgun has ever caused a problem on any kind of municipal property."

Dark claims Texans with concealed handgun permits are safe and generally don't commit crimes. He said criminals who want to carry weapons into City Hall will do it anyway.

"The people that have concealed handgun licenses are not the people we need to be worried about," Dark said. "Folks with concealed handguns are arrested at a rate 7.7 times less than the general population."

Evans continued, "Are you going to have to worry in a library, if you drop your kids off to do their homework, that someone there has a gun?"

The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee already approved the handgun bill, and the full House is expected to vote on it in the coming weeks.


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Online at: http://www.wfaa.com/localnews/news8/stories/wfaa030304_am_planogunban.2a08118f.html

[TexasVet]

Plano is San Fran East, and therefore not technically in Texas at all.:neener:

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

I hear ya. Where else would you expect to find a methadone clinic next to the high school?

Regards,
Rabbit.

[Triad]

"It takes away the city's ability to make its own decisions about where concealed handguns should be allowed," said Plano mayor Pat Evans.
That tells me everything I need to know about his stance on civil liberties.:fire:

[Triad]

a methadone clinic next to the high school?
***!?! You're kidding right?

[Azrael256]

Triad, strictly speaking, he is. The methadone clinic was moved inside the school because it started raining.

[Triad]

Well I've never been to Plano. Don't think I'll ever go.:barf:

[tyme]

He can pound sand. The number of people in Austin who care about Plano are numbered in the single digits.

[TallPine]

"Are you going to have to worry in a library, if you drop your kids off to do their homework, that someone there has a gun?"

It worries me that someone responsible DOESN'T have a gun.

[El Tejon]

I'll tell you what [a little Tejas lingo], mayor Evans, you're right, handguns are very, very dangerous. Please send your guns, your bodyguard's gun and the entire armoury of the Plano City Police Department to me at once. To sweeten the deal I vow to stay out of and thus not spend one Yankee dollar in Plano when I visit the great state of Texas.

[CatsDieNow]

"Not to be overly dramatic, but every year we have parents involved in fights on the soccer fields," Evans said. "Are you going to have to worry that someone on the soccer field ... is going to have a gun?"

Maybe then the parents would stop the childish fighting. :rolleyes: