Effort taking place in Travis County
Many Houstonians have been to a gun show or two in their lives. But supporters of tighter gun laws in Travis County are trying to get those shows on county property banned. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson told KTRH this doesn't make much sense.
“They’re trying to do the feel good thing. It’s all about show. It’s not about substance. It’s not going to make us safer,” Patterson said.
One reason the effort is being made is the so called ‘gun show loophole,’ something Patterson doesn't buy.
“Ninety percent of the transactions of gun shows have a background check. The other 10 percent are people like me, who went to a gun show to sell a deer rifle because I had more than one in that caliber,” Patterson explained.
Mary Beane of High Caliber Gun and Knife Shows in Alvin told KTRH he is worried about this.
“It does definitely concern us. We are business acquaintances with the gun show promoters in Austin. It concerns us because we have that Second Amendment right,” Beane explained.
Beane says that a ban on gun shows would hurt a lot of people trying to make a living.
“There is a whole industry here. People don’t realize a lot of people would lose their income and their jobs. Nobody is looking at that. Everybody is just wanting to do something with gun shows,” Beane said.
What are the chances of such a ban? Well, Attorney General Greg Abbott Tweeted that if Travis County went forward with this, they'd be facing a lawsuit.
Hear the podcast with Matt Patrick and Houston's Morning News as he talks with Patterson and John Woods, a UT Austin student, whose girlfriend was killed in the Virginia Tech shootings:
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