Hell must have frozen over during the night. Or … the sun rose in the west. Or … something else totally out of the ordinary occurred.
I see that Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the National Rifle Association are supposedly feuding because Patrick has planted himself in favor of background checks on firearms transactions conducted between strangers.
That isn't exactly a revolutionary notion. However, it marks at least a slight crack in the Texas Republican Party's snuggly relationship with the NRA.
The nation's premier gun owner lobby calls Lt. Gov. Patrick's idea a "political gambit." It says he seeks to "resurrect the same broken" policies pushed by the Obama administration.
The Texas Tribune reports: "In Texas, person-to-person sales of firearms do not require background checks, but after two mass shootings in Texas in less than a month -- in El Paso and Midland-Odessa -- the lieutenant governor has openly supported closing the supposed loophole. President Donald Trump also has endorsed the idea."
I need someone to explain to me why this is a bad idea. It isn't, as far as I am concerned. It's a small step. However, it might help prevent some idiot/moron/madman in the future from delivering the kind of misery that the two shooters delivered in El Paso and the Permian Basin. Not to mention what has happened over many decades in countless other communities across this nation.
Will the lieutenant governor stand firm? Will he be able to persuade Gov. Greg Abbott to join him in his feud? Or how about the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature, which sadly contains too many pro-NRA fanatics who are digging in against any measures to toughen gun purchases in the state?
Hold your ground, Lt. Gov. Patrick.
John Kanelis, former editorial page editor for the Amarillo Globe-News and the Beaumont Enterprise, is also a former blogger for Panhandle PBS in Amarillo. He is now retired, but still writing. Kanelis can be contacted via Twitter @jkanelis, on Facebook, or his blog, www.highplainsblogger.com.Kanelis' blog for KETR, "Piece of Mind," presents his views, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of KETR, its staff, or its members.
Kanelis lives in Princeton with his wife, Kathy.
