Wendy Davis Supports Open-Carry Gun Laws In Texas
Texas Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis wants to expand open-carry gun laws in the state, where residents are banned from carrying weapons in public.
The new law would allow citizens with a concealed handgun licenses to wear a pistol on their hips in public spaces. Welcome to the wild, wild west.
With her new stance, Wendy Davis joins her Republican rival — Attorney General Greg Abbott — in approving the open-carry law, which is sure to create even more tension in an already controversial campaign.
Davis has been making headlines after Republicans accused her of “embellishing” her biography to make herself look more sympathetic to voters when it was discovered that there were some discrepancies with the actual facts of her story.
Even though the move may upset her Democratic supporters, Texas is a deeply conservative state where the second amendment rules and gun rights advocates have a strong presence.
In fact, this may be what puts the rising star over the edge in her quest to become the next Texas governor.
Wendy Davis said, when asked if she supports expanding gun laws:
“Yes. And the state government should be sensitive to private property owners (including governmental, education, religious, health care, and other institutional facilities) to determine whether to allow open-carry on their own properties.”
However, she added that background checks are essential to “help ensure that only mentally stable, law-abiding citizens may carry, whether concealed or open.”
In a statement that clearly contradicts Wendy Davis position on open-carry weapons, Emmanuel Garcia, communications director for the Texas Democratic Party wrote in an email to MSNBC:
“The Texas Democratic Party has and will always support the US Constitution and the Second Amendment. We have also always supported common-sense firearm regulations that ensure public safety. In our opinion, ‘open-carry’ does not meet that threshold. There is little to no public safety justification for ‘open-carry.'”
Only five states — Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, and South Carolina — forbid citizens from openly carrying loaded weapons in public, according to the gun-rights advocacy group OpenCarry.org.
But some in the state believe that Wendy Davis doesn’t really favor expanding the open-carry laws and is playing politics to get elected.
She is willing to “say whatever she needs to say to get elected,” Eric Reed, founder of Gun Rights Across America said, adding “I am not buying it. She has a history of lying.”
Kellye Burke, who leads the Texas Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, opposes Davis’ position.
She said the open-carry of firearms, whether rifles or pistols, “is meant to be a sign of intimidation. It’s not about protection.”
Abbott’s spokesman Adviel Huerta agrees with those who call Wendy Davis position on gun issues “opportunistic.
“Senator Wendy Davis’ new pro-gun stance may help improve her low grade with the NRA, but it won’t help her (be) a straight shooter when it comes to the facts of her anti-gun record,” Huerta said, adding that Abbott supported an open-carry bill in the 2013 legislative session.
Wendy Davis’ says she owns a gun for her own protection and last year supported a law that allows students with concealed weapons permits to leave their guns in their vehicles.
