Gun-sanctuary bill rolls along in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is poised join the ranks of a small but growing club of states that have passed laws that designate them as Second Amendment “sanctuaries.”
On Tuesday, the State Affairs Committee in the Texas House approved House Bill 2622, which would prevent state resources to enforce any new federal restrictions on firearms and ammunition. The bill, titled the Second Amendment Sanctuary State Act, would prevent state officials from enforcing new federal gun-ownership rules, such as firearm registries, licensing requirements and confiscation programs.
It mirrors legislation previously passed in Alaska, Kansas, Idaho, Wyoming and, most recently, Arizona.
“Basically, we’re freezing Texas state law and federal laws in place that have to do with guns,” said the bill’s author, Republican Rep. Justin Holland. “And [we’re] not recognizing, at the state level, any federal changes.”
Holland said he had worked closely with Gov. Greg Abbott’s office to write the legislation. Abbott had expressed his desire to make Texas a Second Amendment sanctuary state during his 2021 State of the State address. Both officials have said they want to pass the legislation this session to counter a push by the Biden administration to enact new gun-control measures.
“Current impending federal legislation and potentially forthcoming presidential executive orders from Washington, D.C., are threatening to infringe on the constitutional rights of Texans,” Holland said. “Particularly the right to self-defense and to keep and bear arms.”
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced he would be taking executive action aimed at preventing gun violence, which he called an “epidemic.” The Justice Department is poised to lead many of these efforts, including creating rules to prevent people from building guns at home without serial numbers — known as ghost guns.
The executive actions will include a template that states can use to craft their own redflag laws, which generally allow family members and police officers to request that a court temporarily remove firearms from people who might be dangerous.
Biden also called for the Senate to take up gun-control bills that the House passed in March. That legislation would require every gun buyer to receive a background check and give the FBI more time to vet prospective buyers.
The federal bills “would extend the FBI’s time window to deny firearm sales to citizens without failing a background check,” Holland said. “The Democrats in control in Congress, in the Senate, and in the White House have introduced and passed legislation, as well as talked about executive orders that would directly impact the Second Amendment, constitutional rights of Texans.”
While Holland was joined by almost 50 mostly Republican co-authors, not every Texas Democrat plans to welcome new federal firearm restrictions.
Democratic Rep. Terry Canales is a joint author of Holland’s bill. Although Canales could not be reached for comment, he has previously said he owns a “large collection of assault rifles” and roughly 580 guns.
Even without bipartisan support, however, the bill’s path to becoming state law appears assured. The bill has a Senate companion, Senate Bill 541, by Sen. Drew Springer and Abbott has promoted the legislation ona number of occasions.
“This is what I’m seeking for Texas — a law to defy any new federal gun control laws,” Abbott said in a tweet Wednesday about Arizona’s new sanctuary state law. “I look forward to signing it.”
Holland said he anticipates that a sanctuary state bill signed by the governor would withstand a legal challenge if Congress subsequently passed new gun-control laws. Similar to states that have legalized recreational marijuana use — which is still a controlled substance at the federal level — Texas would decline to use its own law enforcement agencies and resources to enforce the federal law, he said.