Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson Thinks It’s OK For Indicted Felons To Possess Concealed Weapons

Several others have blogged on the Houston Chronicle’s editorial about Tom DeLay wanting his concealed handgun license back. However, I think the paragraph below is perhaps the most important in the entire piece, as it shows just how much the GOP leadership here in Texas is willing to do to appease their Kingmaker:

Like those erstwhile DeLay allies in Washington, the author of the Texas concealed weapon statute favors changing the law to accommodate DeLay’s wishes. Land Commissioner and former state Sen. Jerry Patterson told the Chronicle’s Eric Hanson that the requirement that persons awaiting trial lose their right to carry guns “is clearly not rational, not called for.” He favors eliminating the provision, arguing that it violates the presumption of innocence defendants deserve and likened the right to carry a concealed firearm to freedom of speech.

This is an administrative regulation similar to the one that provides that persons charged (not yet convicted, mind you) with drunk driving have their license suspended. Given that some of the people charged with drunk driving proclaim their innocence, too, why not repeal that as well? There’s probably a better case for repealing that provision given that, if you assert your constitutional right not to give a breath sample, your license is suspended, too.

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