Texas Ruling on Closing Gun Shops

[JimT]

Today, at the request of State Representative Dustin Burrows, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion on whether city and county officials can prohibit the sale of firearms through an emergency order or declaration by excluding firearm manufacturers and retailers as "essential businesses." Attorney General Paxton's opinion states that Section 229.001(a) and 236.002(a) of the Texas Local Government Code prohibits municipalities and counties from adoption regulations related to the transfer of and commerce in firearms, and that these emergency stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders may not regulate or restrict the sale of firearms.

Recently, local officials from Austin, Lubbock and Waco, as well as Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Travis counties adopted (and in some cases modified) orders forcing some gun stores to code and be denied law-abiding Texans the right to purchase a firearm for protection during these uncertain times. Your NRA-ILA has set up a website and contact email specifically for citizens to report if their government officials are disregarding their Second Amendment rights. Click the button below or send an email to covid19@nrahq.org to report.


Thanks go out to Representative Burrows for his timely request and to General Paxton for protecting the Second Amendment in the Lone Star State by issuing this critical opinion affirming that the state firearms preemption statute overrides these local orders. Additionally, thanks also go out to State Representative Travis Clardy and State Senator Pat Fallon for sponsoring and passing House Bill 3231 during the 2019 Legislative session and to Governor Greg Abbott for signing it into law. HB 3231 strengthened and made important clarification to Texas' state firearms preemption statute.

Yours in Freedom,

Daniel Sheppard
Grassroots Data & Technologies Coordinator
NRA-Institute for Legislative Action
http://www.nrailafrontlines.com/

[Ysabel Kid]

Excellent. Hopefully more state AG's follow suit.