With a long history of a gun-friendly culture, Texas has continually resisted calls for tighter gun control measures. Here are some quotes from the heated debate on gun laws.
• “The piling on by the political left, and their cohorts in the media, to use the massacre of little children to advance a pre-existing political agenda that would not have saved those children, disgusts me, personally. The Second Amendment to the Constitution is a basic right of free people and cannot be nor will it be abridged by the executive power of this or any other president.”
– Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in a statement regarding efforts in 2013 to increase gun control in response to mass shootings, such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
ALERT: Should Obama Have More Control Over Guns? Vote Now
• "We believe an armed society is a peaceful society. This is Texas, and everybody has a gun."
– James McAbee, a Texas pastor known as the "Pistol-Packing Preacher" in a
2013 USA Today article about the resistance in Texas for calls to increased gun control.
• “Groups of roving young men with assault rifles slung over their shoulders frightens the American public. Even in Texas.”
– Wade Goodwyn,
in an NPR blog post in response to a demonstration by gun rights activists who took their long rifles to restaurants and retail stores in Texas.
VOTE NOW: Should All Fully Automatic Rifles Be Banned?
• "If the NRA wants to work with us to get open carry passed, that’s great, but we’re going to fight to get open carry passed with or without the NRA. They are not the copyright or patent holders of the Second Amendment."
– C.J. Grisham, president of Open Carry Texas, which was widely criticized for a demonstration in which activists supporting open carry took rifles to restaurants and retail stores in Texas,
told The Wall Street Journal. An essay posted on the National Rifle Association’s website criticized the demonstration, but the essay was later removed from the site. The group stopped the demonstrations, saying they were distracting from their mission.
• "This isn’t about the guns — it’s about the people carrying the guns. How are we to know whether they are ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’? When we’re shopping with our kids at Target, how are we to know if the guy carrying a rifle is a political activist or if we should duck and cover?”
– Erika Soto Lamb, spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action, an organization that has petitioned retailers to keep guns out of their stores, told the WSJ.
URGENT: Do You Support President Obama’s Plans for Stricter Gun Control? Vote Now
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.