Californian Comments on Texas

Jim Mosher of the San Diego Rifle and Revolver Association has some commentary in the North County Times:

But, back to Lampasas: State Representative Susanna Hupp, who donated the Kimber rifle in the Hanna Springs Intermediate School fund-raiser, is the author of the Texas 'shall-issue' concealed carry law. Mrs. Hupp was motivated by a life-changing experience. She met her parents for lunch at the Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, on Oct. 16, 1991, the day George Hennard drove his pickup truck through the restaurant's front window, produced a pistol and deliberately shot customers one by one. He murdered 23 people, and then committed suicide when cornered by police. At the time Texas law did not allow concealed carry and Susanna Hupp's unloaded self-defense handgun was locked in her car. She watched helplessly as her father and mother were shot to death.

Violent crimes have dropped dramatically in the Lone Star State since then-Texas Gov. George Bush signed Hupp's concealed carry legislation in 1995. According to FBI figures, the 38 states with laws that allow their citizens to carry concealed handguns for self-defense average 24 percent less violent crime and 22 percent less murder than states like California that severely restrict right-to-carry. It is probably the per capita concealed carry permit count in Lampasas that cools the predatory urges of the community's registered sex offenders.