Texas Gun Show Loses County Venue After Refusing Background Checks

A dispute over background checks is preventing a Texas county from hosting a long-running gun show at its Exposition Center.

Travis County commissioners did not renew a lease for the controversial event, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Saxet Gun Shows has hosted a show nearly every month since 2010, but when county officials wanted the company to require background checks for all firearm transactions, Saxet refused.

Weeks of discussions ensued, but both sides could not come to an agreement. Now the show will likely have to find another venue.

The background checks would only have affected about 10 percent of gun show sales. Federally-licensed firearms sellers are already required to implement background checks to ensure buyers are not felons or prohibited from owning a gun.

But, according to the paper, different rules apply to private sales. Travis County officials wanted background checks for those sales when someone wants to sell a gun from a personal collection, as well. Saxet would not comply.

Only one county commissioner, Gerald Daugherty, was willing to propose signing the $114,000 contract with Saxet. But when no other commissioners supported his move, negotiations were at a standstill.

“If you use a public facility to sell guns, we really oughta have background checks done. Or don’t use the facility,” County Judge Sam Biscoe, the chairman of the commissioners, told reporters.

Alice Tripp, lobbyist for the Texas State Rifle Association, called the move “political,” according to the statesman.com.

Saxet Gun Shows owner Todd Beiter told the site that neither state nor federal law requires background checks by private sellers, and “it is not really my job to infringe on anyone’s rights.”

Read the rest of the article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/13/texas-gun-show-loses-county-venue-after-refusing-background-checks/

1 Comment

  1. punknil on January 15, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    I’m fighting for rights in California, and when I see something like this happen in Texas of all places, the struggle really does seem hopeless. How long until every elected official decides that an armed populace is a threat to their tyranny?