No Further Texas Special Legislative Sessions

Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that he will not be adding any more items to the special legislative session currently underway in Austin, disappointing lawmakers who wanted more on the agenda.

Perry made the announcement while signing a bill that will allow students and teachers to use religious greetings in public schools.

“Everything has been added to the call that can be added from a time perspective,” Perry told reporters.

The governor initially called the Legislature into special session last month to adopt political maps drawn by a federal court. But in the last week he has added to the agenda, calling for stricter abortion laws, more highway funding and a new sentencing law for juveniles convicted of capital crimes.

Conservatives welcomed the addition of key, partisan issues such as restricting where, when and how women may undergo abortions. But conservatives also wanted expanded gun rights.

Read the rest of the article: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/texas_lege/no-more-special-session-items-perry-says

There are few gun bills that have been proposed for this special session. I will go through my resources and compile a current status list tomorrow. Looks like if it hasn’t been brought to the table, then that’s it until 2015.

Recall Looms For Colorado Lawmaker Who Supported Gun Control Bill

A group of gun-rights activists seeking to oust a top Democratic state lawmaker in Colorado over the passage of strict gun control legislation on Monday turned in double the signatures needed to force a recall election.

KDVR reports the group turned in over 16,000 signatures, more than double the 7,178 valid signatures needed, to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office in the effort to recall Colorado Senate President John Morse.

“This sends a strong message,” Rob Harris, who delivered three boxes full of petitions to the office, told KDVR. “We’ve obtained enough signatures to recall a state legislator for the first time in the history of Colorado.”

The Secretary of State’s office now has 15 days to determine whether enough of the signatures are valid, and then Morse’s office has another 15 days to contest the validity of the signatures.

Read the rest of the article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/04/recall-looms-for-colorado-lawmaker-who-supported-gun-control-bill/

Lawmakers Urge Obama To Reject UN Arms Treaty As It Opens For Signature

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have banded together to urge President Obama not to sign a landmark international arms regulation treaty, as the U.N. measure opens for signature Monday.
The president has already voiced support for the treaty, which the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved on April 2. It would require countries that ratify it to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and components and to regulate arms brokers, but it will not explicitly control the domestic use of weapons in any country.

Still, gun-rights supporters on Capitol Hill warn the treaty could be used as the basis for additional gun regulations inside the U.S.

Last week, 130 members of Congress signed a letter to Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry urging them to reject the measure for this and other reasons.

“As your review of the treaty continues, we strongly encourage your administration to recognize its textual, inherent, and procedural flaws, to uphold our country’s constitutional protections of civilian firearms ownership, and to defend the sovereignty of the United States, and thus to decide not to sign this treaty,” the lawmakers wrote.

The chance of adoption by the U.S. is slim, even if Obama goes ahead and signs it — as early as Monday, or possibly months down the road. A majority of Senate members have come out against the treaty.

A two-thirds majority would be needed in the Senate to ratify.

Read the rest of the article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/03/lawmakers-urge-obama-to-reject-un-arms-treaty-as-it-opens-for-signature