Don’t believe the lies from the mainstream media.

Despite the gnashing of teeth, Democrats now have more power in Austin than they ever had before.

Let me explain…

Republican House Leadership in Austin has for years continued the practice of giving Democrats, who are in the minority, chairmanships of powerful committees where they are given the authority to kill key Republican Party priorities, including pro-gun legislation.

A group of conservatives and other reform-minded Republicans ran a campaign to put an end to this corrupt practice and to stop giving anti-gun Democrats so much power in a Republican-controlled chamber.

After State Rep. Dustin Burrows worked with Democrats to put him in the Speaker’s chair, it was all but certain Democrats would continue being gifted prime committee chairmanships.

Instead, Burrows pulled a bait and switch that the left-leaning media just ate up.

Burrows did “block” Democrats from being committee chairs, but through the new House Rules package (drafted by former Obama attorney & parliamentarian Hugh Brady that they rammed through with very little transparency) Democrats now have more power in the Texas House of Representatives than they’ve ever had before.

Representatives received the new House Rules package at 4:00am last Thursday and were forced to vote on it just hours later in typical swamp fashion.

Texas Scorecard reports that the new rules maintain and expand “a power-sharing arrangement between Republicans and Democrats, granting Democrat vice-chairs significant authority and introducing pathways for Democrat control of new standing subcommittees. While Republicans would only be eligible to serve as chairs, all vice-chairs would be required to be Democrats.”

So, Democrats go from effectively holding 8 chairmanship positions to ~30 positions as Vice Chair, with near equal powers. Not only that, the new Democrat Vice Chairs were given a ~$2.8million budget to hire more staff to push through their priorities in the Texas House of Representatives after circumventing legislative procedure to increase budgets without a vote.

But while the mainstream media is acting like the Democrats got screwed, yet nearly every House Democrat voted in favor of the new rule package, because they knew it would give them even more power.

Here is the list of Representatives who seconded Rep. Jared Patterson’s motion to prevent debate or allow amendments to the rules package, thus ramrodding the measure through to passage:

• Ken King (R-Canadian)
• Cody Harris (R-Palestine)
• Greg Bonnen (R-Angleton)
• Jeff Leach (R-Plano)
• Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake)
• Cole Hefner (R-Mt. Pleasant)
• Will Metcalf (R-Conroe)
• Brad Buckley (R-Salado)
• Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas)
• Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa)
• Terry Wilson (R-Marble Falls)
• Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston)
• Keith Bell (R-Forney)
• Stan Kitzman (R-Pattison)
• Angelia Orr (R-Itasca)
• Angie Chen Button (R-Richardson)
• Jay Dean (R-Longview)
• Cecil Bell (R-Magnolia)
• Carl Tepper (R-Lubbock)
• Lacey Hull (R-Houston)
• Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin)
• Stan Lambert (R-Abilene)
• Mano DeAyala (R-Houston)
• Janie Lopez (R-San Benito)
• Stan Gerdes (R-Smithville)
• Drew Darby (R-San Angelo)
• David Spiller (R-Jacksboro)
• John Lujan (R-San Antonio)
• Hillary Hickland (R-Belton)
• Sam Harless (R-Spring)
• John McQueeney (R-Fort Worth)
• Paul Dyson (R-Bryan)
• Trey Wharton (R-Huntsville)
• Denise Villalobos (R-Corpus Christi)
• Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)
• Gary Gates (R-Richmond)
• Jeff Barry (R-Pearland)
• Ryan Guillen (R-Rio Grande City)
• Candy Noble (R-Lucas)
• Pat Curry (R-Waco)
• Caroline Fairly (R-Amarillo)
• Charles Cunningham (R-Humble)
• Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont)
• Matt Shaheen (R-Plano)
• Tom Craddick (R-Midland)
• Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway)
• John Bucy, III (D-Austin)
• Donna Howard (D-Austin)
• Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston)
• Cassandra Garcia Hernandez (D-Dallas)
• Mary Ann Perez (D-Houston)
• Joe Moody (D-El Paso)
• Liz Campos (D-San Antonio)
• Ann Johnson (D-Houston)
• Chris Turner (D-Grandview)
• Mary González (D-Clint)
• James Talarico (D-Austin)
• Eddie Morales, Jr. (D-Eagle Pass)
• Terry Meza (D-Irving)
• Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin)
• Gene Wu (D-Houston)
• Rhetta Bowers (D-Dallas)
• Salman Bhojani (D-Euless)
• Sheryl Cole (D-Austin)
• Linda Garcia (D-Dallas)
• Lauren Simmons (D-Houston)
• Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood)
• Vince Perez (D-El Paso)
• Suleman Lalani (D-Sugar Land)
• Charlene Ward Johnson (D-Houston)
• Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City)
• Ramon Romero (D-Fort Worth)
• Terry Canales (D-Edinburg)
• Erin Gamez (D-Brownsville)
• Oscar Longoria (D-Mission)
• Jessica González (D-Dallas)
• Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin)
• Jolanda Jones (D-Houston)
• Mihaela Plesa (D-Dallas)
• Ana Hernandez (D-Houston)
• Penny Morales Shaw (D-Houston)
• Aicha Davis (D-Dallas)
• Rafael Anchía (D-Dallas)
• Christian Manuel (D-Beaumont)
• Josey Garcia (D-San Antonio)
• Venton Jones (D-Dallas)
• Armando Walle (D-Houston)
• Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth)

Why there is a power sharing agreement between Republicans and Democrats in a Republican-controlled legislative body is beyond me, but that’s just what we’ve come to expect in Austin under “leadership” from the uniparty.

Ultimately, Texas Gun Rights’ plan remains the same for 2025 as we push forward with our aggressive pro-gun agenda, including:

• Banning “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation in Texas (HB 162, Cain)
• Eliminating “Gun Free” Zones (SB 83, Hall; HB 925, Cain; HB 1128, Isaac; HB 1715, Cain)
• Passing Civil Liability Protection for Gun Owners (HB 170, Guillen; HB 644, C. Bell)
• Removing Short-Barrel Firearms from the State Prohibited Weapons List (HB 259, Hayes)
• Eliminating sales tax for firearms, ammunition & firearms accessories (HB 920, Bumgarner)
• Pushing for a solid Second Amendment Preservation Act (…coming soon!)

You can help us push these priorities in person by attending one of our upcoming Gun Owner Lobby Days in Austin. You can find out more information and catch a free bus to the capitol by clicking here.

In politics, nothing moves unless it is pushed. I’ve seen the effectiveness of the grassroots over the years and know that, even in the face of hostile legislative leadership, we can still pass our pro-gun agenda. Support the fight for liberty by joining us today, and together we’ll make sure that the Second Amendment is fully protected for generations to come.