Travis County Commissioners Court to Vote on Tuesday on Future of Saxet Gun Shows

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  • Mikeinhistory

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    [FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Got this in an email from the NRA. I thought that they just fought this battle like a year ago or so? [/FONT]​


    Texas: Travis County Commissioners Court to Vote on Tuesday on Future of Saxet Gun Shows at Expo Center


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    This Tuesday, January 7, the Travis County Commissioners Court is scheduled to consider and vote on whether to allow Saxet Gun Shows to continue holding events at the Travis County Expo Center in 2014 and beyond.
    Saxet Gun Shows have been held in the Austin area for over twenty years, are well-run and well-attended, and generate over $100,000 in revenue for the county annually. The Saxet Gun Shows are a staple of the gun owning community, and now their future in Austin is seriously threatened.
    The Expo Center is the only viable facility in Travis County for these events. Gun control advocates are pushing the Commissioners Court to either refuse to renew the contract with Saxet's promoter to use it, which would effectively ban gun shows in Travis County, or require that all transactions at Saxet events be conducted through federal firearm licensed dealers (FFLs). Requirements like these would effectively ban all private gun transfers at these shows.
    In other words, if they can't ban gun shows in the Austin area outright, they are demanding that the county impose restrictions on firearms sales at Saxet Gun Shows over and above what is required by both state and federal law.
    The Travis County Commissioners Court will meet at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 7, at the following location:
    Commissioners Courtroom
    Travis County Administration Building
    700 Lavaca Street
    Austin, Texas 78701
    If you care about the future of gun shows in Austin, please attend this meeting and urge county commissioners to renew the contract with Saxet, with no ineffective gun control strings attached. Talking points are provided below on how and why restrictions on private transfers will do nothing to reduce crime.
    Why Oppose Restrictions on Private Firearm Transfers at Gun Shows?
    • This is just the first step toward criminalizing ALL private transfers of firearms. No background check legislation will ever be “universal” since criminals simply ignore the law.

    • It’s an ineffective crime control proposal. In April of 2013, PoliceOne conducted a national survey of 15,000 active and retired law enforcement officers of all ranks and department sizes on the topics of gun and crime control. Nearly 80 percent said that a prohibition on private non-dealer transfers of firearms between individuals would not reduce violent crime.

    • Current laws are not being enforced. According to a 2012 report to the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 72,000 people were turned down on a gun purchase in 2010 because they did not clear a background check. Only 44 of those cases – or just .06 percent – were prosecuted. Existing laws are not even being enforced while gun control advocates are calling for expanding background checks to cover private firearms transactions.

    • Gun shows aren’t a source of crime guns. A U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state prison inmates who had used or possessed firearms in the course of committing their crimes found that 79 percent acquired their firearms from “street/illegal sources” or “friends and family.” This includes theft of firearms, black market purchases of stolen firearms and straw purchases. Only 1.7 percent obtained a firearm at a gun show.

    • Most importantly, because a January 2013 internal U.S. Department of Justice memorandum summarizing so-called “gun violence” prevention strategies stated that the effectiveness of “universal background checks” depends on "requiring gun registration."
    If you cannot attend this meeting, please call and e-mail the Commissioners Court, using the contact information provided below, and urge each commissioner to renew the contract with Saxet without any ineffective gun control strings attached.
    Samuel Brisco (County Judge)
    Sam.Biscoe@co.travis.tx.us
    512 854-9555

    Ron Davis (Precinct 1)
    [email]ron.davis@co.travis.tx.us
    [/EMAIL]

    512 854-9111

    Bruce Todd (Precinct 2)
    [email]Bruce.Todd@co.travis.tx.us
    [/EMAIL]

    512 854-9222

    Gerald Daugherty (Precinct 3)
    [email]Gerald.Daugherty@co.travis.tx.us
    [/EMAIL]

    512 854-9333

    Margaret Gomez (Precinct 4)
    [email]Margaret.Gomez@co.travis.tx.us
    [/EMAIL]

    512-854-9444


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    Dash Riprock

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    I thought they tried this last year and Greg Abbott told them in no uncertain terms that they would face serious legal ramifications if they did. A "double barreled lawsuit" was the phrase he used, as I recall.
     

    kurt

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    I think the difference this time is the contract has expired. Last time they were trying to void it. Sad to think we could lose this gun show, but I have certainly enjoyed the shows in Cedar Park.
     

    breakingcontact

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    Wasnt aware of this impending vote. Thanks.

    So if they ban private sales AT the show...we meet up there and do our deals down the street.

    Amazing the priorities Travis County has.
     

    breakingcontact

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    This isn't about private sales this time. The vote is about whether or not to have a gun show at all.

    I don't see how they can legally discriminate against any group.

    Like if some liquor expo wanted to rent it out? Adults who are 21 can drink right?

    If some gay rights group wanted to have a trade show for their gay gear they wouldn't be denied the lease/permits.
     

    Dash Riprock

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    I don't see how they can legally discriminate against any group.

    Like if some liquor expo wanted to rent it out? Adults who are 21 can drink right?

    If some gay rights group wanted to have a trade show for their gay gear they wouldn't be denied the lease/permits.

    Exactly. A private facility should have the right not to lease to whatever group it wants (but yeah, see how that goes if you deny access to one of the liberal sacred cows), but a government owned facility should not. Hopefully Abbott gets wind of this and cuts them off at the knees again.
     

    Col Sanders

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    Travis County won’t be hosting a gun show in its Exposition Center after this month, after county commissioners did not renew a lease for the controversial event.
    Saxet Gun Shows has been hosting the nearly-monthly show at the Expo Center since 2010 and had been negotiating a new contract for eight shows from March to January 2015, but got nowhere as county officials wanted the company to require background checks for all firearm sales. The company refused to require background checks for all transactions, and neither side has budged in the weeks of discussions, officials said.
    The background checks would have affected a small subset of gun show sales, estimated to be about 10 percent. Federally-licensed firearms sellers are already required to run a criminal background check to make sure the buyer is not a felon or otherwise ineligible to buy a gun. But private sales — a person trying to sell a gun from his or her collection — don’t come with the background check requirement. County officials wanted to ensure background checks for those sales, too.
    Gerald Daugherty was the lone commissioner to propose signing the contract, worth $114,000, with Saxet. With no other commissioners supporting his move, negotiations on the contract effectively died.
    “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 after the meeting.
    Alice Tripp, lobbyist for the Texas State Rifle Association, called the move “political.”
    Todd Beiter, who owns Saxet Gun Shows, said in a phone interview 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.”
    The company’s show from Jan. 25 to 26 will continue, as it was on a previous contract.
    Tuesday’s move comes more than a year after local activists tried to stop the gun show from continuing at the government-owned facility in Eastern Travis County in the weeks after the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting. That was amid a national debate about gun control and the so-called “gun show loophole, ” which allows private citizens to sell firearms at shows without running the background checks required of licensed dealers. County commissioners last year nixed the effort after their attorneys said they believed it would be illegal to ban shows from county facilities.
    But Tuesday’s move was different, Biscoe said. Gun shows are an unusual event to hold at the Expo Center and extra terms and conditions can be required. In the case of the Saxet show, that was requiring background checks.
    Still, Biscoe said, he expects lawsuits. Notably, Attorney General Greg Abbott said last year via Twitter: “If Austin or Travis Co. try to ban gun shows they better be ready for a double-barreled lawsuit.”
    “Saxet Gun Shows operate by state and federal law. That has never been in question,” Tripp told reporters. “The only person that would be harmed by this county commissioners’ requirement is Todd Beiter, the owner of Saxet Gun Shows.”
    That is, a person selling a gun without requiring a background check won’t be breaking any laws, but Saxet would be in trouble with the county for allowing such a transaction to happen, Tripp said.
     

    Southpaw

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    “gun show loophole, ” which allows private citizens to sell firearms at shows without running the background checks

    Maybe some people should conduct some face to face sales in public and call the press in to cover it. I now it would be just to shove their nose in it, but WTH.
     

    breakingcontact

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    Im confused about what happened today. There was a motion to not renew the contract if SAXET wouldnt agree to negotiate changes to the contract. No one seconded the motion. Then the motion was put forward that the county should continue the current contract. No one seconded. So they decided nothing?

    Its not over just pending? But if no one seconded the motion to continue the contract they dont get a contract extension/new contract?

    It seems that most commissioners dont want the show at all and only one was willing to negotiate to keep the show with changes and one supported the show. Those who didnt second the first motion probably want/expect SAXET to agree to the changes which it dont sound like they will. Whats a greater victory for the antis to remove the show completely or to impose their will regarding private sales which they havent been able to achieve on the state or federal levels?

    So did they effectively just stop the show at the Expo center?

    Imagine if the county board refused to renew the contract for a free speech group...

    Backwards world folks.
     
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