You may remember Wendy Davis, the Democrat state senator from Texas whose tennis shoes captured the imagination of the nation. She’s currently running for governor in the great state of Texas, and she’s come to the same realization that every Democrat in the state has already figured out: Texans love their guns, but Democrats don’t. With her campaign disintegrating around her, Davis has decided to abandon her typical anti-gun stance in favor of the cause du jour in Texas: open carry. That decision has ruffled a good number of feathers among her fellow Dems. So now Wendy is putting those running shoes to good use and trying to backpedal just as fast as she possibly can . . .
Fair warning: prepare for another “I support the Second Amendment but…” statement. From mysanantonio.com:
“Obviously in Texas we have a culture that respects the Second Amendment right and privilege of owning and carrying guns — but we also, of course, have respect and understand a the rights and privileges of property owners to make decisions about what’s right for them,” said Davis, who is expected to face Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott in the general-election in the race for governor.
“My position on open carry reflects my respect for both of those principles, and I believe that municipalities, school districts, hospitals, private property owners should be the ones that ultimately have a say as to whether this is right for them and their facilities,” she said.
In other words, Wendy supports the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms — but thinks that cities should have the power to curtail that right within their borders. I wonder if she also thinks those same cities should be able to nullify other constitutionally protected rights like free speech or equal protection of women and minorities.
Davis appears to be among the disturbingly large number of Democrats who believe that they can pick and choose which parts of the Bill of Rights they like and then ignore the rest. Unfortunately the law doesn’t work that way, no matter how hard they hold their breath and stamp their athletically-shod feet on the subject. It’s just another illustrative example of how gun control advocates live in a world that isn’t quite connected with reality. And this latest in a long line of gaffs definitely won’t help her odds in the upcoming election.