Texas has more than 1,400 registered lobbyists who “enter and exit the Capitol numerous times during the course of a day” to wheel and deal with state lawmakers and push through their agendas. But one of their main frustrations is that they have to stand in a security line — just like other ordinary members of the public — to get inside. Now, they’ve found a way to get around that hassle: Buy a gun. Why? It’s easier to enter the Texas state capitol building with a gun than without one:
The only people exempted are lawmakers, properly identified state employees or Texans who carry a pistol with a concealed handgun license — or just the license itself, which allows them to bypass the security lines for an express lane reserved for “CHL: Holders.”
“Every lobbyist in Texas is going to become a card-carrying member or a gun-carrying member,” lobbyist and former state lawmaker Pat Haggerty said. “We’re going to have more damn guns in here than we know what to do with.”
Highlighting the incredibly cozy relationship between special interests and Texas lawmakers, one lobbyist said that he expected lawmakers to write new rules accommodating “frequent visitors” — such as lobbyists. “We’re not even visitors,” said the lobbyist. “This is where we do our business.”
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