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(Laura Figi/Austonia)
President Joe Biden is cracking down on gun control laws and as expected, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is unhappy about it.
On Thursday, the president publicly addressed his plans to cease gun violence at the national level, including enforcing tighter restrictions on "ghost guns," or self-assembled firearms that are put together without a serial number or background check. "Gun violence in this country is an epidemic, and it's an international embarrassment," Biden said during remarks at the White House.
Following through with Biden's election campaign promise to tackle gun control, the Justice Department is also publishing "red flag" legislation that will allow for people to petition a court to temporarily remove guns from people who may be a danger and dedicating $1 billion in funding to community intervention and prevention from gun violence.
Shortly after the president spoke, the Texas governor tweeted that "Biden is threatening our 2nd Amendment rights." Abbott is pushing for legislation that would make the state a "Second Amendment sanctuary state," in which Texas would not enforce federal gun laws that undermine state laws.
Biden is threatening our 2nd Amendment rights.
He just announced a new liberal power grab to take away our guns.
We will NOT allow this in TX.
It's time to get legislation making TX a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary State passed and to my desk for signing. https://t.co/d4EydwmQnf
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 8, 2021
The bill was filed by Texas House Rep. Justin Holland last month. It would restrict federal laws from infringing on gun rights in Texas.
While gun control has been an issue Biden has pledged to address, especially after the latest Colorado shooting, Abbott has vowed to uphold the Second Amendment even after close to home shootings like in El Paso where 23 were killed.
With a Democratic president and a Republican governor, the two have an ongoing chess match where they are disagreeing on most policy from issues on the border to COVID-19 precautions.
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Gov. Greg Abbott after throwing the first pitch for the Texas Rangers in 2019. (Greg Abbott/Twitter)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not be throwing the first pitch for the Texas Rangers for their first home opener at their brand new stadium this evening, and he won't encourage the state to host any more special MLB events this season. Abbott's decision comes after the league pulled its 2021 All-Star Game and Draft from Atlanta due to Georgia's newest voting bill.
In a letter written to the team, Abbott said he was "looking forward" to throwing the first pitch but could not support the league after they adopted a "false narrative" on Georgia's election law reform.
"It is shameful that America's pastime is being influenced by partisan politics," Abbott said in a tweet.
I was looking forward to throwing out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers' home opening game until @MLB adopted what has turned out to be a false narrative about Georgia's election law reforms.
It is shameful that America's pastime is being influenced by partisan politics. pic.twitter.com/pNJApYBHpw
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 5, 2021
Supporters of the new bill is crucial to upholding "election integrity", but many others feel differently, labeling the bill "Jim Crow 2.0."
The "Election Integrity Act of 2021" is a response to the GOP's widespread, but unfounded, claims of voter-by-mail fraud in the 2020 election and will change the way Georgians vote. Changes to mail-in ballots include requiring IDs to apply for absentee ballots, cutting the number of days that absentee ballots are available in half and limiting the amount of absentee ballot drop boxes. The state will also expand early voting hours and allow counties to start processing votes two weeks before Election Day.
While GOP leaders have embraced the bill, dissenters including President Joe Biden and MLB league commissioner Rob Manfred said that the law could disproportionately affect communities of color.
"Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box," Manfred said. "Fair access to voting continues to have our game's unwavering support."
Abbott, who is working on orders in Texas that would limit mail-in voting procedures, said he was disappointed in the league for not only bringing politics in the game but also for pushing what he described as a false narrative around the bill.
"Major League Baseball adopted what has turned out to be a false narrative about the election law reforms in Georgia, and, based on that false narrative, moved the MLB All-Star game from Atlanta," Abbott said. "It is shameful that America's pastime is not only being influenced by partisan political politics, but also perpetuating false political narratives."
Abbott may have boycotted the league, but he's still in support of the Rangers, a program he said is "outstanding from top to bottom." Abbott last threw the first pitch for the team in 2019.
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James Timothy "Jimmy" Flannigan, the District 6 council member, was the only incumbent to lose his seat in the fall election. Then Flannigan's phone rang. The caller was attorney Phillip Schmandt, board president of Austin Convention Enterprises Inc. (ACE). That's the organization which oversees management of the city-owned Hilton Austin Convention Center Hotel.
Schmandt had a job offer. He wanted to fill the newly created position of president. "Phillip called and asked me if I'd be interested—literally Wednesday after the Tuesday election," Flannigan said.
As it turns out there is an upside to losing, moneywise. Read the full story at The Austin Bulldog.
Larimen Thaddeus "Larry" Wallace's employment at Central Health was terminated in December 2019. The triggering event was a complaint of his alleged sexual harassment of a female member of the agency's board of managers.
Wallace, now 72, has a history of inappropriate sexually oriented comments documented in his personnel records obtained by The Austin Bulldog and published in an investigative report October 30, 2020. In December 2016, Wallace was given training in "sexual harassment avoidance" by an outside attorney.
Read the full story by The Austin Bulldog here.
