Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Politics

Texas Attorney General: Local Governments Must Allow Sale of Guns

Local governments must allow the sale of guns even during a pandemic, Texas Attorney General Ken Pax..

Local governments must allow the sale of guns even during a pandemic, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a legal opinion issued on Friday.

Emergency powers cannot be used to regulate or restrict the sale of firearms, according to the states top law enforcement official.

“State law provides several emergency powers to local governments to control movement within their region during a disaster, which serves our communities well during public health events like the one were fighting now. However, local regulation of the sale, possession, and ownership of firearms is specifically prohibited under Texas law,” Paxton said in a statement.

“Under our laws, every Texan retains their right to purchase and possess firearms.”

Paxtons legal opinion (pdf) was in response to Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows, who earlier in the week asked Paxton if gun stores could fit under the label of essential businesses.

Epoch Times Photo
Epoch Times Photo
An employee stands at the entrance to a guns shop in Culver City, Calif., on March 24, 2020. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

Non-essential businesses are being forced to close across the nation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new disease is caused by the novel coronavirus, which The Epoch Times refers to as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Burrows, in a statement, praised Paxtons opinion, stating that having access to firearms and ammunition in the current situation “is clearly essential.”

Local governments considering temporarily banning sales of weapons and closing gun ranges “would expose Texans to serious and perhaps fatal vulnerabilities,” he added.

Some municipalities elsewhere are considering or have already issued orders for gun stores to close.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva this week said gun and ammunition stores “are not considered essential businesses.”

His decision contradicted a legal opinion from the countys counsel.

Other locales, including New Orleans, have banned or restricted the sales of firearms and ammunition.

Epoch Times Photo
Epoch Times Photo
Andrea Schry, right, fills out the buyer part of legal forms to buy a handgun as shop worker Missy Morosky fills out the vendors parts after Dukes Sport Shop reopened in New Castle, Pa., on March 25, 2020. (Keith Srakocic/AP Photo)

New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts have also deemed gun stores nonessential while authorities in Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan said they are essential.

Pennsylvania GRead More – Source
[contf]
[contfnew]

The Epoch Times

[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]

Finance

In an interview with ET Now, Dabur India Director Mohit Burm..

Science

The 147th Open championship will be at Carnoustie Golf Club in Scotland. Jan Kruger/R&A Golfers ..

Tech

Enlarge Oliver Morris/Getty Images) In response to an Ars re..

Tech

Enlarge/ You wouldn't really want to use Nvidia's ..