Hey, Bud Kennedy. I beg to differ.

In a scorn filled, contemptuous column entitled " Texas sheriffs' boasts about guns nothing but hot air " Bud Kennedy denigrates Texas sheriffs in general then zeroes in on Collin County Sheriff Terry Box to portray as the wood whittling, domino playing, hayseed politician intent on hoodwinking his much smarter constituents.  It is somewhat of a brain twister, trying to understand how a dumb hick persuaded the smart voters of Collin County to return him to office for 37 years but I reckon cognitive coordination isn't one of Bud's strong points. Bud must feel that, as a good Progressive, he is duty bound do battle with anyone who offers resistance to the ongoing, and so far, futile effort of the Left to disarm the American people.

Kennedy makes the assumption that Sheriff Box is stating that he won't enforce federal gun laws only as a ploy curry votes in the next election. I take the Sheriff at his word; that it is his deeply held belief that Americans have the right to keep and bear arms.  Add that sentiment to the undeniable fact that federal laws go unenforced all the time, and couple it with the very real prospect that the sheriff and his deputies will be the ones charged with enforcing any new laws, he then, is only stating what flows logically from those conditions; that Federal gun grabber laws will go unenforced in his jurisdiction.

Don't believe me? Then take a look at the illegal alien statutes, a panoply of federal laws that go mostly unenforced by local cops, ...and the Feds, and the President.  This is so widespread that some cities pass ordinances that specifically forbid local law enforcement to take action based upon them, then proudly pronounce themselves "Sanctuary" cities.

According to this, story, a county sheriff has the power to defy federal coercion.  But even if a sheriff doesn't have the legal right to not enforce laws he views as unconstitutional, as a practical matter, if he doesn't like it, if it doesn't serve an enforcement purpose, it will not be enforced.  The unofficial precedent for not enforcing an unpopular law was established when Officer Oop decided that no real crime had been committed and let somebody walk.

From the cop on the beat on up to the highest officials in the law enforcement infrastructure, they all have tremendous latitude when it comes to enforcement of individual statutes. Bud Kennedy's huffing and puffing notwithstanding.

Is the Star telegram attempting to groom Wendy Davis for bigger things?

Today there was a fawning article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram entitled "Is Senator Wendy Davis poised for a statewide race?".  About halfway through, there is a paragraph that links two freshman Tarrant County state representatives, Jonathan Strickland R-HD 92, and Giovanni Capriglione R-HD 98, with Davis.  The reporter, Dave Montgomery, stated that she was teaming up with Stickland on a companion bill, and was a Senate sponsor of Capriglione's bill.

It seemed odd that two Tea Party backed, freshman Republicans, who had defeated, or run off, a long serving incumbent would make common purpose with a Democrat who had gone out of her way to garner Republican antipathy in the last session.  So, I decided I would check.  It was easy enough to go to the Texas Legislature online and find out if Wendy Davis had indeed had anything to do with the legislation of these representatives.

Of course, the first person I checked on was my own representative, Jonathan Stickland.  He has written and filed five bills so far.  Representatives Krause and Sheets are listed as co-authors of the military family bill, HB 202   No mention of Davis on this page but I wasn't expecting it.  The article stated that she was the author of a companion bill.

Then I went to Senator Davis' webpage and looked up her legislation expecting to find a companion bill as stated in the article.  I did find a companion bill, but not for Stickland's legislation.  Wendy Davis has authored exactly one bill, SB 178,  which turned out to be the companion to Capriglione's bill, HB 524.  That's all, she has not co-sponsored a bill, co-authored any bills, or authored any other bill besides that lonely one.

So, I guess you could say that the Star-Telegram got it one quarter right.  They said she wrote a companion bill for Stickland, and was a Senate sponsor for Capriglione.  What can the officially verified through Texas Legislature online is that she did nothing for Stickland, and wrote a companion bill Capriglione. There is no such category as "Senate Sponsor".

If the Star-Telegram is going to try to foist a liberal Democrat upon the citizens of Texas, it should at least get the details right.