Over 36 gun bills have been introduced so far this legislative session, ranging from lessening the time it takes to obtain a Concealed Handgun License, to bills like the one authored by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston that puts additional regulations on gun-owners and sellers.
"Currently Texas allows private weapon sales at gun-shows without background checks, so I filed a bill -- SB 1626 -- and it will require background checks for every gun sold in the state of Texas," Ellis said.
Ellis said criminals use the gun show loophole to obtain easy access to deadly weapons and closing it is critical. According Ellis' statistics, over 40 percent of the guns used by border cartels are purchased at gun shows.
Ellis has also proposed a bill addressing the sale and passion of high-capacity magazines.
"I don’t think there is any way to make an argument that a rational person should have a high-capacity magazine if you are going hunting; you’d have to be a really bad shooter or you’d have to be on something," Ellis said.
He understands that getting the bill passed is an uphill climb, but he said that in the wake of the recent shootings in Connecticut, Colorado and Arizona it is time to start the dialogue on responsible gun control.
Ellis said he plans to amend his set of bills to a more popular bill in order to get them heard on the Senate floor.
