Gun fight isn't OK
Star-Telegram
Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson takes his job seriously. Fine. But he sometimes takes too seriously duties that don't fall within his job description, like being interpreter of the U.S. Constitution and official czar for Second Amendment rights.
Patterson, whose title automatically makes him chairman of the School Land Board, is in charge of overseeing some state-owned property. His office has the power to invest in real estate to benefit the Permanent School Fund, which supports public education.
For months now, the commissioner has been at the center of a public fight involving a 14.5-square-mile tract in West Texas known as the Christmas Mountains, which was donated to the state in 1991. The gift came with the proviso that the land remain in state hands or be transferred to the National Park Service. An agreement at the time said the donor, a private foundation, had approval rights if the state wanted to dispose of the land in any other way.
Several months ago, the Texas General Land Office announced that it would take bids on the property, resulting in the donor crying foul and a public outcry against such a proposal. Many rightly argued that the land should go to the National Park Service, not some private individual or group.
Patterson went on the defensive, vowing never to transfer the property to the Park Service as long as that agency had restrictions on guns in parks. Although a majority of the three-member land board opposed their chairman and put the sale of the property on hold, the commissioner still insists that he has a duty to stand up and fight in the name of the Second Amendment.
He told a Texas House committee this week that the gun restrictions were unconstitutional and that he would not accept a U.S. Supreme Court ruling should it uphold a Washington, D.C., ban against handguns in a case that is before the high court.
Patterson's position on this matter is untenable, and his obstinate invocation of the gun issue in the discussion borders on obsession.
It is way past time to move on. Let's get on with transferring the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service and save the gun battle for another day.
