Regarding gun rights; on payday lending

Regarding gun rights

“Constitutional carry” is legal in many states.

It’s a right of the people protected by the Second Amendment. (Editorial, “Lawmakers wrestling with gun rights”)

House Bill 164 sponsor Rep. James White, R-Woodville, had this to say on Texas Public Radio: “Vermont not only has open carry but constitutional carry, and everyone talks about how blue the state of Vermont is. Surely, in the big red state of Texas, we can have open carry.”

Makes sense. But what of constitutional carry (House Bill 195)?

Why would a law that protects our constitutional right to keep and bear arms be “worrisome?”

It has been tested in other states already.

You admonish us that this same right exercised here “should be a terrifying prospect for all.”

The anti-gun crowd seems interested only in promoting more government restrictions rather than restoring lost rights of all Texans.

It has predictably resorted to old-school gun-ban tactics, predicting “blood in the streets” or “shootouts like the O.K. Corral,” should House Bill 195 become law.

I like the axiom “an armed society is a polite society.”

To help you understand this, spend some time at the next gun show.

— Steve Kilborn, Fort Worth

UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven, who oversaw the successful hunt for Osama Bin Laden, recently summarized his concerns about campus-carry legislation, basing his criticism on discussions with campus police, health providers, faculty and students.

At least in the reports I read, he overlooked one important argument: the potential impact on attracting faculty and administrators.

The national media love to ridicule Texas extremists.

The day after the leader of Open Carry Tarrant County released his “treason” message about uncooperative legislators, Gail Collins mentioned his Facebook video on the op-ed page of The New York Times.

You can bet that if Texas passes campus carry, it will get national attention right at the same time that our new governor hopes to devote much of the money formerly used for Gov. Perry’s business start-up fund to recruiting faculty with national reputations to Texas.

Do you think the publicity about guns on campus will help to attract renowned faculty, med school doctors, and administrations — people who have to make unpleasant decisions about grades, medical procedures, and financial aid — decisions that can anger students?

The people Gov. Abbott hopes to attract may have second thoughts about coming here if they know students are armed.

— Kenneth Roemer, Arlington

On payday lending

Thank you for the editorial on payday lenders, encouraging our state to pass a law that will protect all our citizens from outrageous lending practices!

The law could be as simple as making it a criminal offense to collect more than 30 percent from anyone, taking into consideration the amount loaned, the time elapsed, any and all charges for extensions, any fees, services or any additional costs to the borrower and including all funds or collateral paid by the borrower prior to closing the loan.

If collateral was obtained by the lender, it must be returned to the borrower without any additional charges, provided the 30 percent limit is met.

Lenders convicted of exceeding these limits should be fined $1 million for the first offense and banned from doing business in Texas for the second offense.

— Jack L. Drain, Bedford

I agree with Mayor Betsy Price that persons in desperate circumstances sometimes need payday loans.

What I do not understand is a moral rationale for leaving rates and late payment provisions unregulated.

Oops! I used that bad word again.

I hope the mayor and my councilman, Zim Zimmerman, will lead the movement to require some compassion, or at least fairness, into the provisions for short-term loans.

— Paul Hartman, Fort Worth

This story was originally published February 13, 2015 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Regarding gun rights; on payday lending."