Patrick's remarks significant moment for state Republicans

In what is either a battle of political wills or the floating of a trial balloon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the National Rifle Association had an interesting exchange last week as the state’s top elected officials continue to weigh gun options in the aftermath of two mass shootings weeks apart.

Patrick, a Republican and self-proclaimed “solid NRA guy,” said the organization is wrong in its opposition to background checks on so-called stranger-to-stranger gun sales. This might have been the type of transaction that made it possible for the shooter to obtain an assault weapon used in killing seven and injuring another two dozen in the Midland-Odessa mass shooting over the Labor Day weekend.

“We don’t have all the details yet, but it appears the Midland (and Odessa) shooter may have purchased his gun from a total stranger,” Patrick told Fox News in our story last weekend. “We want to protect families selling to family and friends without background checks, but about 10 percent to 15 percent of all guns bought in this country are bought stranger-to-stranger.”

The lieutenant governor said Texas should take a long look at expanding background checks to include stranger-to-stranger sales. He based the claim on conversations with gun owners, NRA members and voters, all of whom, he said, express dismay about no oversight on gun transactions between total strangers.

The idea sparked immediate and intense pushback from the NRA and other Republicans. The NRA characterized it as a political gambit, tying it to a similar effort attempted by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former President Barack Obama. Their alternative response suggested working on a broken mental health system, prosecuting known criminals and enforcing existing gun laws that require follow-up when someone prohibited from purchasing a firearm tries to do so.

State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) responded to the idea with this tweet: “Surveillance of Texan-to-Texan private firearms is a failed idea. It doesn’t work in Chicago, and it won’t make us safer here. It will infringe our rights to self-defense.”

Despite genuine objections and misgivings, the idea of expanding background checks has gained traction, with Republicans even in gun-friendly Texas. According to Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project with its University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, public opinion regarding gun issues is steadily shifting. Henson said that 70 percent of Republicans supported background checks on all gun purchases, according to a February 2016 data.

Others suggest Patrick was merely testing the political winds over the possibility that Gov. Greg Abbott could call a special session dedicated to gun violence, as Democrats have called for since the mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart on Aug. 3 killed 22 and injured 24. Thus far, Abbott has resisted, instead using the considerable power of his office to put resources in place that will develop a comprehensive, long-term strategy for what is a complicated and emotional issue.

Regardless, Patrick’s public remarks, which address a fairly narrow portion of gun rights, are important in the broader Republican narrative in Texas. Some eight new laws easing gun restrictions were passed in the 2019 legislative session and became effective Sept. 1.

Gambit or no, Patrick is at least raising possibilities that should be explored and discussed. There is no cure-all for gun violence, but taking time to talk through options is part of an urgent conversation that needs to take place.