US Supreme Court rules on MCDONALD V. CHICAGO, strikes down Chicago handgun ban

You can download the PDF of the McDonald ruling here.

In a nutshell, today's ruling extends protection of Second Amendment rights to state law instead of just Federal law as decided in 2008's Heller case.

This is a landmark decision in the annals of gun legislation in America, and it has strengthened the position of gun owners all across our nation.

More to come as the details unfold. I was on the beach in Port Aransas when the Supreme Court issued their ruling, so I'm playing a little catch-up at this point. Please bear with me.

Gun Owners Caucus 2010 Election Meeting and Convention Post-Mortem

Wow.

The 2010 TDP State Convention in Corpus Christi has been adjourned, and what an experience it was.

First, the bad news. We did not get our Firearms plank into the 2010 party platform. I think it would have been a big help for our Democratic candidates, but let's try again in 2012. The good news is that the Firearms plank was adopted on the convention floor as a resolution for the second convention in a row, so that's something to build on.

Now for the Election Meeting on Friday morning. Great turnout - I counted some 60 people in attendance. We had so many candidates come to address the Gun Owners Caucus that I lost track of them all. Most of them wound up on videotape, and I'll try to get them on YouTube as soon as I can.

We have a new Executive Committee to serve the Caucus until the 2012 convention. Here are your new officers:

Chair: Daniel Barnett
Vice-Chair: Glenda Bailey
Secretary: Glenda McCray
Treasurer: Kit Carson
At-Large Committeeperson: Rhonda Phillips

I sincerely thank all of our new officers for stepping up to support the Caucus.

Take another look at the list. With the sole exception of yours truly, the Executive Committee is all-female! This is a most welcome development that should mollify some of our critics while promoting true diversity in our Caucus. I look forward to working with all of them - and I know they'll keep me on my toes.

I also got elected to the Resolutions Committee at the 2010 convention, and I am truly grateful to the folks at SD16 for the honor of serving them.

Will share more later. Right now, I'm pooped even after getting some sleep. Thanks to all of you who showed up at the Election Meeting!

PS: I'll post a complete list of candidates who visited the Caucus either tonight or tomorrow.

TDP 2010 State Convention - Complete Caucus Schedule

In just two weeks, this year's state Democratic Convention will be held in Corpus Christi (June 24-26). We finally have the complete list of caucuses for the convention, starting with the Senatorial District Caucuses and moving to the Issue/Organization Caucuses:

SENATORIAL DISTRICT CAUCUSES
Friday, June 25

3:00-5:00 pm
SD 1: Exhibit Hall B (1), 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 2: Riviera 1, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 3: Room 225C, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 4: Riviera 2 & 3, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 5: Room 226, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 6: Room 227, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 7: Padre Island Ballroom A-B-C-D, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 8: Watergarden A (1), 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 9: Room 103, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 10: Bayview Ballroom D, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 11: Corpus Christi Ballroom A, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 12: Nueces Ballroom B, Third Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 13: Bayview Ballroom B, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 14: Bayview Ballroom A, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 15: Room 225 DE, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 16: Bayview Meeting Room, 1st Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 17: Marina View, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 18: Corpus Christi Ballroom C, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 19: Selena Auditorium, Rehearsal Hall, American Bank Center
SD 20: Bayview Ballroom C, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 21: Room 105, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 22: Nueces Ballroom A, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 23: Watergarden B, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 24: Watergarden A (2), 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 25: Corpus Christi Ballroom B, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 26: Room 225 A-B, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 27: Room 101-102, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 28: Riviera 4 & 5, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 29: Room 104, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 30: Exhibit Hall B (2), 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 31: Aransas Room, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront

ISSUE/ORGANIZATION CAUCUSES
Friday, June 25

9:00 - 10:00am
Progressive Hispanic Caucus, Bayview Ballroom B

9:00 - 11:00am
Democrats with Disabilities, Bayview Ballroom D
Democrats for Life, 225 C
Gun Owners Caucus, Room 104
Non-Urban Caucus, Room 226
Reform the TDP Caucus/Primary Process, Room 225 D-E

10:00 - 11:00am
Mexican American Democrats, Bayview Ballroom B
Tejano Democrats, Arena

10:30 - 11:30am
UAW Caucus, Bayview Ballroom A

11:00 - 12:00pm
Hispanic Caucus, Arena
Local Communications and Outreach Coordination, Room 103

11:00 - 12:30pm
Small Business Caucus, Room 106

11:00 - 1:00pm
Clean, Fair, Public, Voter-Owned Elections, Room 225 C
Coalition of Black Democrats, Watergarden B
East Texas Democratic Caucus, Room 226
Texas Democratic Veterans Association, Bayview Ballroom C
Texas Democratic Women, Bayview Ballroom D
Texas Environmental Democrats, Room 101-102
West Texas Coalition of Democrats, Room 227

11:45 - 1:00pm
TX AFL-CIO Labor Caucus, Bayview Ballroom A

12:00 - 1:00pm
#TDPSC Tweet-Up, Room 104

12:00 - 2:00pm
Education Transformation with State Representative Mike Villarreal, Room 103
Muslim Democratic Caucus, Room 105
Technology Caucus: Democratic Caucus on Computers and Communications, Rehearsal Hall
Texas Blue Dog Coalition, Bayview Ballroom B

12:30 - 2:30pm
Texas Stonewall Democrats, Watergarden A

1:00 - 2:00pm
Energy Caucus, Room 101-102
State House District 17, Room 227
Jewish Caucus, Room 226

1:00 - 2:30pm
Democrats Against the Death Penalty, Room 225 D-E
Texas State Teachers Association, Room 225 A-B

5:00 - 6:00pm
Asian American Democrats, Watergarden B

Bill White's candidacy and the gun question

Here's an interesting article from Saturday's Washington Examiner about Bill White's gubernatorial campaign and his history on gun issues.

Once again, if Bill is interested in dropping by the Gun Owners Caucus Election Meeting this month in Corpus Christi, he is most definitely welcome.