While Democrats like to portray themselves as the party looking out for the downtrodden, it was Texas Democrats who recently voted against making armed self-defense more accessible to poor citizens of the Lone Star State.
As researcher and author John Lott pointed out in a feature at thehill.com, when a measure came up in the Texas House to substantially lower the fees for firearm carry permits, only 32 percent of Democrats voted both times to lower the fee. At the same time, no Republicans voted against lowering the fee from $140 to $40, which would make permits more accessible to those with limited incomes.
“I have looked at 25 years of data on income, permit fees, training requirements and other regulations,” Lott wrote. “My research examined how these factors affect the number of people with permits. Just an increase of $100, from $40 to $140, would reduce the number of permits by an estimated 50 percent.”
Which left Lott with one obvious conclusion: “Democrats want votes from poor, urban minorities, but they aren't really looking out for them. These are the most likely victims of violent crime—so why not let them defend themselves and their families?”
