Guns could be a tough topic for Texas candidate
Political Science Professor Cal Jillson talks about the race for Texas governor and the gun issue.
By JAY ROOT
AUSTIN, Texas — If he were running for governor of New York, Democrat Bill White would probably be considered a pro-gun enthusiast. He's got a shotgun and a 9 mm pistol, opposes any new laws on firearms and says he'd like to sign up some day for a concealed weapons permit.
But this is Texas, where incumbent Rick Perry recently shot a coyote while out jogging and enjoys hunting deer with a bow and arrow. The love of weaponry is so ingrained in state culture that having a legal permit to carry a handgun will get you waved through the Texas Capitol security lines without going through a magnetometer.
Against that backdrop, the former Houston mayor heads into the 2010 governor's race playing defense on a powerful political issue. The biggest liability for White is his past membership in a New York-based gun control group. White says he resigned after finding its positions too restrictive, but his participation in Mayors Against Illegal Guns riled up those who live to preserve Texas' pro-gun culture.
"Anywhere in the civilized world you would be able to make the argument that everybody should be able to be against illegal guns. But we're not in the civilized world. We're in Texas," said Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson.
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