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Permit-Free Gun Carrying Legislation Closer

Texas is a step closer to allowing it made it through the legislature. residents to carry handguns in "I'll be signing it," he said in a radio public without obtaining a license interview on WBAP last month. "I or training. support it and I believe it should Last month the Texas reach my desk and we should have legislature approved the 'constitutional carry' in final version of a permitless Texas." carry gun bill, sending The bill passed the the legislation to Texas state's legislative Gov. Greg Abbott's desk chambers earlier this for his signature. month but was sent to House Bill 1927 would a conference committee allow individuals 21 and older who to work out differences in can legally possess a firearm in the changes made by each side. state to carry a handgun in public The committee reached an places without a permit. agreement on the bill Friday. The Texas joins a handful of other Texas Senate on Monday approved conservative-led states that have the bill, after the Texas House passed passed measures this year allowing it on Sunday. some form of permitless carry and Texas already allows citizens to expanded gun rights at the state carry rifles openly without a license. level, as President Joe Biden took Under current Texas law, residents action to institute some limited must have a license to carry an gun restrictions and is calling on open or concealed handgun. As part Congress to do more in the wake of of the licensing process, residents high-profile mass shootings. must submit a fingerprint, undergo Once signed, the bill will go into a background check, participate in a effect in September and Texas, training course and pass a shooting which has a strong gun culture, proficiency test. would be by far the largest state The bill would require the Texas to allow its gun owners to carry Department of Public Safety to post weapons in public without a license. a free online course on firearm safety Abbott, a Republican, has already and handling on its website. indicated he would sign the bill once 3.5” x 2.5” | Maximum Font Size: 30 pt

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Former State Rep. Froy Salinas, LBK's First Hispanic Lawmaker, Dies at 81

BY CHRISTY MARTINEZ-GARCIA FOR LATINO LUBBOCK MAGAZINE

The Honorable Froylan "Froy" Salinas, 81, the only Hispanic ever to represent a Panhandle/ South Plains district in the Texas Legislature died, May 10, 2021. He served from 1977 through 1985, and was a native of Tahoka. In 2017, he talked about how he campaigned for 14 months and really connected with the public. He had held a career in insurance, which taught him to communicate well with the public. It also propelled his finances which allowed him to be able to afford to run for office. “I talked to a lot of people, door to door, wasn’t particular, I talked to everyone – brown, black, white… everybody,” he said. Salinas shared that he was a member of LULAC for over 54 years adding that this background game him the experience and understanding about politics. “I give a lot of credit to the LULAC organization for giving me the knowledge,” he said. Incidentally, the confidence to sue the State of Texas for singlemember districts in 1971. “Prior to that it was difficult for minorities to run for office or win, but after that law suit it became easier statewide,” he said his election to House District 83 became possible thanks to the 1971 redistricting. “The district was only 32 percent Latino and black and 68 percent white, but people thought it was a minority district, so I was elected,” he said. “In those days it was very hard for a Latino, an AfricanAmerican or any other ethnic minority to get elected to anything in Texas, not just in West Texas.” His election happened a few years after Lubbock, had officially lifted racial discrimination against Hispanics and all other ethnic minorities, Salinas recalled. “I still remember the signs on restaurant doors and windows saying no Mexicans or dogs allowed,” Moreover, at that time District 83 was a one-county district, representing half of Lubbock County’s population and that helped his campaign because he didn’t have to campaign in rural areas where racial prejudice was deeper-rooted. Because of the 2001 redistricting, the district now consists of part of Lubbock County and all of Cochran, Gaines, Hockley and Yoakum counties. Also at that time, the average House district represented 70,000 residents compared to about 245,000 now, and the small number of voters also helped him win his seat, Salinas said. The first opponent Salinas defeated was Delwin Jones, who died July 25, 2018 and was the office-holder who was then a Democrat. He beat Jones in the primary and then went to defeat his Republican opponent in the fall. At that time, West Texas, like the rest of the state, was predominantly Democrat. Jones, who later became a Republican ended his 30-year legislative career in January because he was defeated in the Republican primary runoff, confirmed losing to Salinas. The loss came four years after Jones, who had already served in the House from 1965 to 1973, lost his re-election bid to Hale Center Democrat Pete Laney. In an interview with the Lubbock AJ Jones said of Salinas, “I remember he represented Lubbock for two or three terms, but I don’t remember much else about him, it was so long ago.” Salinas said he established close political alliances with Kent Hance, who was then a state senator and was later elected to Congress; with Bill Clayton of Springlake, who was then the speaker of the House, as well as with Laney, who went on to become House speaker in 1993 and led the chamber for 10 years. He also developed good working relationships with other legislators from all over the state and was able to work on key legislation for West Texas, like securing funding for the medical school at Texas Tech, Salinas recalled. And he would have liked to have stayed in office much longer but, by his own admission, he lost his re-election bid in 1984 because he upset a majority of the voters when he used a word that Anglos found offensive. He used what is considered a racial epithet when he asked law enforcement agencies why they were stopping a far larger number of blacks and Hispanics than whites. “I didn’t think it was offensive, but they did,” he said. “It was not like the words many whites used regularly at the time to call blacks and Mexicans.” In 1987, Salinas moved to Austin and became a lobbyist a decade later. He said that minorities in Lubbock County and throughout West Texas were still fighting the same battles he and others fought 40 years before. He had also said that the rapidly growing Hispanic population gave him hope that in the remaining years of his life he’d see another Hispanic from the Panhandle/South Plains region elected to the Legislature or to Congress. “At the rate the Latino population is growing I think that by 2020 we’ll have more minority representation,” he said. Unfortunately, that hope has yet to come. The giant in Lubbock’s Hispanic history shared advice for the next generation to stay in school, go to college, and get as much education as they could and to be active in the community. “Every piece of legislation that passes does something for someone and to somebody but being involved you can help the people,” he said. “I believe that you take care of those who can’t take care of themselves.” He was preceded in death by his parents, Manuel Salinas and Maria Dominguez Salinas, and his sister, Frances Flores. Froy is survived by his loving wife of 16 years, Lisa Salinas, as well as his children: Manuel Salinas III, Nancy Clark (Jim), Judy Salinas, Tricia Licon (Edward), all from Austin, TX. His sister, Sally Saldana (Frank) of Tahoka, TX and 10 grandchildren, five great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, and many other loving family and friends.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Froy Salinas was significant to Lubbock history. In a face to face interview in 2017 we discussed his career, the community, and he offered advice for future generations. I had also interviewed him by phone. Watch the video online at www. latinolubbock.net/video