Republicans in Power, 1870
When the Republicans took power, they wrote a new state constitution which protected Black suffrage. They also cataloged as many of the brutal killings and violent incidents occurring throughout the state as they could. They used this data to make the case that Texas needed laws against carrying guns in public. Where Conservatives preferred a tax that would allow wealthy and well-connected people to carry guns, Republicans eventually decided that everyone should leave their weapons at home.
Members of this new political party did not see eye-to-eye from the beginning. That fact comes out clearly when we look at the bills introduced at the first legislative session they controlled, which took place in 1870. The first, sponsored by Anderson Dorris of Caldwell County in Central Texas, was another attempt at a licensing scheme. This one, importantly, did not include a direct tax or fee; but it did require that a person post a peace bond of at least $100. This was still a lot of money, but it was a far cry from the $1,000 of Guinn’s bill.
Another approach came from Ebenezer Dohoney of Lamar County in East Texas. A Conservative/Democrat, he unsurprisingly advocated a permit scheme. But Dohoney’s was predicated upon urgency and need rather than status and wealth. In his proposal, persons fearing an imminent attack could go before a Justice of the Peace, explain the situation, and receive a temporary permit to publicly carry a deadly weapon for the purpose of self-defense. Dohoney’s bill shows us that, even during this phase of Reconstruction characterized by obstructionist, oppositional politics, doing something to reduce violence by regulating weapons was a bipartisan position.