The National Rifle Association sounds an alarm to drum up new members.

"Our rights are under attack like never before," the group warns on its website.

In hopes of getting Second Amendment enthusiasts to click the red "Join" button and sink $45 into a membership, the powerful organization touts its lobbying arm and political action committee.

The NRA-Institute for Legislative Action -- styled as "Tireless Defenders of your Second Amendment Rights" -- and the NRA Political Victory Fund invest dollars and other currencies of influence in Austin to block gun control legislation and push for looser laws as do other pro-gun groups.

Former state Sen. Craig Estes already had an A+ from the NRA and its independent state affiliate, the Texas State Rifle Association, when pro-gun groups approached him to champion open-carry legislation in the interim before the 2015 legislative session.

The letter grades are based on a lawmaker's voting record, his answers to the TSRA-NRA candidate questionnaire and comments that can be verified. The A+ is reserved for bill authors whose legislation passes.

So the lobbyists knew they were on friendly ground with Estes.

“They made a compelling case that citizens ought to have the right to either carry concealed or openly,” the Wichita Falls Republican said.

For one thing, most other states allowed some form of open carry for handguns, and carrying long guns in public was already legal in Texas, Estes said.

And then there was the racial discrimination argument from blacks backing open carry.

"One of the reasons that we had open carry laws was because after the Civil War, emancipated slaves, people did not want them carrying guns. So it was kind of almost a Jim Crow situation," Estes said.

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The ban on carrying handguns openly in public dates back to the 1870s, and while whites often skirted the law by claiming the travelers exception, it was enforced more often against blacks, according to a Houston Chronicle article written on the eve of the legislative session in 2015.

Estes, who was chairman of the Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee, mulled over the issue during the interim.

The TSTRA had awarded him the Doc Brown Legislator of the Year Award twice, in 2012 and 2014, for getting pro-gun legislation passed.

The award is named for the late Dr. James T. Brown, TSRA's lobbyist from 1980 until his retirement in 2003, according to the TSRA's website.

Estes said it was his privilege to be one of the point men in the Senate for the Second Amendment while he was in the state Senate.

He authored the law that went into effect Jan. 1, 2016, making it legal for Texans with a permit to openly carry a holstered handgun.

The lawyers who combed through and crafted the bill's language likely drew upon other states' model legislation, which is a common practice, Estes said.

During his 17 years in office, he received $12,175 in donations from the NRA and TSRA PACs and affiliates, according to a Dallas Morning News database.

The NRA and the TSRA are the heavyweights focused on influencing gun laws in the Legislature.

“I try to take every organization and individual seriously,” Gyl Switzer, executive director of Texas Gun Sense, said. “But I would say the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association are the organizations, unfortunately, that legislators turn to.”

Switzer said the pro-gun organizations' real power lies not as much in campaign contributions as in grading lawmakers, having paid staff members and being active with legislation.

“They … do the whole process of drafting legislation through passing legislation,” Switzer said.

Molly Bursey, volunteer leader with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said the El Paso and Odessa shootings spurred calls for background checks on all gun sales and red flag laws.

“It’s clear that Texans want gun safety,” Bursey said. “But instead, we have lawmakers beholden to the gun lobby who don’t have the courage to stand up for gun safety.”

Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez chalked the lack of movement up to the greed of those profiting from looser gun laws and lawmakers benefiting from pro-gun political contributions.

"Until we get more people in office who care more about people than their donations, there’s not going to be a major change," Valdez said. "Or the public calls out enough."

On Aug. 3, a white gunman slaughtered 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso. He said he was targeting Mexicans in a city where nearly 85 percent of its residents are Hispanic. Within the same month, Texans were targeted again by a mass shooter who used an assault-type gun to kill seven people in the Odessa rampage. He also wounded three police officers in the Aug. 31 attack before police killed him.

The next day, Sept. 1, a host of laws went into effect that make it easier to carry guns in schools, churches, disaster zones and elsewhere in the Lone Star state.

Protecting citizens against mass shooters did not factor into Estes' push for open carry more than a decade ago, he said.

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“Most of the people that are doing that are coming in with a semiautomatic rifle … and shooting up the place,” Estes said. “The Legislature, as you know, is grappling with those issues in the interim right now.”

Estes said open carry has been a success -- not the wild West as feared.

"There were those who had great doubts whether it would be a good thing for Texas, and I think those fears were unfounded," he said.

But the author of the open-carry law prefers concealed carry.

"It's just what I’ve kind of always done ever since I’ve gotten my concealed carry license," he said. "There are occasions where I will openly carry."

His philosophy? "I think that’s very appropriate for good people to have guns, either concealed or openly,” he said.

He still had an A+ grade and endorsements from both the NRA and the TSRA when he lost the Senate District 30 seat in the March 6, 2018, Republican Primary to then state Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Prosper.

Here are some of the players expected to stand in the way of gun restrictions in the 87th Legislature to convene in January 2021 — or in the unlikely chance Gov. Greg Abbott calls a special session on gun violence in the interim:

The NRA

In a state of gun lovers, the NRA does not invest heavily in Texas’ elected officials.

A Dallas Morning News analysis showed the NRA and its independent state affiliate, the TSRA, have dribbled approximately $700,000 into their war chests since 2000. This is in a state with multi-million dollar elections.

For perspective, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has gotten $191,825 from gun rights interests from his rise to the Senate in 2002 through 2018, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

NRA and TSRA PACs and affiliates have given $13,700 to Gov. Greg Abbott, according to a Dallas Morning News database. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has received $11,000, and Republican House Speaker Dennis Bonnen has gotten $1,950.

The NRA and TSRA bestowed endorsements and A+ grades on both Abbott and Patrick in the ratings released in 2018, the latest available. Bonnen garnered an A and an endorsement.

The NRA has self-reported a membership of 5.5 million, a membership that spike after mass shootings that give rise to discussions of gun restrictions.

The TSRA

The Texas State Rifle Association, a Bastrop-based organization, was founded in 1919 and calls itself as a protector of the Second Amendment, provider of gun safety training and supporter of competitive shooting, hunter education and wildlife conservation.

The TSRA Political Action Committee provides a voters’ guide during election season, grading state politicians and endorsing them based on their voting record and efforts pushing forward pro-gun legislation.

The association boasts that it has the state’s only full-time team of lobbyists for gun rights.

They were featured on the cover of the March-April edition of the TSRA Sportsman among articles on Krav Maga, muzzle loaders and Glock shooting competitions.

The association reaches out in a variety of other ways, too, with publications, a professional staff and information on everything from women's programs to shooting ranges.

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The association gets exposure to youth with shooting and education initiatives through the TSRA Foundation, which sponsors youth competitions, trains coaches and holds events to get children started in shooting sports.

The NRA looks to state affiliates like the TSTRA to carry its pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment message to states, as well as deliver the national group's programs and legislative take, and motivate the grassroots to promote NRA programs at the community level, according to the NRA website.

But the state affiliates are independent operators, separate from the NRA but recognized by it, according to the website.

Officially recognized associations like the TSRA can apply for NRA grants to buy office equipment, pay staff, build a website and foot the bill for other activities, according to the website.

The lobbyists

Tara Mica is the NRA Texas lobbyist. She has been an Austin-based regional lobbyist for the NRA for 24 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

In June, Mica told the Dallas Morning News that it was a very good year for pro-gun bills in Texas.

“When you get 10 pro-Second Amendment bills to the governor and he signs them all, I would rank it up there with one of the most successful sessions we’ve had since I’ve been doing this,” Mica said.

Alice Tripp was the legislative director at TSRA for 21 years and says on her LinkedIn profile that she has been about “passing good legislation and stopping bad. Doing it as long as I’m able.”

The carrot and stick of grades, endorsements and Doc Brown awards is how the association funnels information directly to where TSRA leadership feel the group's real clout lies.

“Our power and influence is our membership, not our money. That’s really what grassroots lobbying is,” Alice Tripp, the association's former legislative director, told the Texas Tribune last year.

TSRA has approximately 37,000 members.

Still, the money plays its part. PAC checks go first to legislators who push the association's pro-gun bills and hear them in committee, according to Tripp.

She retired Aug. 31 but not before announcing her successor.

Mike Cox of Driftwood is the new legislative director for TSRA. Cox has been a TSRA board member, is a Hill Country cattle rancher and owns Driftwood Concealed Handgun Training.

"I'm a perpetual student of the gun, but mostly in handguns," Cox said in a Guns.com YouTube video.

Cox spent over 20 years in the Middle East working for the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. before returning to the United States.

The lobbyist has attracted the attention of Abbott, who has made a habit of giving the conservative Republican posts on his many boards and commissions.

The governor reappointed Cox to the Texas Safety Center Board last year for a term. This particular board sends a report to the governor on school safety and security due on Jan. 1 at the beginning of every legislative session.

Abbott most recently gave Cox a spot on the newly formed Texas Safety Commission.

The group is supposed to create a plan to squelch extremist groups and hate thought, and promote community healing -- while producing legislation to prevent mass shootings and combat domestic terrorism.

Meanwhile, in an Oct. 4 newsletter, Cox urged all TSRA members to attend a public hearing held by the Texas House Select Committee on Mass Violence Prevention and Community Safety on Oct. 10 in Farmers Branch.

“In a shameless effort to exploit the tragedies in El Paso, Midland and Odessa, gun control advocates have demanded restrictive measures,” Cox wrote in a battle cry for the interim between legislative sessions.

Open Carry Texas

Bursey named Open Carry Texas as one of the groups that “continue to challenge common-sense gun laws.”

The group was founded in 2013 by its president, C.J. Grisham. He is a retired Army first sergeant who lives in Temple with his family. Grisham is also the membership director for Self Defense Fund, which sells insurance plans for gun owners’ legal defense.

Grisham helped lead the charge to persuade Estes to author the legislation that swept aside the prohibition on open carry of handguns.

Mission accomplished, the group shifted its focus to constitutional carry, which would allow Texans to carry a gun without any kind of gun license at all. Law enforcement frowns mightily upon this proposal.

The Texas Municipal Police Association does not support constitutional carry and considers it mislabeled, Kevin Lawrence, TMPA executive director, said.

Particularly disliked is a provision prohibiting law enforcement officers from approaching someone to ask if he or she is legally carrying a gun -- which is part of a police officer's job, Lawrence said.

Open Carry Texas does not appear to be a membership organization but does accept recurring donations.

Part of the group's mission is "to educate all Texans about their right to openly carry rifles and shotguns in a safe manner" and "condition Texans to feel safe around law-abiding citizens that choose to carry them," according to the bio on its blog.

The blog's latest post addresses, "Why Your Old Gun Will Always Stay in Fashion."

It was unclear this month why the group's @OpenCarryTexas Twitter account has been suspended. The social media platform noted on the profile that it suspends accounts that violate the Twitter rules.

Gun Owners of America

Founded in 1975, the group “represents the views of gun owners whenever their rights are threatened,” according to its website.

Rachel Malone is the Austin-based Texas director for GOA, focused on lobbying the Legislature. She started another group in 2002, Texas Firearms Freedom, to promote constitutional carry. She was formerly operations director for the Republican party of Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott

Abbott has been known as a pro-gun governor. In keeping with that, he used the power of the veto to squash House Bill 1168 in June.

The measure would have made it illegal to have a gun in secure airport areas. In his veto statement, he said the bill, perhaps unintentionally, would prohibit carrying in any part of an airport terminal building.

His said his veto ensured that “Texans can travel without leaving their firearms at home.”

After the El Paso mass shooting, Abbott launched a series of round tables to hold discussions about proposals to prevent a similar tragedy although he did not call a special session of the Legislature to turn proposals into law.

An Abbott tweet to the NRA from Oct. 28, 2015, has resurfaced and drawn criticism at times such as after the Aug. 31 shooting rampage in Odessa that left seven dead: "I'm EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let's pick up the pace Texans."

He has long used his NRA grade as an election selling point, tweeting about supporting "gun rights" before the 2014 gubernatorial election and having an A grade as opposed to his Democratic opponent Wendy Davis' failing grade.

"I'll keep Texas free," Abbott tweeted Feb. 7, 2014.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

He trumpeted the NRA PAC’s endorsement and A+ rating of him in January of last year after the organization praised his “strong commitment to law-abiding Texans’ right to self-defense.”

However, the NRA was quick to condemn him for “trampling the freedom of law-abiding Americans” when he spoke out in support of stricter background checks in the wake of the El Paso and Odessa shootings.

It remains to be seen whether Patrick’s newfound enthusiasm for tightening background checks lasts until the next legislative session.

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