New York Times spotlights report on guns, traveling and the Texas Lege

I was quoted in the New York Times this morning on the topic of prosecutors who continued to pursue weapons cases against Texas drivers in contradiction to HB 823 passed last session ("Unusual allies in a legal battle over Texas' drivers gun rights"). Reporter Ralph Blumenthal was particularly interested in the "strange bedfellows" aspect of the dispute, with the Texas State Rifle Association working with ACLU and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition to produce a public policy report criticizing prosecutor excesses, which I wrote, that was released last month.

Blumenthal called me a "blogger" in the story, but didn't name the blog! Come on, Ralphie, where's the love? Otherwise, it's a good backgrounder on the issue.

Carl Isett's HB 1815 is the legislation that would fix the problem once and for all (I hope, at least - I thought we were done with it last session). That bill recently passed out of the Law Enforcement Committee 7-0 and is awaiting a vote on the House floor. See prior, related Grits coverage:

• Guns and traveling, once and for all
  
• Report: DAs defy Legislature over carrying handguns in personal vehicles
• Texas' new carry law, what does it mean?
• Volokh on guns and the ACLU in Texas
• Reflex
  
• Pack your pistola and hit the road
• Law allowing guns in vehicles protects rights
• Strange coalition backs consent search ban

UPDATE: Reason magazine's Jacob Sullum (who now lives in Texas, he declares) offered a post on Hit and Run about the Times story, and received quite a few comments (approaching 100 so far).