Land commissioner lauds concealed handgun law

By Raymond V. Whelan • Daily Tribune Staff Writer

BURNET - Government leaders and media bosses are prone to misjudge the intelligence of everyday residents, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said Wednesday at the Burnet Community Center.

While speaking totally off-the-cuff at a luncheon before more than 100 listeners including members of the Burnet Rotary Club, Patterson defended a handgun bill he sponsored while serving District 11 in the state Senate 12 years ago, which then-Gov. George W. Bush eventually signed, making it legal for some Texans to carry a concealed firearm.

Before Bush approved the controversial legislation, his predecessor Gov. Ann Richards vetoed it, and most of the state’s newspaper editorial boards condemned it, Patterson recalled.

Then, the land commissioner, who also is a former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and Texas A&M University alumnus, asked how many people attending the luncheon “have been involved lately in a shootout at a four-way stop?”

Nobody raised a hand, and silence prevailed.

Before the gun bill passed, “Every single newspaper in Texas said there was going to be blood in the streets and shootouts at every four-way stop,” Patterson recalled.

“None of that has happened,” the land commissioner added. “Government and the press underestimated the ability of our citizens to make good decisions.”

Indeed, statistics show most gun owners are law-abiding citizens, Patterson said.

Funeral home operator Bill Wilcox introduced Patterson to the Burnet Rotarians and recited the commissioner’s other accomplishments, including sponsorship of a state constitutional amendment to allow home equity lending, taking the chair of the first Veterans Affairs Committee in the Texas Senate and hosting the first prisoner of war and personnel missing in action day at the Capitol.

Patterson is a member of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a “fifth-generation Aggie who has served his nation in time of war,” Wilcox added.

Wilcox also said Patterson’s son Travis is serving with the Marines in Iraq.

“He has sent me an e-mail, he’s returning soon,” Patterson told The Daily Tribune.

As land commissioner, Patterson told the audience his main mission is to manage state land assets, including the Texas coastline. Moreover, he is responsible for collecting royalties on oil, gas and other mineral resources - about $500 million annually - all of which goes to the state permanent school fund.

Recently, Patterson said his office executed four leases on wind power to Mexico and added it was the “first competitive lease on wind power” in the United States.

The land commissioner is the oldest public office in Texas, going back to 1837, Patterson said.

Over the years, some “colorful characters” have held the office, he added.

The first land commissioner was William Thomas “Peg Leg” Ward, an Irishman who lost his leg while fighting for Texas against Mexico in 1835. After serving briefly as mayor of Austin, Ward lost an arm during a duel, and that is how he became the first Texas land commissioner, Patterson said.

Baskin Giles was another colorful land commissioner, Patterson recalled. Giles served as land commissioner from 1939 to 1955, even after the courts indicted him for land fraud in 1954.

“We have a wonderful history,” Patterson quipped. “Why view daytime TV drama when you can talk about Texas history?”

Perhaps the most pivotal episode involving state-owned land occurred during the 1952 presidential election, Patterson said.

At that time, Gov. Allan Shivers, a Democrat, was fighting hard to return submerged tideland from the federal government back to Texas. During the height of the debate, Shivers and his followers, known as “Shivercrats,” openly supported Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, to become president of the United States.

Shivers endorsed the general, Patterson said, because Eisenhower promised Shivers he would give the tidelands back to Texas if he became president.

Meanwhile, Shivers refused to endorse Illinois Sen. Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic presidential nominee. Stevenson told Shivers he would not yield the tidelands back to Texas.

“That was a big deal,” Patterson said.

Eisenhower went on to win the 1952 election. The following year, Eisenhower returned the tidelands to Texas, Patterson recalled.

The Texas campaign for the tidelands gained momentum after Shivers succeeded Beauford H. Jester as governor in July 1949, Patterson said.

Jester and his mistress were riding a train together to Galveston for a mid-summer vacation, and evidently a steamy tryst between the couple aboard the train induced a deadly heart attack for Jester. Lt. Gov. Shivers then moved into the governor’s office, Patterson recalled.

“All of that (the tidelands issue) because of a train ride that didn’t go according to plan,” Patterson joked.

Also during the luncheon, Wilcox saluted J.V. “Pinky” Wilson, the author of the A&M “Aggie War Hymn,” which was played after the invocation.

“He was a real legend to us,” said Patterson, who recalled recognizing Wilson often as the former World War I Marine captain strolled around the A&M campus in College Station.

Plans are under way to establish two memorials for Wilson, one memorial at Post Mountain Cemetery near Burnet (where Wilson is buried), as well as a cenotaph honoring Wilson at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

While the Post Mountain memorial is pending, artists expect to finish the cenotaph by spring, Wilcox said.

“The people of Burnet will present the cenotaph to the state, and we will all be invited as a community,” Wilcox said.

Wilson’s only surviving son, Joe Wilson, sat at the head table during the luncheon. Also attending was Texas District 54 state Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock.

“He still walks the (A&M) campus,” said Aycock, referring to Pinky Wilson.

Other attendees were Burnet County Judge Donna Klaeger, Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve, and state district judges Gil Jones and Dan Mills.

raymond@thepicayune.com

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Land commissioner lauds
concealed handgun law