'I felt I needed to be on the Senate floor': Creighton collapses during gun bill debate

As the Texas State Senate debated legislation May 5 allowing eligible gun owners in the state to carry firearms in a holster or concealed without a permit, Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) collapsed.

Creighton explained what happened in a May 6 Facebook post.

"Last Thursday night in Elgin, I was rear-ended and wound up with a concussion,” he wrote. “While the doctor recommended I get some rest for a few days, I felt I needed to be on the Senate floor to ensure we had the votes needed to pass constitutional carry. I pushed myself too hard and got lightheaded. I'm grateful to be blessed with so many messages of encouragement and concern. I'm looking forward to getting back to work after some much needed rest.”

After Creighton collapsed, Texas state troopers and Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) who is an emergency room physician, walked Creighton off the floor, KFDM reported.

Creighton has served in the state senate since August 2014 representing parts of Montgomery, Harris, Chambers, Jefferson and Galveston counties, the story said.

The permitless carry bill, HB 1927, passed the Senate 18-13 and now goes to a conference committee, the station reported.

It eliminates the licensing requirement for state residents 21 or older, who are “not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from possessing the firearm,” KXAN reported.

“The premise of the bill is not about trying to keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” said State Sen. Charles Schwertner, (R-Georgetown), who sponsored the bill in the Senate, the station reported. “This is about trying to reinstitute a constitutional right for law-abiding citizens.”

Business owners and private property owners could still “exclude handguns on their property,”  Schwertner said.

Campbell, who also supported the bill, said she thinks “gun-free zones are victim zones, and I don’t like them,” the station reported

The Senate also approved a measure that would make it illegal to carry a handgun for anyone convicted within the previous five years of crimes such as such as making a terroristic threat, assault that causes bodily injury and disorderly conduct with a firearm, the story said.