Austin City Council Shoots Down Nomination Of Gun Rights Activist To Municipal Task Force

AUSTIN, TX — City council members overwhelmingly rejected the nomination of a vocal gun rights activist and longtime City Hall critic to a key municipal board on Thursday.

Michael Cargill, the owner of Central Gun Works, had been nominated by District 1 Council Member Ora Houston to be a member of the Bond Election Advisory Task Force. But the pick drew wide outcry given Cargill's zealous gun rights advocacy—a penchant that has made him vociferous in objecting to a ban on concealed handguns at City Hall despite the passage of "open carry" last year of allows such displays.

In April, Cargill boasted on Facebook that he traipsed along Capitol grounds armed with a rifle before entering the state building despite a similar prohibition "...because I know how to communicate with law enforcement," he wrote.

Facing backlash ahead of the vote, Houston defended her choice. In a reply letter to a concerned constituent, Houston framed her selection as a step toward diversity in political thought and ideology. She lauded Cargill's status as a homeowner and small business owner as part of her rationale in making the nomination.

Related story: Austin Council Member Ora Houston Picks Gun Rights Activist For Bond Task Force

But Cargill's detractors pointed to his cozy relationship with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the bombastic radio shock jock who's built his Infowars media empire appealing to his listeners' worst fears about progressive societal changes replete with conspiracy theories. Jones recently apologized to the owner of a Washington, D.C. pizza joint Jones falsely reported to be a front for a pedophile ring with which Hillary Clinton was associated—a fake story that prompted one of Jones' sycophants to march to the pizzeria and firing a round inside the building.

Facing legal action, Jones disavowed the story after apologizing to the restaurant owner before scrubbing the "news story" from various Infowars online media forums.

Photos Cargill has posted on Facebook showing him palling around with the bombastic Jones gave many people pause. The fact that ardent gun rights advocate Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fellow Republican, was inspired to sue Austin for its City Hall gun ban after Cargill helped to bring the issue to light wasn't lost on many either. Cargill also has sued the city seeking a reversal of its gun prohibition policy.

“I have received numerous complaints from citizens about his aggressive behavior,” Council Member Sabino “Pio” Renteria said ahead of his no vote. “This is a man that has walked into a citizen task force meeting carrying—in a church—an AR-15.”

Renteria's fellow council member, Leslie Pool, also expressed concerns about Cargill. She accused Cargill of politicizing the death last year of a UT-Austin freshman—sexually assaulted and killed along a dark, creek-lined path on campus grounds by a transient teen—in the immediate aftermath of her murder. Cargill argued at the time that had Haruka Weiser been carrying a firearm, her death would've been prevented even though she was too young to have even been able to secure a gun license.

"After Haruka Weiser was murdered on the UT campus, Mr. Cargill took to social media to disrespect her death and her family and just on the basis of that I can't support him to a position of influence and leadership on one of our important commissions," Pool said.

Other than Houston, Cargill had a supporter on the dais in the form of Council Member Ellen Troxclair, the lone conservative voice on a council dais filled by more progressive voices in a city largely espousing those ideals. "This council not approving someone because he doesn't agree with you on one specific issue is incredibly intolerant," Troxclair said before the vote.

Ultimately, the vote wasn't even close, as the nomination was shot down in a 7-2 vote. Cargill wasn't in attendance at the council meeting, telling his followers on Facebook prior to the gathering that he had a previous engagement.

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