From Luby's to the Legislature: One Woman's Fight Against Gun Control

On October 16, 1991, Suzanna Gratia Hupp witnessed the tragic shooting of 23 people at Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, among them her parents. Ironically she had decided against carrying a small revolver—that could have dramatically changed the day's events—in her purse that day out of a fear of losing her chiropractor’s license if caught possessing a weapon. In this autobiography, she chronicles her evolution from a small-town chiropractor into a national icon for the right to armed self-defense. Her transformation into a high-profile, gun-rights activist began when her impassioned calls for the right of citizens to carry guns for self-protection thrust her into the middle of the gun-control debate. She repeatedly testified under oath against the ineffectiveness of gun-control laws that, in her opinion, disarmed law-abiding citizens, making them potential victims of criminals who did not obey the law. This position on gun legislation paved the way for a decade-long tenure as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, where, in addition to championing Second Amendment and privacy rights, she served as a member of the House Rural and Veterans and Military Affairs Caucuses, Chair of the House Select Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care, and Chair of the Human Services Committee.