Jerry Patterson

Jerry Patterson

by

1946

  • 1969 Texas A&M University
  • 1972 volunteered for duty in Vietnam
  • 1993 retireed from the Marine Corps Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel 
  • 1993 – 1999 Texas State Senator
  • 1995 sponsored and shepherded a number of Texas CHL bills
  • 1997 successful effort and the equally important Texas CHL revision
  • 2003 – 2015 27th Land Commissioner of Texas
  • June 5, 2007 named “Texan of the Year” by Celebrate Texas
Jerry Patterson

About Jerry Patterson

Jerry E. Patterson is a former Texas state senator and Texas Land Commissioner best known to gun owners as the author of the law that created concealed handgun licensing in Texas. A 1969 history graduate of Texas A&M University, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1971 to 1993, volunteering for duty in Vietnam in 1972, flying as a naval flight officer in Marine fighter squadrons and retiring from the Marine Corps Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. He represented Senate District 11 in the Houston area from 1993 to 1999, and in 1995 Texas enacted the concealed handgun license law he sponsored, a landmark in the state’s shift to shall-issue carry.

Patterson was elected Texas Land Commissioner in 2002 and re-elected in 2006 and 2010, serving from 2003 to 2015 as head of the Texas General Land Office. He ran for lieutenant governor in the March 2014 Republican primary and for his former Land Commissioner post in the March 2018 primary, losing both races. As of 2026 he remained a frequently quoted voice in Texas media on the concealed carry law he wrote.

Key Facts

  • 1969: Graduates from Texas A&M University with a degree in history.
  • 1972: Volunteers for duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps.
  • 1993: Retires from the Marine Corps Reserve as a lieutenant colonel and takes office in the Texas Senate.
  • 1995: Texas enacts the concealed handgun license law Patterson sponsored.
  • 2003 to 2015: Serves as Texas Land Commissioner.
  • March 2014: Runs in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.
Timeline of key dates for Jerry Patterson

Sources

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