A bill that will allow Texans to carry concealed handguns without any permit – or the background check and training that come with it – passed the state’s legislature on Monday and headed to the desk of the governor, who has promised to sign it.
When Governor Greg Abbott signs the measure into law, Texas will become the 21st state, and the most populous, in the United States to have some form of permitless concealed carry, according to the National Rifle Association.
Texas already has some of the loosest gun laws in the country and has more than 1.6 million handgun license holders.
Rep Matt Schaefer, a Republican who authored the bill, which gun rights advocates refer to as a ‘constitutional carry’ law, had earlier called it the ‘strongest Second Amendment legislation in Texas history’.
The bill protects ‘the right of law-abiding Texans to carry a handgun as they exercise their God-given right to self-defense and the defense of their families,’ Schaefer wrote on Twitter. Read more…
