Gov. Greg Abbott highly praised the constitutional carry law that allows citizens aged 21 and above to carry a firearm without any barriers whatsoever. However, law enforcement officers are quite worried that this will make their job even more difficult and dangerous.
“Texas safeguards the Second Amendment. Today, constitutional carry goes into effect. Texans who legally own a gun are now allowed to carry it in public. No license or training is needed,” Abbott tweeted.
Ever since 1995, when the then Gov. George W. Bush signed concealed carry into law, Texans have had the right to carry a firearm in public. After that, as the years passed by, several other gun-friendly legislation came into existence. In 2015, open carry and firearms on state university campuses were authorized. However, people still had to obtain a license to carry a gun outside their vehicle or home. But with the permitless carry law passed on Sept. 1, this is no longer the case.
“You could say that I signed into law today some laws that protect gun rights, but today, I signed documents that instill freedom in the Lone Star State,” Abbott said when he signed firearm-related bills into law.
Even though permitless carry was probably the law of maximum importance, Abbott had also placed his signature on a dozen other bills.
“This bill, to me, is a restoration of the belief in and trust of our citizens.” – State Sen. Charles Schwertner said about the permitless carry law.
The House Bill 1927, commonly known as the “permitless carry” law, relates “to provisions governing the carrying of a firearm by a person who is 21 years of age or older and not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from possessing the firearm and to other provisions related to the carrying, possessing, transporting, or storing of a firearm or other weapon; creating criminal offenses.”
However, the eligibility for gun ownership in Texas still remains unchanged. Aside from being 21 years or older, the person also should not have served a sentence for family violence or felony in the past five years.
The bill was converted into law, and Abbott affixed his signature only after the Senate and Texas House lawmakers agreed to some conditions. They eliminated a provision that would have prevented officers from performing any questioning based on the sole reason of possessing a handgun.
