Texas Senate approves permitless carry bill - The bill would allow eligible Texans to carry handguns openly or concealed without a license. [More]
There'll be some finagling to match versions, but it should be on its way to the Governor soon.
Not to nitpick or anything, but the way this report is worded makes me wonder if out-of-state visitors will enjoy equal privileges and immunities? And when will state-mandated "gun-free zones" be eliminated, making it true Constitutional Carry?
Hey, be like the antis. Take a win and then press for more.
Boy, Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin) sure is a f*****g liar, isn't she?
Remember when Democrat Governor Ann Richards wouldn't let Texans vote on concealed carry? Celebrate the win, but don't be so sure those days are behind us.
UPDATE: Texas GOA says "Don't celebrate yet."
2 comments:
I watched part of the state Senate floor debate yesterday, and have skimmed through the Senate transcript. As best I can tell, constitutional carry rights (except for disarmed victim zones) would be restored to all persons in Texas, not strictly to Texas citizens. A few other tidbits: There were approximately 26-27 floor amendments offered. Among them, the gun prohibitionists attempted to change the LTC system from shall-issue to may-issue. They also offered an amendment to create an "extreme risk protection order" provision in the state Code of Criminal Procedure. Both were defeated on party-line votes.
The GOP senator shepherding the House Bill through the Senate debated about as well as one could expect from an establishment Republican. He testified that constitutional carry would reduce the "burden" (cost, time taking a required class, etc.) on law-abiding persons. I was really hoping for a principled statement that the bill would remove an unconstitutional prior restraint on exercise of a fundamental natural right, but he did not quite get there. On another question from the prohibitionists (asking how a peace officer is supposed to determine whether a person carrying a handgun is not a prohibited person), he did have a good response invoking persons' 4th Amendment rights. Regardless of my nitpicking, the end result is positive.
/GJ54
"the way this report is worded makes me wonder if out-of-state visitors will enjoy equal privileges and immunities?"
Meh, anyone who travels enough to care has already copped a home-state permit, which Texas and everybody else along I-10 (except, of course, California) has agreed to honor for at least a decade. Not like our tyrant states like MA, IL, DC, NJ, MD, etc., who absolutely refuse to honor anybody's permits except their own. Yeah, a permit is a "compromise," but at least it's not going to rewrite my DNA or anything.
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