Texas Set to Legalize Openly Carrying Handguns
AUSTIN, Texas, May 31 (UPI) — Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is poised to sign a bill allowing his constituents to openly carry their handguns in public.
House Bill 910 will allow licensed owners to openly carry a handgun in a hip or shoulder holster. The bill passed the state’s Congress with a vote of 102 to 43 in the House and 20 to 11 in the Senate.
The bill’s passage was temporarily delayed after Democrats revived a provision that would limit the power of police to ask open handgun carriers for a permit. The amendment was an attempt to prevent racial profiling. Some Republicans also supported the amendment because they believed it would protect the public against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The amendment was rejected after police chiefs across the state vocally opposed.
California, Illinois, New York, South Carolina and Florida are the only remaining states that prohibit openly carrying weapons. Washington, D.C. also has a ban on open carry.
Abbott previously said he would sign any “open carry” bill that reached his desk.
“Today’s vote to allow the open carry of handguns is not at all surprising — this session has been an alarming show of politicking that caters to a gun lobby agenda rather than listening to the majority of Texans and law enforcement who oppose the open carry of handguns,” Sandy Chasse, a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said in a statement. “There is no evidence to show the open carry of handguns makes Texas safer.”
