Gun-rights groups are celebrating the passage of Constitutional carry in the Lone Star State.
The Firearm Carry Act of 2021, or as it’s also known HB 1927, cleared both chambers of the Texas Legislature and will now head to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott.
Gov. Abbott has indicated that he will sign the bill into law.
“I’ll be signing it,” he said in a radio interview on WBAP last month. “I support it and I believe it should reach my desk and we should have ‘constitutional carry’ in Texas.”
Once signed, the bill will take effect on Sept. 1st of this year. No longer will Texans 21 years or older need to obtain a permit (which involves paying a fee, being fingerprinted, passing a background check, qualifying at the range, and taking a safety course) to carry a handgun. A big win for 2A purists.
“I invite all Texans to join with me in celebrating the passage of HB 1927, which repeals the general state ban on handgun carry enacted in 1871. The Legislature’s passage of this bill represents Texas’ strongest stand to protect the right to keep and bear arms since the siege of the Alamo,” said Gun Owners of America (GOA) Texas Director Rachel Malone in a press release obtained by GunsAmerica.
“It is far past time for the state of Texas to recognize the right of law-abiding Texans to protect themselves and their families – without having to ask for permission,” she added.
HB 1927 does not eliminate the state’s “Licenses to Carry” permitting system. It will still exist for residents who want to obtain one for carry reciprocity in other states. Texas has reciprocity agreements with at least 37 states, according to USCCA.
“A right requiring you to pay a tax or obtain a government permission slip is not a right at all, that’s why the NRA is proud to have worked closely with state leaders and legislators to pass the most significant pro-Second Amendment measure in Texas history,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Jason Ouimet.
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“Our members worked tirelessly to provide the crucial grassroots support to make constitutional carry a reality and restore the rights of law-abiding Texans,” continued Ouimet.
For those unfamiliar with Constitutional carry, it’s important to note that it does NOT change existing federal law that bans prohibited persons (felons, minors, illegals, drug addicts, etc.) from possessing or carrying firearms.
Texas joins a growing list of states that have recognized one’s right to keep and bear arms as the founders and framers intended.
Those other Constitutional Carry states include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Unless you can carry any weapon that you are legally allowed to own and possess, in any manner you desire, on your person, in your vehicle, etc., it is not a “Constitutional Carry”… just permit-less carry… what about carrying knives… Most CC states don’t allow them over 3 1/2″… = /
We passed this in Alaska a decade ago. Only Alaska took it a step further – we made it legal concealed carry without a permit for residents over 21.
Liberals screamed it would turn our state into the ‘Wild West’ with shoot outs on every street corner. Anti-gunners wrote letters to the editor saying the streets would flow red with blood. Other liberals said 25 kids a day would die from finding mom’s gun in her purse at the store, or, guns dropping out of holsters in the store would double that number.
On the day legal permit less concealed carry went into law…. nothing happened. Nothing the next day either. Over a decade and still nothing.
It’s not Constitutional Carry !!! If it was , it would not have all the infringements that are in the bill. The term ” Permitless Carry” is an accurate name.