By Paul Lathrop
Contributing Editor
Texas may be about to do something that Lone Star State gun owners were promised two years ago, pass permitless carry legislation.
Texas is unique among the states in that their legislature only meets every other year to pass new laws. In 2019 the House Bill that would have done away with requiring a permit to carry a gun in the state died in committee after a proponent of the bill visited several House leaders’ homes.
Early this year, at least two bills were introduced in the State House to again do away with the requirement to have a license to carry a concealed handgun.
“We have almost eight weeks left; we have until May 31st till the legislative session ends. Things have never looked better for Constitutional Carry in the state of Texas.” said Rachel Malone, the Texas State Representative for Gun Owners of America in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “Our committee lineups in both the House and Senate have never been better. For the first time, the Senate Committee Chair is actually pro-gun and doesn’t want to shut down all the gun rights bills. And then, in the House, we had a majority of the committee members who were already either authoring or co-authoring Constitutional Carry bills, including the chair.”
Malone said two “permitless carry” bills have been voted out of the House Homeland Security Committee and are now in the Calendars Committee. Passage through that committee is likely as the committee chairman is a co-sponsor of both bills, and a majority of the members of that committee have co-authored one of the bills.
“At this point, it’s just kind of a matter of what language is going to pass,” Malone explained, “and we are pushing for the strongest language that we possibly can on the House floor.”
House Bill 1927 would apply to anyone who is age 21 and up who can legally possess a firearm, Malone said. The other bill, HB 1911, adds the language “who meets the legal eligibility requirements to get a license” and adds other restrictions. Among those restrictions are that you must not be behind on taxes, must not be behind on child support, and you must not be charged with a Class A or Class B Misdemeanor, or disorderly conduct. Any violations of the restrictions would remove the right to carry for five years.
She noted that HB 1927 includes language that carrying into prohibited places does not have a penalty unless you have been verbally asked to leave and refuse the request.
Malone said the Senate has indicated that they are waiting for the House to pass the bill instead of working on their own bill, but there are plans to move the house bill forward once it does reach the Senate. She also thinks a bill to declare Texas a Second Amendment Sanctuary State has a very good chance of clearing both the House and Senate this year. She thinks that the House’s current bill has too many exceptions, but efforts are being made to strengthen the bill.
The Senate version includes an individual criminal penalty for law enforcement. If an officer decides to help Federal agents confiscate arms, that officer can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor.
The legislative sessions in Texas conclude at the end of May.
