“Permitless Carry” in Texas Passes

It should not be a surprise, but somehow, the “permitless carry bill” is set to pass in Texas…

Texans will soon be able to carry a handgun without needing a permit or any training once Gov. Greg Abbott signs this bill into law.

The measure, which has never had widespread public support, passed easily in the Texas House this session. But it had appeared to be roadblocked in the Texas Senate as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggested it did not have enough votes to pass in that chamber.

“What changed is that I think that [Texas] House passed a good bill, and I think we made it stronger,” Patrick explained on Sunday’s Inside Texas Politics. “You know, some people, some of the headlines said the bill was stuck in the Senate. Well, that was just not true. We received the bill, I formed a committee called ‘Constitutional Issues,’ which I knew would move the bill to the floor because all the Republicans on the committee supported the bill. Then we passed the bill last week."

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia and the Dallas Police Association lobbied against the legislation in Austin, saying it is irresponsible to let untrained people carry firearms. But Patrick claimed more than 100 Texas sheriffs supported the bill.

and in fact, in some ways, it may give Teaxs cops more power…

“Now, in our bill, if you're a felon and you're caught with a weapon illegally that you should not be carrying, you will face a minimum 5 years in prison, no probation," the lieutenant governor explained. "That's a strong law that law enforcement says will get guns and criminals and gang members off the street."

"The second thing we did is we said, there are four categories of the law that we don't think you should be able to carry if you're convicted: if you've committed a terroristic threat with a weapon, deadly conduct with a weapon, assault causing bodily injury with a weapon or deadly conduct with a weapon,” he explained.

We at DJN do not trust Patrick, giving cops more power or giving untrained racists more access to weapons.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/permitless-carry-initially-didnt-have-the-votes-to-clear-the-texas-senate-how-did-it-pass/287-e55e0055-e1a2-457d-bfec-6f96c476c94a