All Texans who legally own a firearm can now carry it openly in public without obtaining permit or training - amid 14% rise in gun violence in the state
Texas residents who legally own firearms can now carry the weapons openly without a permit or training amid a 14% rise in shootings in the state this year.
Gov. Greg Abbot signed the 'constitutional carry' law, which went into effect on Wednesday, despite opposition from policing leaders and gun control advocates.
The Republican governor said the new law 'instilled freedom in the Lone Star State' and made Texas the 20th state to allow residents to carry firearms without permits.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said in a news conference that the law could endanger officers. The state has reported about 3,200 shootings as of September, a 14 percent jump from the roughly 2,800 reported in the same period last year.
'It makes our job, the job of our men and women, more dangerous,' he said. 'Gun owners have a duty to ensure that their firearms are handled safely and a duty to know applicable laws.'
Texas residents are now able to openly carry firearms they legally own without having permits or completing training. Pictured, pro-gun advocates marching in Austin in January
Police officials in the state have warned that the new law could make their jobs more difficult to sort between armed criminals and civilians in the streets. Pictured, NRA members carrying guitar-themed guns at a convention in Houston
Dallas Police Chief Eddi Garcia, speaking at a conference on March 4, spoke out against the new law, saying it makes his officers job more dangerous
Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, echoed Garcia's worries.
The new law, which passed in an 82-62 vote, applies to Texans ages 21 and older and excludes people who are prohibited from owning a firearm, such as those convicted of a felony, assault, domestic violence, and terrorist threats.
Before the new law, resident could only carry handguns as long as they had a license and completed training, which involved passing a proficiency test and written exam, CNN reported.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot swore in his 2021 State of the State address to protect gun rights and make Texas a sanctuary for guns
State Sen. Charles Schwertner, who sponsored the bill, said that removing the requirements help take out an 'artificial barrier' to Texan's rights to bear arms and protect themselves.
'This bill, to me, is a restoration of the belief in and trust of our citizens,' Schwertner said. 'If you possess a firearm, you should be able to carry a firearm.'
Dozens of pro-gun right Texans had marched at the state's capitol, urging Schwertner and the state's GOP to make sure the legislation passed this year.
Texas joins Iowa, Tennessee, Montana, Utah and Wyoming as states who have allowed forms of open carry without a permit in 2021.
The other states to allow it include Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia.
People have also expressed concern over the new law on social media, with Texan actress Kelly Thiebaud simply calling it 'insanity.'
Another twitter user with the handle Sho Nuff, wrote that as a firearms instructor, he was concerned about the situation as well.
Another tweeter wrote, 'The wild west is now in Texas, yay for you cowboys.'
People voiced their concerns over the new open carry law on Twitter
Andrew Karwoski - a policy expert for Everytown for Gun Safety, the larges gun violence prevention organization in the country - said the new law was bond to bring negative consequences to Texas.
'Just allowing almost anyone to carry a handgun in public, no questions asked, no background check or safety training, is really dangerous.
'It's hard for law enforcement when they see someone walking down the street with a military-style assault weapon to understand their intentions and respond accordingly,' he said.
The new law comes two years after the back-to-back shootings in El Paso and Midland and Odessa, which left 30 people dead and dozens wounded.
Shoppers at the Walmart in El Paso hurried to police safety during the August 3, 2019 shooting that left 23 dead and 23 wounded
Odessa and Midland police responded to a shooting on August 31, 2019, where seven people were killed and about 17 more were hospitalized
The deadly shootings caused Abbot to briefly consider allowing some gun control in Texas before skirting the idea aside and vowing to make Texas a 'sanctuary state' for gun rights in his 2021 State of the State address.
Texas has continued to see a consistence increase in mass shooting since 2017, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as a shooting that injures or kills four or more people, not including the shooter.
The state saw 38 of these mass shooting in August, a 40% increase from las year.
Nationally, there were 464 mass shootings through August 31, up from the 418 in 2020 and the 286 in 2019, GVA data shows.