Posted on 04/08/2013 9:46:50 AM PDT by marktwain
AUSTIN (CN) - A Texas Senate committee unanimously approved a bill that will make it easier to get a concealed-handgun license.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted 7-0 to send Senate Bill 864 to the full state Senate. It will reduce from 10 to 4 the minimum number of classroom hours needed to get a concealed-carry permit - and let people take classes online to renew their permits.
The maximum classroom time will be reduced from 15 to 6 hours.
To get a license to carry a concealed gun, applicants must complete the portion of the course and get instruction at a shooting range with a .32 caliber handgun or higher.
The bill also gives the Texas Department of Public Safety and qualified handgun instructors the right to offer online instruction for license renewals.
State Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, introduced the bill on Feb. 26.
Campbell, an emergency room physician, was elected to Senate District 25 in 2012.
District 25 includes all of Comal, Guadalupe, Hays and Kendall counties, and parts of Bexar and Travis counties.
Texas issued more than 146,000 concealed-handgun licenses in 2012, according to the Department of Public Safety website.
Wish I could find some 32 APC ammo! My limited supply has caused me to limit range time drastically. Same with 38 special ammo.
Is there any word as to when this will be up for vote?
Is ten hours of classroom time that onerous? I took a ten hour course when I got my first hand gun, not because it was required but so I knew what I was doing with it. The emphasis was on safety, and I’d hate to think that doing away with training in that area is a good thing.
Is ten hours of classroom time that onerous?...”
You apparently had a better instructor than I. What I learned in that course could have easily been covered in two hours. Because of FR I actually knew more about current laws and especially those dealing with traveling with a gun from state to state than the instructor. Big waste of time and money IMO - and this was in Texas.
>> Is ten hours of classroom time that onerous?
Yeah, because ten hours works out to (at least) two calendar days. Or one very long Saturday.
>> The emphasis was on safety
That’s proper, but it doesn’t take anywhere near ten hours to teach *and* drill the essentials of gun safety.
Four is plenty.
You do NOT want tired people working with firearms. Although it might work if you did the range part early in the day, and did the classroom part last.
Not everyone had your advantages and I think you need to remember how many people go out and buy a handgun without and experience with firearms. I don't think 10 hours is too much time to spend learning about firearm safety and responsibility.
Time to increment it out of existance. We need Vermont Carry in Texas.
Absent that, making the existing permit good for open/concealed would be a step forward.
Now, if we can just get open carry out of committee and Speaker Joe Strauss stops stonewalling efforts to open up our rights like our neighboring states. It’s almost embarassing how far behind other states we are with regard to gun rights in Texas!
Should be this week.
We have done it in Alaska, Arizona, and Wyoming. Montana is going to their Democrat! governor. Vetoed in South Dakota, Utah, and New Hampshire.
Then perhaps they should wait for a concealed cary permit, until they have mastered the safety issue.
I think that's the whole purpose behind the required training.
The purpose of concealed carry training should be to inform the prospective carrier about the law and its implications. Marksmanship and safety are separate issues best addressed apart from CC training.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.