Posted on 01/22/2021 8:57:47 AM PST by zeugma
Since the 87th Legislative Session began last week, Texas legislators have filed three important pieces of legislation to help restore our right to keep and bear arms and to keep Texans safe. All three of these are priority legislation for Gun Owners of America.
SJR 24 by Senator Bob Hall: Constitutional Carry through Constitutional Amendment
This piece of legislation proposes to amend the Texas Constitution by adding that the Legislature “may not require a citizen of this state to obtain a license or permit to wear arms.” It would nullify the current statutory requirement to have an LTC to carry a handgun. In order to amend the Constitution, the House and the Senate must approve the language by a 2/3 majority, and Texas voters must approve a related ballot proposition by a majority vote in the following November election.
Senator Hall stated: “I am ready to advance the cause of liberty and protect the rights of Texans across the state.”
HB 1238 by Representative Kyle Biedermann: Constitutional Carry
This bill would repeal the requirement to obtain a permit to carry a handgun, providing that anyone who is legally able to purchase a handgun (under Federal and state law) may carry it, open or concealed, without a permit, in the same places where a license holder can now carry a handgun. The exception is that no one can use this law to lawfully carry a handgun while committing any crime other than a Class C traffic misdemeanor.
Rep. Biedermann stated: “Self defense is a fundamental right of all humans and you should not have to rely on the government to access that right.”
HB 1094 by Rep. Tom Oliverson: Domestic Violence Protection
This bill acknowledges that a piece of paper called a “protective order” is unable to keep a violent abuser from continuing to harm a victim – or even to take the victim’s life. It provides that anyone age 18 or older who is legally able to purchase a firearm and currently protected under a protective order (or similar restraining order) does not need to obtain a license in order to carry a handgun. It would exempt such people from “gun-free” zones listed in Texas Penal Code 46.03 and 46.035. Their family and household members (not including abusers named in the protective order) would be able to carry a handgun to protect themselves in the same manner.
Rep. Oliverson stated: “Victims of domestic violence should not have to wait for the State of Texas to send them a card in the mail to use their 2nd amendment rights to protect themselves from imminent harm.”
We thank these legislators for filing these important pieces of legislation and we commit to advocating strongly for these bills throughout this legislative session.
In addition to prioritizing the above bills, Gun Owners of America is also prioritizing the following pieces of legislation which were pre-filed, and which we have previously announced to you:
Federal Firearms Protection
HB 112 by Rep. Steve Toth; HB 635 by Rep. Matt Krause; HB 919 by Rep. Ben Leman – These bills prohibit state & local government entities from enforcing future Federal statutes, rules, orders, or regulations that regulate a firearm, accessory, or ammunition and that do not exist in state law. HB 112 also provides that individual officers or other personnel who violated this law could face a Class A misdemeanor. HB 635 includes all such Federal regulations, past and future.
“Made in Texas”
HB 915 by Rep. Matt Krause would declare that firearms and ammunition manufactured in Texas from Texas parts, and sold in Texas, are not subject to Federal regulations.
Suppressor Freedom
HB 957 by Rep. Tom Oliverson would declare that firearm suppressors manufactured in Texas from Texas parts, and sold in Texas (“Made in Texas” suppressors), are not subject to Federal regulations.
Anti-”Red Flag” Law
HB 336 by Rep. Briscoe Cain would keep Texas out of any Federal Red Flag scheme and would prohibit any entity in this state from enforcing a “Red Flag” gun confiscation law not enacted by our state legislature.
Curtail Emergency Powers
HB 26 by Rep. Valoree Swanson; HB 340 by Rep. Briscoe Cain – These bills would repeal the Governor’s powers to regulate or control the sale, transportation, and use of firearms and ammunition during a disaster declaration or state of emergency, while HJR 40 by Rep. James White proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution to ensure that the Governor never has power to suspend or limit the sale or transportation or firearms.
Additional bills supported by Gun Owners of America will be announced at a later date.
Texas doesn’t even have open carry, which has always been legal in Virginia.
Bump for later reading
Back in TN, as long as you kept a firearm in your vehicle, most employers couldn't prohibit an employee from having a firearm on company property. There were a few exceptions such as Federal property/installations and such.
Texas does have open carry. It became legal in 2019.
Congratulations on gaining your rights.
Took long enough.
Texas has had open carry for holders of a license to carry since 2016. A majority of states allow open carry without a permit, but in Texas you must have an LTC to carry at all. If you do not have an LTC, you may not carry a handgun either openly or concealed unless you are on your own property, in your car (where it must be concealed), or in other limited circumstances.
That has been the law in Texas since 2007, with the passage of the Motorist Protection Act. That law also allows permitless concealed (not open) carry in one's own car and travelling to and from one's own car.
But yes, Texas is behind the curve on gun rights, and has been since Reconstruction. Between the 1870s and 1980s, you couldn't carry a handgun in public at all in Texas. The 1871 act was passed by the Reconstruction-era Republican legislature, probably to disarm ex-Confederates, and maintained by the post-Reconstruction Democrat legislature, probably to disarm blacks.
Indeed. My former employer tried to claim that they could ban firearms from cars on their property. I just ignored the stupid bastards.
Yes we do. Business owners have to post a sign under Section 30.07 in order to prohibit open carry.
Open Carry in Texas currently requires a Concealed Carry Permit.
That does not mean that nobody can Open Carry.
All of this nonsense, is because of things that happened after the Civil War. During “Reconstruction”
Back then, Carpet Baggers and Scallywags were a plague and some of them died young. So hand guns were removed from the equation to protect outsiders at the behest of the Federal Government.
I have the 1915 Colt 38spec revolver that my father’s grandfather carried, openly. He was a County Deputy. I’s not been fired in a long time.
Well that’s not really open carry, then is it, if it requires a permit.
Has Texas seceded yet? Is there a bill in the legislature to secede? Is there a bill in the legislature to have a referendum on seceding? Just wondering....
These are only bills. The man who controls the legislative agenda, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (Republican) has said he will fight the NRA.
Open carry means you can open carry a handgun.
It does not mean Constitutional Carry.
No. But there are people and organizations in Texas who advocate it.
I don’t look for it to happen, nor yet support it. But with the Current ComDem Insanity in DC, anything is possible.
In Virginia open carry is without permit and concealed carry requires a permit.
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