Texas eliminates the need for a permit to carry guns in public

A man carries a gun outside the Capitol in Austin, Texas, in 2015.Eric Gay / AP

Texas is close to eliminating the need for a permit to carry guns in public.

Greg Abbott, the governor of the state, has on his desk the reform HB1927, which was approved on Sunday by the local Congress behind closed doors, and is only waiting for the enactment.

The Republican politician, a fervent believer in the right to own arms, has announced that he will sign and publish it in the coming days.

The move has already come under fire from Democrats and activists advocating for tighter gun controls.

Specialists have also warned of the turn that some conservative states have taken with respect to the second amendment in the first months of the Democratic Administration in the White House.

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In Texas, so far, it is sufficient for the county sheriff, local or state police to give the go-ahead to carry a weapon after a background check and fingerprinting.

This is awarded for five years to those over 21 years of age who have passed a six-hour practical course, a written exam and a shooting test.

Authorities have issued more than 1.5 million permits in Texas, which are valid for carrying handguns in 37 other states, but which are not valid in places like racetracks and airports.

The initiative, which has been approved by the Republican majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate of Austin (state capital), eliminates the aforementioned requirements. It will be enough to be 21 years old. The tests will be replaced by a free online course. Local senators, however, added an amendment to the rule that stiffens the penalties for all those who carry weapons with a criminal or domestic violence record. In addition to public shootings, guns have proven to be a deadly ingredient for sexist violence in the United States. Every year more than 600 women, 16 every hour, are murdered by their partners according to data from Giffords, a public policy center focused on gun control. 55% of femicides involve a gun.

Giffords director Peter Ambler disapproved of the Texans' decision on Tuesday. "Tragically, the communities of the State will experience even more the damaging effects of armed violence with the enactment of this reckless law," said the specialist in a statement. The

Texas Tribune

newspaper

published a poll on Monday indicating that 59% of the state's 29 million people believe that carrying permits should remain in effect. The figure among Republicans, however, drops to 39%. 59% ask to eliminate them.

Verónica Escobar, a Democratic congresswoman in Washington from El Paso, has criticized the rule. "The truth is that our deaths do not matter," wrote the legislator of Latino origin on social networks, referring to the crude massacre that occurred on August 3, 2019 in a supermarket in the border city. Patrick Wood Crusius, a young white man from 2021, then entered a Walmart to kill Latinos. 23 people died and 23 others were injured. "The Texas Legislature has decided to expand easy access to carrying weapons without permits," Escobar complained on Twitter this Monday. Joe Moody, a local Democratic congressman from the same community, said Sunday that El Pasoans "expected better and yet that's what they got."

Local police went to Congress in April to reject the rule. "For the safety of our citizens, we want to make sure that everyone who carries a firearm is well trained, follows the basic guidelines, and understands the importance of responsibility when using a weapon," said Mike Mata of the Dallas Police Department. . Republican lawmakers, however, considered that training and permits hamper the constitutional right to bear arms, endorsed by the second amendment.

April left a conservative momentum that allowed reforms like the one in Texas.

The Joe Biden administration promised that month a series of federal measures to make gun ownership more difficult.

Reactions came to this action in a score of republican states.

Iowa and Tennessee have been the most recent cases to join the trend.

Both permits will disappear from next July 1.

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