A Texas House committee has approved a law that would ease state gun restrictions even further, permitting Texans to carry a weapon without a license. Eligible Texans would be able to conceal and carry or open carry in one of several holster configurations.
Videos by Rare
The Austin-American Statesman reports that Republicans voted in favor of the bill despite conservative concerns that the bill does not go far enough. This version of the bill allows carrying without a permit to any Texan at least 21 years of age with no criminal convictions, so long as they’re eligible to carry under other federal and state laws.
RELATED: The No. 2 Senate Republican wants to keep your concealed carry rights No. 1 across the country
The first version of the bill extended openĀ and concealed carry to people as young as 18 and forbade carrying weapons into churches and places of worship. House Bill 1911 will not interfere with a 2015 law regarding campus carry; legal gun owners will still be able to carry weapons into most areas on most college campuses.
Rep. James White, who proposed the bill, says that many Texans are satisfied with the state’s carry laws but that some would like to see them relaxed. “If youāre a law-abiding citizen, you shouldnāt necessarily have to buy your way to a right to bear arms through a license,ā Rep. White told the Statesman.