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.’
History proves otherwise, if one cared to look at the other 19 carry states…
Texas is looking more and more promising to move to.
Watch the crime rate drop like a rock in Texas. The average Texan will have no issue or trouble at all ventilating a thug long before police can respond.