/ Hundreds of handguns and rifles for sale at McBride’s Gun’s in Central Austin on April 20.
The Texas House on Wednesday rejected changes the Senate made to a Republican-backed proposal to allow Texans to carry handguns without a license, sending the bill behind closed doors for further negotiations.
Before the permitless carry bill can head to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said he would sign it into law, a conference committee made up of representatives and senators will have to reach a compromise that must get approval from both chambers.
House Bill 1927 would nix the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry handguns if they’re not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a gun.
Bill allowing permitless carrying of handguns will get hashed out behind closed doors
Published article
Hundreds of handguns and rifles for sale at McBride’s Gun’s in Central Austin on April 20. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune
AUSTIN, Texas - EDITOR S NOTE The original headline to this story has been shortened for length.
The Texas House on Wednesday rejected changes the Senate made to a Republican-backed proposal to allow Texans to carry handguns without a license, sending the bill behind closed doors for further negotiations.
Before the permitless carry bill can head to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said he would sign it into law, a conference committee made up of representatives and senators will have to reach a compromise that must get approval from both chambers.
/ Hundreds of handguns and rifles for sale at McBride’s Guns in Central Austin on April 20.
The Texas House on Wednesday rejected changes the Senate made to a Republican-backed proposal to allow Texans to carry handguns without a license, sending the bill behind closed doors for further negotiations.
Before the permitless carry bill can head to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said he would sign it into law, a conference committee made up of representatives and senators will have to reach a compromise that must get approval from both chambers.
House Bill 1927 would nix the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry handguns if they’re not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a gun.
Don Huffines speaks during a Texas Public Policy Foundation event on Feb. 8, 2018.
Former state Sen. Don Huffines, a conservative Republican from Dallas who has been critical of Gov. Greg Abbott s coronavirus policies, announced Monday that he is challenging Abbott in the 2022 primary. Texas deserves actual Republican leadership that will act urgently and decisively no more excuses or lies, Huffines said in a statement, vowing bolder action on border security, property taxes and elections.
Huffines is a wealthy businessman who served in the Senate from 2015-2019. He was unseated by Democrat Nathan Johnson in 2018.
Abbott is up for a third term in 2022 and has drawn some heat from within his party for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. Huffines has criticized Abbott as being too slow to fully reopen the state and he spoke at a protest outside the Governor s Mansion last fall.
I know the Texas legislature is on the right track because the usual liberal columnists are grousing about it and the fact that it all but assures Abbott’s re-election chances if he decides to pursue another term as governor. There is some buzz that he may decide to run for president, though if I had to bet, it’d be that he chooses to run for governor again. Maybe in 2028, he’ll run for president. There is plenty of time between now and the Republican primaries for 2024 so anything can happen. One columnist described it as “the Greg Abbott Protection Session.” He had to admit, though, that the election integrity legislation doesn’t crack down as hard as it was originally intended to do, especially in Harris County (Houston) where elected officials blatantly disregarded election law in order to use the pandemic as a reason to skirt procedures. Nothing will stop the Democrat trope that Republicans are denying access to voting for black and brown voters.