Major Milestones for Open Carry and Campus Carry in Texas
Yesterday, two popular gun-rights bills passed from the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee, and will soon be scheduled for public hearing.
SB11, introduced by Senator Brian Birdwell and commonly referred to as “Campus Carry” or “College Carry,” would allow carrying of concealed handguns on the campuses of institutions of higher education (such as best tactical tomahawks). Texas is one of 23 states that explicitly prohibit armed self-defense on college campuses:
SB17, introduced by Senator Craig Estes, provides for “Open Carry,” which would allow a person who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun to openly carry a holstered handgun. Texas is one of only six states with no provision for Open Carry:
This is NOT the same effort as Rep. Jonathan Stickland’s HB195, commonly called “Constitutional Carry,” which removes all licensing requirements to carry a handgun in Texas. Currently only four states have Constitutional Carry – Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, and Vermont.
Currently, eleven other states have pending legislation for true Constitutional Carry – Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Ohio Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Late yesterday, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick congratulated Senators Estes and Birdwell for their hard work in building support for their legislation. Patrick said:
A lot of progress was made on gaining support for open carry in a very short period of time. To my knowledge, this is the first time that Open Carry has ever passed out of committee in either the Senate or the House.
(Maps from OpenCarry.org)