Texas to start New Year with law allowing open carry of handguns

“The biggest change you’ll be seeing is people carrying handguns openly now”, said Marshall police Lt. William Hoffman, who broke down the do’s and don’ts of the law.

Texas will soon be the 45th state to allow Open Carry in some form.

Supporters said the law would enhance public safety in the state of 27 million people.

But there are exceptions.

Some pastors don’t want open carry in their churches.

The law was signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this year, making Texas the most populous state in the country with an open carry law, the Wall Street Journal reported.

You must be 21 years old to openly carry; the same rules apply as concealed carry. In the past, persons with a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) could carry a handgun on their person or in their vehicle so long as it was concealed from view.

State Rep. Diego Bernal, a Democrat who represents the urban center of San Antonio, and who voted against the bill, says ‘introducing firearms into an urban environment is a mistake’.

“I don’t see how introducing firearms into everyday life makes anything better”, he said.

Open Carry will be coming to Texas in less than a week, and the HEB grocery store chain has already begun posting signs telling customers that open carry of firearms is prohibited.

“The irony is that you saw many law enforcement agencies lobby strongly against that provision that would have restricted them outright from ever asking if someone had a license absent other evidence of a crime”, Edmonds said, noting that’s changed after a number of those same agencies talked with their legal counsels. In Austin, dispatchers will attempt to discern whether callers are requesting officers due to a gun being used in a unsafe or threatening manner, or if a gun holder is simply carrying a weapon without threatening anyone.

The Kyle Police Department says it is prepared to handle the new open carry gun legislation that goes into effect Friday, Jan. 1.

And this is far from the only gun debate underway in Texas.