AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, released the following statements after the Texas Senate advanced HB 1927, a dangerous permitless carry bill that would strip the state of essential permitting and training standards for carrying handguns in public. The bill would allow people to carry loaded handguns in public without a background check or any safety training, dismantling the culture of responsible gun ownership that Texas’s License to Carry (LTC) helps promote.
“These lawmakers have proven that they couldn’t care less about the 81% of Texans who support our permitting system,” said Nicole Golden, a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Nor do they care about the concerns of the hundreds of law enforcement officials, faith leaders, veterans, gun safety instructors, medical professionals, and advocates who urged them to reject permitless carry. Instead, they’ve chosen to eradicate Texas’s generations-long culture of responsible gun ownership. Shame on them.”
“I’d urge Governor Abbott to veto this dangerous bill once it makes it to his desk, but he proved just yesterday that he doesn’t even know what permitless carry does,” said Jesus Ramos, a volunteer leader with Students Demand Action in El Paso. “Let me spell it out for him: if he eventually signs HB 1927, anyone who can buy a gun from someone they meet online will be able to carry that gun in public having never gone through a background check or any safety training. If he’s going to follow our extremist lawmakers’ leads and sign permitless carry into law, he’d better know what exactly he’s signing and the precise danger he’s putting Texas families in.”
“As a clergyperson, my role is to encourage folks to follow Jesus and value life,” said Rev. John Elford, Senior Pastor, University United Methodist Church, Austin, TX. “Proposed laws that allow folks to carry guns without permits are the exact opposite – they are an invitation to more violence and death.”
Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers from as far away as Sutherland Springs and El Paso drove to Austin to testify in the newly-created Senate Committee on Constitutional Affairs hearing last week. Before the House vote, law enforcement officials joined gun safety instructors to hold a press conference urging lawmakers to oppose permitless carry. Last Tuesday, doctors, law enforcement officials, leaders in the fight against domestic violence, and other advocates called on their senators to reject permitless carry, as have the editorial boards of the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and San Antonio Express-News. Poll after poll has shown widespread opposition to permitless carry legislation and support for requiring permits to carry guns in public. Nearly 60 faith leaders and nearly 30 veterans sent separate letters to the legislature announcing their opposition to this dangerous policy.
More on HB 1927:
- HB 1927 would allow a person to carry an open or concealed handgun without a permit. This would make Texas one of the few states where it is legal to carry a concealed handgun in public without a permit and would dismantle the culture of responsible gun ownership that Texas’s License to Carry (LTC) helps promote.
- Texas law currently requires a person to obtain a criminal background check and complete firearms safety training, including live-fire training, in order to obtain an LTC. HB 1927 would eliminate these safeguards, allowing unvetted and untrained people to carry handguns in public.
