Last week, the Texas State House passed House Bill 1927 by State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R–Tyler), related to constitutional carry, or the permitless carry of firearms. This is the first time the bill has made it past the House, and it now awaits a vote from the Texas Senate.
Though constitutional carry is a priority of the Republican Party of Texas this session, the bill has not seen much progress in the Texas Legislature in recent sessions.
In the state Senate, similar legislation was introduced by State Sen. Drew Springer (R–Muenster) and referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee.
Though Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had been pretty quiet this session, not long after HB 1927 left the House floor, he stated that the Texas Senate doesn’t have the votes to pass constitutional carry.
“If we have the votes to pass a permitless carry bill off the Senate floor, I will move it. At this point, we don’t have the votes on the floor to pass it. I plan to meet with law enforcement who oppose permitless carry and with the NRA and GOA, who support it, to see if we can find a path that a majority of senators will vote to pass.”
In response to Dan Patrick, Rachel Malone, the Texas director of Gun Owners of America, told Texas Scorecard:
If the Senate is convinced that the people of Texas will not be satisfied unless Constitutional Carry passes this year, the Senate can find the votes for Constitutional Carry. We look forward to discussing with Lt. Gov. Patrick the best path forward to repealing the license requirement so that legal gun owners do not have to apply for a permit to simply carry a handgun. And we urge all Texans to contact your State Senators to be sure they know that their constituents want them to prioritize this policy.
To contact your state senator, you can visit Texas Scorecard’s legislative directory.
