Texas GOP efforts to loosen gun restrictions at odds with Biden’s efforts to tighten them

AUSTIN — Republicans in control of the Legislature are pushing to relax gun restrictions in Texas, just as President Joe Biden seeks to tighten them after mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado that cost 18 people their lives.

Several bills that would let people carry handguns in Texas without a license received a hearing Thursday, drawing hours of testimony early into Friday morning.

Known as “constitutional carry” among gun enthusiasts, the controversial legislation has not gained much traction in recent years in the GOP-led Legislature. But shifting political forces this session have proponents hopeful the policy will advance.

The chairman of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee, where the legislation is being considered, is friendly to the change. The bill never got a hearing in the lower chamber last session, after a gun rights activist angered former House Speaker Dennis Bonnen by showing up at his and other members’ homes to push for the policy.

Supporters of constitutional carry contend the state should eliminate barriers to self-defense.

“Personal safety is a serious concern for Texans,” Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, who authored one of the bills, said in testimony. “Forcing our citizens to ask the government for permission to exercise this right reduces its status.”

Opposition, however, is fierce from gun control advocates who say the change is dangerous and could allow people who’ve never held a handgun before carry one in public places.

“By eliminating the (licensing) requirement, how would I or the Comal County Sheriff’s deputies know that the man carrying a loaded gun next to me and my son at the farmer’s market, or wandering Landa Park, isn’t a prohibited possessor?” testified Molly Bursey, with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

It’s legal in Texas to carry a rifle or other long gun without a license. But people must be licensed by the state to carry a handgun openly or concealed. The process includes passing a background check, taking a course and paying a fee. More than 1.6 million people are currently licensed, a number that has steadily grown over the last few years, according to state data.

The legislation up for consideration Thursday would generally let people who can legally possess a firearm carry it publicly without needing a license. At least 15 other states let people carry concealed guns without a permit.

It remains to be seen whether Republican leaders in Texas are on board.

In his state of the state address this year, Gov. Greg Abbott called for the creation of a Second Amendment “sanctuary state” for gun rights. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid out three priority firearm bills, though none address the license to carry process.

This year’s session is the first since deadly mass shootings in El Paso and two West Texas cities. A gunman targeting Hispanics killed 23 people at a Walmart in the border community in August 2019. One month later, a shooter rampaged through Midland and Odessa, killing seven people before being fatally shot by law enforcement.

Legislators from both communities are seeking reforms.

One bill heard Thursday would prohibit people from openly carrying rifles or long guns in public, as the El Paso gunman did on his way into Walmart.

“This is not a bill that is taking away any people’s guns,” said state Rep. Lina Ortega, D-El Paso, in emotional testimony about her bill. “It’s designed to give law enforcement the authority to intervene in these situations before lives are lost.”

Opponents of the change said a display of firearms acts as a deterrent to attackers.

Stephen Willeford, who confronted the gunman in the deadly Sutherland Springs mass shooting, said the outcome would have been different had he not been able to openly carry a long gun.

“I grabbed my AR-15. I ran across the street and I engaged that shooter,” he said during the hearing. “Without an AR-15, that I had no license to carry, I would have been at his mercy.”

The debate in Texas comes as Biden called on Congress this week to reinstate an assault weapons ban, among other changes, in response to recent mass shootings.

Last Tuesday, a shooter killed eight people at Atlanta-area spas, six of them Asian women. On Monday, a gunman opened fire at a Boulder, Colo. grocery store, killing 10 people, including a police officer.

“We’ve been through too many of these,” Biden said earlier this week. “I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps.”