Texas Lawmakers Advance Permitless Carry Bill Even After Mass Shootings In Atlanta And Boulder; Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Respond

Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers Are Available for Interviews

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 House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee advanced HB1911, 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.

“It’s not complicated, and it’s not controversial – gun owners like me know that responsible gun ownership means going through a background check and safety training before carrying loaded handguns in public,” said Becca DeFelice, a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Our License To Carry system keeps Texas families safe, and there’s no reason why our lawmakers should dismantle it with dangerous permitless carry bills.”

“Especially after what we’ve seen in the past weeks, our lawmakers should be fighting to strengthen our gun laws, not weaken them,” said Ade Osadolor-Hernandez, a volunteer with Southlake Students Demand Action. “Permitless carry bills go against everything we should stand for as Texans – they’re against public safety, they’re against law enforcement, and they’re against our culture of responsible gun ownership.” 

The hearing came in the wake of the mass shooting in and around Atlanta in which nine people were shot, including eight fatally – seven of whom were women, and six of whom were Asian women – and the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado in which ten people were shot and killed.

More on permitless carry:

• Passage of a permitless carry bill 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. Permitless carry would eliminate these safeguards, allowing unvetted and untrained people to carry handguns in public.