A new pro-gun law has taken effect in the State of Texas and with increasing crime rates relating to gun violence on the rise, police are skeptical regarding the aftermath.
According to local media reports, all Texans who own firearms legally may now openly carry it out in public without having any form of training or permit too.
This reportedly makes Texas the 20th state in the country to allow its citizens to openly carry weapons without owning a permit, right after the same scenario took place in the state of Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Tennessee. They all reportedly passed out their laws or similar ones this year too.
Meanwhile, Governor Greg Abbot vowed to turn Texas into a sanctuary state in terms of laws relating to gun rights.
But it’s not all happy and cheer around the state. Law enforcement agencies continue to express their concerns relating to the new, especially because there was a 14% increase in gun violence recently. Other than that, the law also comes into play during a time that marks two years post the deadly shootings in El Passo, Midland, and Odessa too.
These incidents resulted in the loss of 30 lives while injuring more than dozens of others. In the same way, the state of Texas has also gone on to report at least 38 different shooting incidents this past August.
On the other hand, keeping these concerns aside, the Republican Governor of Texas claimed that the new law would instill freedom inside the ‘Lone Star State.’
However, the statement didn’t go down too well with Dallas’s police chief who said this news was endangering the lives of so many officers.
“It just continues to make all of our jobs, the job of men and women, so much more dangerous,” Police Chief Eddie Garcia added. “Gun owners have a huge responsibility to make sure their weapons are dealt with in a safe manner and the laws that continue to remain application upon them,” he added.
This new law applies to all Texan citizens that are 21 years and above. At the same time, it also excludes people that are prohibited from carrying firearms like those convicted of felonies, assault, or domestic violence, and terrorist attacks.