Texas pushes closer to dropping handgun license rule

In Texas, where gun laws are among the loosest in the U.S., there is one line the state has long resisted crossing: making it legal to carry a handgun in public without a permit, background check or training.

But in a span of just weeks, Texas has suddenly pushed ever closer to becoming the largest state in the country with unregulated or "permitless" carry — a move that is alarming law enforcement and has some Republicans staring down a vote they’d rather avoid. It has also disheartened lawmakers from El Paso, which is still recovering from one of the worst mass shootings in the nation’s history, when a gunman at Walmart killed 23 people in 2019. "What is going on out there that we need to overhaul a system that works?" asked Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, which opposes the bill. "We are fine with law-abiding citizens having guns. But there are still some people who should not be allowed to carry guns in public."