Texas lawmakers approve licensed open-carry of handguns
Xinhua, May 30, 2015 Adjust font size:
The lawmakers of the second-largest U.S. state of Texas okeyed on Friday the open-carry of handguns for those who have the licenses of legally holding handguns, local media reported.
The Texas House passed the bill 102-43 while the Senate later approved it on a mostly party-line 20-11 vote, the KPRC TV reports said, adding that all the Republicans supported the bill but all the Democrats opposed it.
Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has promised to sign the bill minutes after the House and Senate gave the nod to the bill, which also requires that those who want to openly carry a handgun must be at least 21 years old, pass a background check and receive classroom and shooting range instruction.
The bill also recognizes the concealed handgun licenses issued in 41 states of the country, and license holders from those states will be allowed to openly carry their weapons in the state once it becomes law.
Currently, Texas law already allows the open carrying of long arms like rifles without any licensing requirements.
In addition, the Lone Star state now has some 850,000 concealed handgun license holders, a number that has increased sharply in recent years. Endi