AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF News) — Texas State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, will open the upcoming legislative session pressing the hot button issue of constitutional carry.
Stickland says his bill would make the process of licensing handguns and requiring citizens to attend classes and carry a permit optional. Stickland considers it a constitutional issue; he says Texans should be allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights without paying a fee. Ten other states already allow constitutional carry.
The Texas Tribune says House Bill 375 is controversial but does have support and is just one of three such bills in the legislative hopper. State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, each filed bills that would eliminate any fees needed to obtain a license to carry. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has already expressed his support for that effort, Senate Bill 16.
Two hotly contested bills passed in the 2015 legislative session allow for the open carry of handguns and another that allows concealed carry on Texas college campuses. Stickland says his bill is the next logical step for the state to fully embrace the Second Amendment.
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