Until just a few days ago, it looked like the legislative push to allow Texans to carry handguns without permits was on life support after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said a Texas House-backed proposal to allow permitless carry didn’t have enough support in the Texas Senate to get a full-hearing, let alone be approved by a majority of Senators and sent to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature.
But Patrick has now promised the bill will get a hearing before the state Senate this week as he claims to continue rallying support for it behind the scenes despite opposition from Texas law enforcement officials. Abbott, who initially refused to say whether he supported permitless carry or not, has now come out publicly in favor of doing away with the state’s handgun license requirements.