Texas Expands Open Carry Law

Over Memorial Day weekend, Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott signed House Bill 446, allowing residents, effective Sept. 1, to carry these items for self-defense, KSAT reported.

The bill, signed Saturday, was co-authored by Democratic Rep. Joe Moody and Republican Rep. Jonathan Strickland, and enjoyed almost unanimous bipartisan support.

“For me, the Second Amendment is really about the right to exist and I think that everyone has the right to defend themselves,” Strickland told Fox7 after the bill passed the state Senate on May 15, having passed the House 147-0, with one representative abstaining and two absent Apr. 9.

“I think it sends a good message and the Texas House has always tried to work across the aisle whenever we can, a lot different than D.C.,” Stickland said.

Texas allows for the open carry of rifles and handguns, and in 2017 legalized carrying knives in public, repealing a 145-year-old ban. The knuckles had remained illegal, along with other self-defense items such as pronged keychains, reported Dallas News.

In addition,”clubs” which Texas state penal code defines as blackjack, nightstick, mace or tomahawk, were illegal to carry.

“We did it with switchblades,” Moody told the Dallas Morning News. “We did it with knives and now with knuckles.”

The law is set to go into effect Sept. 1.

The bill’s supporters see this legislation as ensuring Texas’ commitment to the Second Amendment, Newsweek reported.

Said Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, “We can ensure these types of laws aren’t being used inappropriately to go after folks who have legitimate tools of self-defense.”