Constitutional carry awaiting signature from Gov. Abbott

Constitutional carry has landed on Gov. Greg Abbott's desk after being approved through the legislative session.

AUSTIN, Texas - Constitutional Carry only needs a signature from Gov. Greg Abbott to become law in Texas. If passed, it will allow Texans to carry a handgun without a license open or concealed.

Constitutional carry has landed on Abbott's desk after being approved through the legislative session. It is expected to become law because the Governor has stated twice he would sign it if it made it this far.

"Guns save lives. There are numerous cases where a good guy with a gun, and that's become kind of a saying that they used to mock us, but it's true there are good people with guns that dispel crime," said Andy Hogue with the Travis County GOP.

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Lawmakers give final approval to permitless carry bill

The bill is now headed to Governor Greg Abbott's desk where he is expected to sign it. FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak has details.

Hogue says this was a long time in the making because constitutional carry has reappeared at every legislative session for the past decade with no luck. If Abbott signs the bill, it will become law, making Texas the 21st state to have constitutional carry.

"We found out that law-abiding citizens can be trusted to handle guns and the bad guys are still going to get the guns that they don't need through other means," said Hogue

However not everyone wants this. According to a poll FOX 7 Austin posted earlier this month, 51% voted no to constitutional carry. Ed Espinoza with Progress Texas says Texas leaders are ignoring what most people want.

FOX 7 Discussion: Texas bill would allow permitless carry of handguns

Ed Scruggs from Texas Gun Sense joins Rebecca Thomas to talk about the permitless carry bill that will be voted on in the Texas Senate.

"This comes a year or two after major shootings where the Governor went around the state and said that he was committed to doing things to reduce gun violence, and with his intent to sign this law, it is it is flying in the face of all that, to everybody who has lost someone in some sort of a shooting in the past few years," said Espinoza.

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With gun violence on the rise, Espinoza hopes the Governor changes his mind and rejects constitutional carry. "They're saying it's going to bring gun violence down, but the only way we're going to find out is by gun violence increasing in accordance with it and that's just not a gamble that I or a majority of Texans are willing to take."