Texans will soon be able to carry handguns in public without a license

AUSTIN, Texas - In just over a month, Texans will be able to carry a handgun in public without a license. This comes after Gov. Greg Abbott signed permitless carry, also known as constitutional carry, into law after it passed through the legislative session.

Texas will become the 21st state to pass permitless carry into law. It will allow anyone over the age of 21, who isn't prohibited from owning a gun, to carry a handgun openly or concealed without a license or permit.

"Now, that means that you can't be convicted of certain things, certain criterias but yeah, you will be able to carry a handgun under constitutional carry law in Texas," said Michael Cargill, owner of Texas Gun Works.

Currently, Texans must go through training, pay an application fee, and do a few other things to obtain a license to carry a handgun. Come September 1st, that'll be a thing of the past. However, Cargill says it is still worth getting a license.

"I can go on for days on why it's good to have a license. It's good to have a license to carry a handgun if you're going to carry it in other states. It's also good to have a license if you're going to be on private property. It's good to have a license if you're going to walk into a gun store and buy a firearm because if you walk the gun store, you buy a gun, you don't have a license, you could be delayed that transaction, but with the license to carry a handgun, your background checks already been done," he said.

Steve Ou, sales manager at Guns Warehouse, says when permitless carry starts up, nothing will change on the sales side.

"It's no different for us on the sales side. You still come in and you would pick out your firearm and you still go through the federal background check; you still fill out that same paperwork. The only difference now is that without having to get a permit all you need to do right now is just pick up the firearm and that I guess you could technically carry it on your person without that permit," said Ou.

Gun shop employees say they do expect to see an increase in sales come September 1st. "We're going to have another demand spike," said Ou.

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