The new laws make it easier for Texans to have guns in places such as schools, places of worship and foster homes.
New gun laws making it easier for people to have guns in public places in Texas have come into effect today.
The laws were signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in June, making it easier for Texans to have guns in places such as schools, places of worship and foster homes.
The change comes just hours after seven people died in the shooting near the twin towns of Odessa and Midland in west Texas on Saturday, and just weeks after 22 people died in a shooting in a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas.
Police have identified Seth Ator, a 36-year-old white male, as the shooter involved in the attacks.
The weekend’s shooting brought the total number of mass killings in the US so far this year to 25, which is as many mass killings as in all of 2018.
What are the laws?
House Bill 1143 says a school district cannot prohibit licensed gun owners, including school employees, from storing a gun or ammunition in a locked vehicle at a school carpark.
House Bill 1387 loosens restrictions on how many armed school marshals a district can appoint.
House Bill 2363 allows some foster homes to store guns and ammunition in a safe place. House Bill 302 allows residents to possess, carry, transport and store a gun or ammunition at their property, regardless of whether they own or rent it from someone else.
House Bill 1177 prohibits residents from being charged for carrying a gun while evacuating a state or local disaster area.
Senate Bill 535 allows licensed gun owners to legally carry their weapons in places of worship, including churches, synagogues and mosques.
Angry reaction to the new laws.
Many politicians and high-profile commentators have reacted negatively to the new laws, describing them as “madness” and “heartbreaking”.
I am heartbroken and so angry about this. Unbelievably, Texas’ gun laws are set to become MORE lax tomorrow thanks to lawmakers who are more interested in courting the NRA than they are protecting the lives of people they were elected to serve. #Odessatx https://t.co/nu1OJnTR3v
— Wendy Davis (@wendydavis) August 31, 2019
Today laws go into effect in Texas:
-allowing guns in foster homes
-making it illegal for landlords to disallow guns in rental units
-making it easier to bring guns in churches
If more guns = less gun deaths, America would be the safest place in the world.
FYI - it isn’t.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) September 1, 2019
Texas Governor Greg Abbott in July signed all 10 of the NRA-supported legislation which they requested. Gun restrictions will be lessened in Texas which suffered another mass shooting in Odessa on the heels of El Paso. This is madness.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) September 1, 2019
But not everyone shares the sentiment. Texas Republican state representative Matt Schaefer posted on Facebook that gun reform wouldn’t “stop a person with evil intent”, advising people to instead “pray for protection”.
“’Do something!’ is the statement we keep hearing,” he wrote.
“As an elected official with a vote in Austin, let me tell you what I am NOT going to do. I am NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans. Period. None of these so-called gun-control solutions will work to stop a person with evil intent.”
