Texas House passes bill allowing unlicensed handgun owners to carry in public during disaster

Texas moved closer this week to allowing unlicensed gun owners to carry firearms in public following a disaster.

The Texas House has approved a measure that lets gun owners carry their weapons in the open, or concealed, for a week after a government declaration of a disaster. The vote was 102-29. The next step will be a state Senate hearing, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

“I don’t want someone to feel like they have to leave their firearms back in an unsecured home for a week or longer, and we all know how looting occurs in storms,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dade Phelan, a Republican. “Entire neighborhoods are empty and these people can just go shopping, and one of the things they’re looking for is firearms.”

Critics of the bill, which will take effect in September if the Senate approves it, say that rather than ensuring safety, allowing unlicensed handgun owners to carry in public would only add to the chaos surrounding a disaster.