Texas Authorizes the Use of Firearms in Churches and Schools Following the Expansion of Firearms Acts Effective September 1

Texas State gun owners can now legally introduce firearms into churches, synagogues and schools after loosening restrictions passed by lawmakers earlier this year.

Despite nationwide calls for gun control measures following the latest round of mass shootings in the country, Texas Republicans have taken the opposite and expanded areas where firearms are allowed. Starting Sunday, September 1, Texas firearm owners will now be able to bring weapons to places of worship and school campuses in the state of Lone Star. Just hours before the firearms legislation came into force, five people were killed and 21 others injured during a mass shootout in West Texas, near New York. Midland and Odessa. The killings followed another shooting in El Paso in early August.

The National Rifle Association has welcomed the new easing of Texas gun control legislation, while activist arms control groups, such as Texas Gun Sense, have denounced the move to make "schools and communities less secure ".

Texas Republicans passed many laws in the last state legislative session on firearms:

Under Senate Bill 535, Texans can carry guns in churches, synagogues or any other place of worship, unless the owners explicitly prohibit firearms with a poster. Under Bill 302, homeowners can no longer prevent tenants or guests of tenants from carrying firearms under leases. And under Senate Bill 741, homeowners' associations can no longer prohibit the storage of firearms on rented buildings.

Bill 1387 has relaxed restrictions on the number of school commissioners who can carry firearms for public and private schools. Previous laws indicated that there could be only one armed marshal for 200 students in a teaching institution. At the same time, Bill 1343 eased restrictions on handgun license holders who store firearms and ammunition on parking lots or other property owned by the districts. school.

Further easing of firearms restrictions effective September 1 allows foster homes to store firearms and ammunition and allows Texans to carry handguns without a permit during evacuations from a disaster area . This legislation, House Bill 1177, was triggered as a result of Hurricane Harvey and aims to allow gun owners to protect themselves during chaotic times following disasters. natural.

The purpose of Bill 121 is to allow owners of licensed handguns to enter a facility that has prohibited firearms, provided that the owner of the firearm leaves the property at the request of the latter.

The easing of the Texas Firearms Act comes into effect just hours after the killing of five people in a shootout in West Texas that ended in front of a bustling entertainment center. "It has been confirmed that the active shooter was killed at Odessa's Cinergy.There is no active shooter at present.All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects", Saturday announced the Midland Police Department in a statement.