USA Texas – a bill for license-free pistol carrying - to be passed with the governor's signature

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

許可不要の短銃携帯法案、知事署名で成立へ　米テキサス州

2021.05.29 Sat posted at 17:42 JST

（ＣＮＮ） 米テキサス州の州議会は２９日までに、住民に公の場所で許可証や必要な訓練がなくても短銃携帯を認める法案を可決し、今年９月の発効に必要な署名を求めてアボット知事（共和党）へ送付した。

知事は以前、署名する意向を表明している。

米国内の保守系知事が率いる複数の州でも今年、この種の法案が成立したが、州の規模がはるかに大きく根強い銃文化を持つとされるテキサスも追随する可能性が強まった。

同州ではライフル銃を許可なく携行出来ることが既に認められている。現行の州法では短銃の場合、見える状態または隠すような方法で持参するには許可証の保持が必要。この許可証の発給には、住民の指紋提供、背景調査、一定の訓練終了や正確な射撃能力を試す試験参加を義務づけていた。

今回可決された新法では、州の公共安全担当の部署に小火器の安全性や操作に関する無料の研修コースを公式サイト上に載せることも求めた。

新法を支持する州議会の共和党議員は、州民の銃保持の権利に対する人工的な障害を取り除き、公の場所での自己防御手段を保持する機会をより多くの住民に与えることになると主張。

一方、民主党議員や一部の法執行機関要員は違法な銃所持の住民の把握が一層困難になるなどと批判している。

今年になり類似の法案を成立させたのはアイオワ、テネシー、モンタナ、ユタやワイオミング各州。米ジョンズ・ホプキンス大学の銃暴力阻止・政策センターの責任者は以前、同様の州法を既に発効させ、また今後数カ月内に発効させる州はあわせて１９に上ると予測していた。

米国内で銃乱射事件などが頻発していることを受けバイデン大統領は銃規制に動いており、連邦議会に対しても対策強化を促している。

Translation

(CNN) On the 29th, the Texas state legislature passed a bill allowing residents to carry short pistols in public without a permit or the necessary training, the bill would be sent it to Governor Abbott (Republican Party) for signature that was required to make it to come into force in September this year.

The governor had previously expressed his intention to sign.

While several states led by conservative governors in the United States had passed this type of bill this year, Texas which was said to be much larger and had a deep-rooted gun culture was more likely to follow suit.

It had already been approved in this state that rifles could be carried without permission. Current state law required holding a permit to carry a pistol in a visible or hidden manner. The issuance of this permit required residents to provide fingerprints, conduct background checks, complete certain training sessions, and participate in examinations to test their proper shooting ability.

The new law, to be passed this time, also required the state's public safety department to post on its official website a free training course on small firearms safety and usage.

Republicans in the state legislature, who supported the new law, argued that they would remove artificial obstacles to the right of residents in the state to possess guns, and to give more residents the opportunity to keep self-defense measures in public places.

Meanwhile, Democrats and some law enforcement officials had criticized that it would make even more difficult to identify residents with illegal guns.

Similar bills were passed this year in Iowa, Tennessee, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. The head of the Gun Violence Prevention and Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University predicted that with those states that already had similar laws, adding those states that would have laws coming into effect in the coming months, the total number of states could reach 19.

President Biden was pushing for gun control in response to the frequent shootings in the United States, and was urging the Congress to strengthen its countermeasures.

              I am interested to know whether there will be an increase in gun related crimes in Texas after this law is passed.