Constitutional Carry Slows Rate of Texas Permits

From AM 740 KTHR NewsRadio

Year-over-year License to Carry applications in Texas plummeted last month, but sales of handguns continue to soar.

Just 18,500 permit applications were recorded in the Lone Star State in November, a seven-year low. However, FBI background checks were still above 150,000.

Critics argue the state's permitless carry law is putting more guns in people's hands when crime and homicides are surging. Second amendment advocates say that's a good thing.

"These are not criminals who were waiting for the state to say it's okay to carry. By definition criminals break the law, so they were already carrying," says Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk Radio.

"So the only people who are now carrying who weren't before are law abiding people."

Gresham says the drop in LTC permits was expected with Texas' new permitless carry law.

"Texas is the 21st state to have constitutional carry. In none of the 20 states before this has it been a problem. Crime has not gone up attributed to the people who started carrying." he says.

Gresham believes in full constitutional carry, but admits there are advantages to having a permit.

"If you just do constitutional carry in Texas, when you go to other states you're not going to be able to carry there unless that too is a constitutional carry state."

Overall background checks nationwide are down from this time last year, but still well above November 2019.

Original article here.

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