Authorities Worry New Texas Gun Law Will Increase Violence – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
The new Texas law, which allows most people to carry handguns in public without permission or training, arose in part from the belief of many Texans that the best way to prevent crime and stop an armed villain is through it to make sure there is an armed good around.
Governor Greg Abbott and his Republican allies in the Legislature, who made Texas the largest state this summer with a Permissionless Carry bill, proposed it to allow people to more easily defend themselves without government interference.
“In the best case scenario, the police are only a few minutes away. But you need immediate protection when you are in danger. So this will keep us safe, “said Bethany Young, the legislative director of Texas Gun Rights, who will help pass the law, which went into effect on Wednesday.
But research suggests that crime actually increases after such laws are implemented. And Texas authorities, including many who have opposed the new measure, fear that more disagreements will be resolved through gunfire and more lost or stolen firearms will end up in the hands of criminals as more people walk around armed.
With its new law, Texas joined nearly two dozen states allowing some form of unregulated possession of small arms. Texas already allowed rifles to be worn in public without a license. But for the past few days, most Texans 21 and over who have not been convicted of specific offenses have been able to holster a pistol in public without completing any training, obtaining a permit, or taking a state background exam.
Although several of the license-exempt carry states passed their laws earlier this year and researchers say more time is needed to fully study the effects of such measures, said Sven Smith, assistant professor of sociology at Stetson University in Florida who studies gun violence So far, various studies suggest that crime rates in states with open carry laws are rising by 10 to 15%.
“The United States follows the traditional notion of fighting fire with fire. The best defense is a good offensive, that kind of mentality,” said Smith. “But the overwhelming preponderance of statistics, even though they are not certain and inconclusive … they only point in one direction.”
Research also suggests that such laws tend to boost arms sales, Smith said.
A 2018 study by a University of Denver professor found that “the general trend of increasing sales of handguns in the United States is in part due to the liberalization” of concealed gun laws, such as:
This worries Houston Police Assistant Larry Satterwhite, as more guns in public are likely to result in more guns being stolen, especially from vehicles. Nearly 3,000 guns were stolen from vehicles in Houston last year. So far this year there are more than 2,000.
“Many of these weapons are used in shootings, murders and violent crimes,” he said.
Satterwhite and other law enforcement officials say that while most gun owners are responsible, they fear that greater access to guns in a public setting combined with a lack of training on how and when to use them will result in that some people fire them when there is no lethal force is illegal.
There have been a number of confrontations in the Houston area in the past few months where people have attempted to resolve seemingly insignificant disputes with a gun, although the problem is by no means unique to the fourth largest city in the country. In one case, a man was threatened with a handgun after honking at a car in front of him while driving through fast food. In another, someone opened fire in a nail salon over a disagreement over the price of a manicure and pedicure. And a 17-year-old boy was killed in a road shootout while driving home with his family after a Houston Astros game.
In another case in the Houston area, Deandrea Citizen, a homeless woman struggling with mental illness, was shot dead by another woman, Christine Fesus, who claimed Citizen threatened her with a gun when she was threatening her with hers Dog went for a walk. Authorities say Citizen is unarmed. Fesus was charged with murder.
“There was no way Dee tried to attack her. Dee didn’t have an aggressive bone in her body,” said Amy Graham, one of Citizen’s friends.
Although these shootings took place before the new law on carrying the law came into effect, law enforcement officials and gun control groups like Moms Demand Action fear that they could become more frequent as more untrained people will be walking around armed.
“Rifles are for defense. They are really supposed to protect people’s lives, not to settle disputes, and that’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” said Harris County district attorney Kim Ogg, the chief prosecutor in Houston. “I just think that more guns – more access – necessarily means more shootings and more murders. This is bad for Houston. That’s bad for Texas. “
Young, of Texas Gun Rights, said gun control groups “promise terror and violence and blood on the streets if there is a move toward gun rights”. However, she claims that states with laws similar to Texas are some of the safest in the country.
Angelica Halphen, whose 18-year-old son Harrison Schmidt was killed in Houston in 2019 by someone who had legally bought a gun but had no education, said she doesn’t think the new law will make people safer. She fears this will lead to more deadly anger attacks on the street.
“He should be alive. He had a bright future. … Just a good heart and a good soul. And what for? Halphen said of her son. “And now with this (new law), it scares me. I don’t want anyone to go through what my family is going through.”
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