A new bill backed by the National rifle Association and enacted by the legislature of Texas, will allow any resident of the state that can legally have a weapon, carry it openly during and for weeks after the disaster.
Currently, the removal of pistol, rifle (and so on) outside the home, the Texans should be licensed to transport, requiring the payment of fees, courses of fire and check the «purity» before the law.
But if the Republican Governor Greg Abbott will sign this bill, none of the above will be required after flooding or other catastrophic natural phenomena.
Senator Joan Huffman, one of the three Republicans who voted against the bill, criticized the bill in a conversation with Dallas News.
«It is very bad public policy that is terribly thought out. This is not the solution. This is creating the problem,» said Huffman.
The idea for the bill emerged from the part of gun owners in Texas who were asked to weaken the regulations after the hurricane «Harvey»that struck the state in 2017.
The national rifle Association (NRA) supported these calls and helped propel the legislation.
The NRA claimed that the bill is necessary to prevent the looting of property after hurricanes and other natural disasters.
«Sure, there are always people who like to steal other people’s things,’ said Lieutenant General retired Russell Honore, who helped maintain order after the hurricane «Katrina». – But it’s a much exaggerated problem».
The chief of police of Houston, Art Acevedo urged the Abbott Governor to veto the bill.
«We survived one of the worst disasters in Texas history during the «Harvey». The world watched as we were United at that time. This bill was not necessary then and not necessary now. It will only give a trump card to 20 thousand gang members, and will help the community,» tweeted Acevedo.
