Texas is close to passing a legislation allowing an open carry of handguns after the bill receive Senate approval late Friday.
The open carry bill was debated in the Republican-led Senate after the question was raised about whether police should be questioning someone who visibly is carrying a handgun, according to ABC13 News.
The bill got its approval a week after the Waco incident that resulted in the death of nine people and 18 people suffering injuries, which was raised many times during the Senate deliberations. It is now up to the House of Congress to pass the piece of legislation, which has an identical version that received approval last month.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott has committed to sign an open carry bill into law as a self-defense measure for citizens. On the other hand, gun advocates and the police are worried about public safety.
Texas senator John Whitmire, a Democrat from Houston, aired the concern of the police that the open carry law would make it more confusing for law enforcement authorities to avoid a similar Waco incident, The Guardian reported.
Nonetheless, after much debate, eight amendments to the open-carry bill had been shot down, including an add-on to require carriers to display a license on their gun holsters and even a background check amendment.
A bill to legalize carrying a firearm on college and university campuses, SB11, is also in its final phase of obtaining approval.
