Governor Greg Abbott signed seven pieces of legislation in June that support the carrying of a concealed firearm in public without a license. Effective since September 1, this new law caused controversy. On a surface level, the laws are perceived as dense, seeing as how there are other issues [pandemic] to focus on. The truth is, gun control has always been a major debate point in Texas, but it’s Texas and the state loves its guns, so much that now you don’t need to prove you know how to use it.
The major concern is, why would you give someone without a license a gun? Why give anyone a gun to begin with? Here’s why:; there’s bad people in the world, terrible. There’s also good people who wish to be protected from the bad. But you can’t tell who has their finger on the trigger or what their intentions are. Good or bad person, if they’re holding a gun, then there is obviously a bad situation.
A popular argument is that guns don’t kill people, which is true: A gun has never grown legs and gone up to someone. The laws themselves weren’t made, or shouldn’t be made, to restrict the guns, but rather the people that use them. But by now, we should all know that no one is capable of controlling others completely, because then that is a threat to our freedom. You can’t control who ends up with their finger on that trigger, but it is the government’s responsibility to do what it can to avoid a tragedy.
The law has restrictions; no way it’d be passed without them. You can’t show up to certain places with a gun — schools, daycares, or private establishments with a no-gun policy. You can’t get one if you have a criminal record or if you were not permitted to have a gun license before, and you have to be 21. Are those filters not enough? No. Because what are the odds that someone who can’t have a gun gets away with it? Most likely, high: No one will go around asking others if they’re a registered felon, and no one with a gun will admit to it. Yes, consequences are given to those that break a law. But for them to face the consequences, the law has to be broken first, and in this situation the scenario is a dangerous one.
We all have the right to fear for our own safety, more so now that more people have access to weapons. The threats are greater, but now more people can defend themselves, right? You can carry your weapon and show it to the world, but you can’t show the world your intentions. So when you put your hand on the trigger, who is the gun protecting? Whether this law is effective in it’s intentions remains to be seen.