Texas passes bill allowing carry of handguns for a full week after natural disasters

(CNN) — Lawmakers in Texas just approved a bill that will allow licensed gun owners to carry handguns in public for up to a week following a natural disaster. It squeaked through the Senate 16-15. Now it’s heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, as lawmakers close out this year’s legislative session. According to a summary[1], bill supporters don’t want to be “forced to leave handguns behind in vehicles or homes, where they could be at risk from looters.” The bill, which has the backing of the National Rifle Association[2], grants immunity to gun owners without conceal carry permits to keep their weapons with them when fleeing disaster areas. Sen. Charles Brandon Creighton, who represents a district north of Houston, sponsored HB 1177[3] in the Senate. In the floor debate, Creighton said that following Hurricane Harvey, Gov. Abbott issued evacuation orders for effected areas on August 23, 2017, and that “mandatory and voluntary evacuations were ongoing through the 28th of August.” He said that lawmakers felt a full week was necessary for gun-owners to evacuate a disaster area and to find a safe place to stay. He added that the bill doesn’t require relief shelters to admit those carrying handguns, and shelters in the state can make their own rules around guns, including “checking them and storing them,” when people take refuge. According to a fiscal note[4] attached to the bill, the state currently punishes those who carry weapons illegally by a misdemeanor or felony based on the type of offense. The bill wouldn’t cause a “significant fiscal impact” to the state because it wouldn’t add to the burden on prison facilities, the note says. Legislators sent the bill back and forth between bodies before narrowly passing it After the original bill carried in the House, the Senate amended the bill to narrow the window for carrying a concealed handgun

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