A Republican lawmaker has filed a bill that would allow Texans to openly carry handguns in public places.
Texarkana Rep. George Lavender introduced the bill Thursday. House Bill 700 would allow people who hold concealed handgun licenses to also carry their weapons openly in public. Otherwise the license holder must follow the same rules they have to follow with concealed handguns.
Lavender tried to pass a similar bill in 2011, but in never came up for a final vote in the Texas House.
Texas Republicans have introduced a number of measures to expand gun rights as Democrats at the national level have authored legislation to increase restrictions on gun ownership.
Also Thursday, Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein of California filed a bill to nationally ban the sale of assault weapons.
The measure proposed by Feinstein would ban 157 specific guns, including the popular AR-15 style of semi-automatic rifle, and would prohibit guns with one “military-style” feature, such as a pistol grip, folding rifle stock or barrel equipped for a silencer.
More: House Bill 700
