State police in Texas issued 1 million licenses to carry firearms in last decade kxan.com/news/texas-pol…
Chief Wayne Mueller, of the agency’s regulatory services division, testified that approximately 400,000 Texans had licenses to carry in 2010, and 2019 finished with 1.4 million participants.
“[Which] equates to about 213% increase,” Mueller said, adding that the yearly average increase was approximately 14%.
In a meeting of the Senate’s State Affairs committee, Mueller said the number of licenses issued increased each year over the decade.
In a meeting of the Senate’s State Affairs committee, Mueller said the number of licenses issued increased each year over the decade.
The highest was in 2016, at 23%. At the start of that year, it became legal for Texans over 21 years old to openly carry firearms. Campus carry took effect that September.
“The item that had the most single impact on the program... was the move to open carry in 2016,”
“The item that had the most single impact on the program... was the move to open carry in 2016,”
The license to carry program (formerly concealed handgun license program) turns 25 in 2020. It was enacted in 1995.
Mueller testified that after major mass-shootings in the country over the last five years, Texans largely do not apply for licenses to carry in the immediate aftermath. CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AMONG LICENSE-HOLDERS HAS NOT INCREASED OVER THE DECADE, Mueller added.
“With the implementation of open carry, with the implementation of Campus Carry, the data does not indicate that there has been any increase in criminal activity over the course of a decade on the part of those that are licensees within the program,” he said.
