AUSTIN, Texas — If you want to carry a handgun in Texas — the push is on once again to be able to do that without getting a license.
"Constitutional Carry would make the CHL process optional. We feel that Texans should not have to beg the government for permission for their God-given right to the second amendment. It would make paying the fee and taking the classes optional," said Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford.
Stickland has been a loud voice for the second amendment. He backed two contentious gun bills that passed last session - open carry and campus carry.
He believes Constitutional Carry is the next step.
"I think it's the way the founders who wrote the Constitution originally intended it to be. I think they'd be very upset if they saw that government had put a surcharge on using the rights that they fought for," said Stickland.
The executive director of Texas Gun Sense believes if you're going to carry a gun in public, you should be properly trained.
"You have to have safety training with that gun because when you're carrying in public, that is a safety issue," said Andrea Brauer of Texas Gun Sense.
Currently, if you want a permit to carry in Texas you have to complete 4 to 6 hours of training, which includes passing a written test and a shooting demonstration. The standard fee for that is $140.
"The gun lobby likes to say all the time 'we're law abiding citizens, we're responsible gun owners' so if we lose that program, we lose all of those statistics," added Brauer.
Stickland says fears that pro-gun bills will turn Texas into the "Wild, Wild, West" are unfounded. While his bill would get rid of the fees and licensing process, he says it wouldn't change who's eligible to carry a gun, meaning you'd still have to undergo a background check.
There are other bills that have been filed that would only reduce the fee to get a license to carry but would still require a firearms training course.
Texas Gun Sense says if the state wants to give gun owners a break that's the safer way to go about doing it.