Texas House Relaxes Airport Laws For Gun Owners

You’re in line for the TSA. You’re rushed. You forget to remove the handgun from your hip. Soon, you may not get in trouble.

A bill that passed the house on Thursday would forgive concealed handgun license holders for such lapses. Republican Rep. Drew Springer’s measure would protect a licensee from being arrested if he or she is caught in security with a handgun and immediately leaves the area.

The offense is currently a state felony.

In 2013, Rep. Drew Darby was arrested in Austin after officers found a loaded pistol in his carry-on luggage that he said he’d forgotten about.

In the Lone Star State, it seems almost as common for travelers in airport security lines to forget they are carrying a handgun as it is for them to fail to take off their belts or shoes; Texas leads the U.S. in gun confiscations in airport security checks. These confiscations spiked 25 percent last year; the Transportation Safety Administration confiscated 2,212 guns at airports in 2014, including 350-plus in Texas.

Springer’s bill now heads to the Senate.

Source: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/05/07/texas-house-relaxes-airport-laws-for-gun-owners/