ARANSAS PASS, Texas — Some police departments offer license-to-carry courses, but with Governor Abbott signing the Constitutional Carry Law, soon Texans will not need to take a course or need a license to carry a handgun.
Assistant Chief Darvin Pearce with the Aransas Pass Police Department said even though their classes are booked through July, people are dropping out. Despite the dropouts, they’re still expecting to host the class because he believes it’s still beneficial.
“There’s still some advantage of having your license to carry. For example, traveling out of state. We have agreements with other states that we honor their license and they honor our license,” Pearce said.
The class offered by the Aransas Pass Police Department doesn’t teach you how to shoot. While it is held at a gun range, it only checks your proficiency, such as whether you know how to hit a target. The course also teaches students how to store guns properly, when you can use force to protect yourself, and how to resolve a conflict.
“Most of the time you can talk your way out of the situation which is much better than having to pull a fire arm and use that,” Pearce said.
They usually have the classes once a month, but are now looking for guidance from the state to set dates past the next few months.
Pearce said he doesn’t believe the new law will affect crime because criminals will continue to carry firearms regardless of laws.
“You’re probably going to see very little change at all. It may actually decrease crime because it makes the criminals think, now that honest law-abiding constitutional citizens can carry this firearm,” Pearce said.
Pearce said people should educate themselves when it comes to the new law because he doesn’t want to them to accidentally get themselves into trouble.
The Corpus Christi Police Department said they are not changing any protocols because of the looser gun laws and they said they are continually evaluating them. The police departments in Portland, Ingleside, and Robstown did not get back to KRIS 6 News by the time the story ran at 6 p.m.
