A new Texas law allows residents to carry a handgun without a license, and at least one police chief is concerned that people will be handling firearms without the proper training.
"Most of our officers are going to assume that people are armed," Plano Chief Ed Drain told KDFW-TV.
"But of course, every contact that an officer makes may not be related to a call for service," he added. "So yeah, that is something that I am concerned about."
Under the new law, which went into effect Wednesday, Texans 21 years or older can carry a handgun in public without needing training or a permit. Restrictions to gun ownership, such as felony and domestic violence convictions still apply, and firearms are prohibited in some locations, such as airports, schools and federal buildings.
"As a peace officer, I’m entitled to carry a firearm on duty and off duty," Drain said. "Most peace officers—sheriffs, police officers—that I know support the right of Texas residents to be able to do that as well. But with that right comes responsibility.
"The training requirements for the license to carry provisions that passed in 2015, there was not a lot of training in there," he added. "But it did talk about some key points. It talked about Chapter 9 of the Texas Penal Code and that outlines when deadly force is authorized. I think that that is really important."
The change in the law doesn't stop police officers from being able to seize weapons during volatile calls, such as domestic violence incidents.
"Police officers have always had the ability to temporarily disarm someone in confrontational situations like a domestic violence," Drain said. "You could potentially have a traffic crash where you have people out debating about who is at fault. We can temporarily disarm someone in those situations, and if someone is not going to jail and they’re otherwise eligible to have the firearm, it would be returned to them after the situation can be worked out,."
