Houston ABC Affiliate Points to Permitless Handgun Carry Law After Rifle Attack in Joel Osteen’s Church

Houston’s ABC 13 pointed to Texas’s permitless carry law for handguns following Sunday’s rifle attack inside Lakewood Church.

Breitbart News reported the female shooter, who formerly identified by the name “Jeffery,” possessed two guns when she entered the church: an AR-15 and a .22 rifle.

ABC 13 covered the story by noting, “Texas is coming up on two years since permitless carry passed in the State Legislature, which has allowed Texans to carry handguns without a license since September 2021.”

They elaborated, “Before permitless carry was signed into law, Texans generally needed to be licensed to carry handguns openly or concealed. Applicants had to submit fingerprints, complete four to six hours of in-person training, and pass a written exam and a shooting proficiency test.”

But the Lakewood Church shooter was not carrying a handgun. She was carrying two rifles, and the one she used in the attack was purchased legally.

Open carry of rifles has long been legal in Texas; however, shooting at innocent people with a rifle is illegal.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.