Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed Senate Bill 16, which significantly reduces the cost of a License to Carry.
At $140, the fee for an original Texas license was among the highest in the nation. The passage of SB 16 brings the fees down to among the lowest, slashing the cost of an original license by $100 to just $40, and cutting the cost of a renewal license from $70 to $40. It takes effect Sept. 1, 2017.
“This is great news for our Texas Law Shield Members,” said Kirk Evans, President of Houston-based Texas & U.S. Law Shield. “In effect, this means the annual cost of a five-year LTC will now be just $8 a year. No law-abiding Texan should ever be priced out of the ability to exercise his or her right to self-defense, and SB 16 helps make a License to Carry more affordable for everyone.”
Effectively, Evans said, the passage of SB 16 means Texans will pay the state only the administrative cost of the LTC.
SB 16 passed the state Senate and was identical to a House version, HB 300. Because there were no amendments to SB 16, the Senate bill was the version voted on by the House. Once the House approved the measure, it headed to Governor Abbott, who quickly signed it into law.
Senate Bill 16 was sponsored by Republican State Senators Robert Nichols (Jacksonville) and Joan Huffman (Houston). The Senate bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Phil King (R-Parker and Wise Counties).
Click here to read our earlier reporting about SB 16.
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