Shooting at First Baptist Church puts lax Texas gun laws under the spotlight

AS Texas reels from a church massacre, there are calls for more gun control as the Lone Star State’s gun laws have become some of the most lax in the US.

TEXAS is getting more gun-friendly all the time.

The shooting spree at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs is the latest tragic example of how easily a citizen can walk into a public place and kill dozens of people with a firearm.

Residents of the Lone Star State — known for its cowboy history and having some of the most lax gun laws in the country — face few restrictions when it comes to owning weapons.

Permits are rarely necessary for the purchase of rifles, shotguns, ammunition or any firearm component in the state. So long as the purchaser is at least 18 years of age, a resident of the state and passes a background check, they’re free to buy what they like.

There’s no gun registry in Texas either, meaning firearms are transferable but don’t need to be registered. It also makes it impossible to trace whether a resident owns one gun or 100.

A picture published by The Daily Beast, said to be from Kelley’s Facebook page, of a gun. Picture: Facebook

CBS has released this image of the Texas church shooter Devin Patrick Kelley. Picture: Twitter

Texas lawmakers approved a law this year that reduced the application fees of handgun licences from $US140 ($AU183) to $US40 (AU$52) making it more affordable than ever to buy a handgun. And with handgun safety lessons available online, applicants don’t even need to show-up to class.

The changes came into effect after open-carry laws were passed in 2015. The laws allow Texans with concealed handgun licences (CHLs) to wear their handguns on hip holsters like something out of the Wild West.

One of the few places where open-carry laws don’t apply is on higher education campuses, where it’s expressly forbidden.

A gun-rights advocate carries a rifle on his back and a cardboard cutout of a pistol on his waist in Austin, Texas. Picture: AP

But even still, it doesn't stop students or faculty members from bringing guns on campus. A second gun law introduced in August 2016 permits CHL holders to bring a concealed handgun into public university buildings, classrooms and dorms.

Texas previously allowed openly carrying rifles and shotguns, however it’s ban on having handguns visible dates back to just after the Civil War.

While more than 40 states allow licenced gun owners to carry a holstered pistol in public, Texas is the largest.

A young attendee inspects a high power sniper rifle during the NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits in Houston, Texas. Picture: Getty/AFP

It’s actually easier to get into the state’s capital in Austin with a firearm than it is without one. The New York Times reported licenced, gun-carrying members of the public have their own no-wait security lane while the unarmed masses have to stand in line and go through metal detectors.

A study published in the Medical Journal of Injury Prevention in 2015 put the state’s gun ownership rate at 35.7 per cent. This was above the national average, which was 29.1 per cent at the time.

Originally published as Shooting at First Baptist Church puts lax Texas gun laws under the spotlight