The Texas House is giving first approval to a bill which would lower the fee on handgun licenses.
Democrats say the bill is a bad idea because the extra license fee cash could have been used for schools or the foster care system. Republicans say the license fee needed to be lower because it's currently one of the highest in the nation.
“In a family, the father would get the license but they couldn't afford the other member of the household to have the license, so this makes it more accessible,” says Alice Tripp at the Texas State Rifle Association.
Tripp says the change is long overdue considering the $140 fee went into effect long before the state began using online applications.
“Originally it was done by paper step by step by step, and now everything is electronic, the Legislature with the help of the Department of Public Safety discovered that the cost in today's world for issuing that license is $40,” she says.
SB 16 now makes the initial license fee the same as renewing it. “The largest amount that anybody will pay for their license is $40, so its dropping it a hundred bucks,” says Tripp.