Several proposed new gun laws await the new Texas legislature when it opens next month, including one to allow open carrying of handguns in public and another providing a sales tax holiday for firearms purchases.
The Republican-dominated legislature will become even more conservative due to the party's landslide win in the November election, with many members pledging to expand firearms rights in the state often seen as an incubator of conservative policies nationwide.
Proposed measures would ban cities and counties from restricting gun rights and try to have any new federally imposed restrictions on firearms declared illegal in Texas. Lawmakers are also looking to prohibit schools from punishing students who fashion their breakfast pastries into the shape of a gun.