Many healthcare facilities in Texas could be required to allow guns in their facilities under a new law, according to an article on the Houston Chronicle website.
Last year, the Legislature passed a new law imposing fines on governmental entities for improperly banning license holders from carrying handguns in areas that otherwise are not considered gun-free zones.
Texas Hospital Association officials believe the provision means most clinics and other outpatient service centers located on property owned or operated by public hospitals will have to allow Texans with a "license to carry" to bring handguns into their facilities.
"Other businesses can decide what they want, but we can't. That's the bottom line," said Steven Gularte, CEO of Chambers Health, the public hospital district in Chambers County, said in the article. "I think there's a gap in the legislation when it came out. It allows for us to protect the hospital, but not the clinics."