AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Department of Public Safety has proposed new rules that would require applicants who are looking to receive a license to carry, to provide documentation verifying their citizenship, or immigration status, through a federal database.

13 May 2022, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rottweil: A Walther PDP Full Size 9mm handgun and 9mm Luger cartridges lie on a table of a sports shooter. Photo: Silas Stein/ (Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The proposed amendments were published in the April 24 edition of the Texas Register and would require both new and renewed applicants to submit proof of eligibility under federal law.

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Applicants would be required to use documents verified through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, program.

The rule changes are intended to ensure compliance with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which governs eligibility for certain public benefits, including professional and commercial licenses.

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Under the proposal, applicants would need to provide one of several forms of identification, among other federally recognized documents:

Amanda Contrino, a senior policy analyst with the Texas DPS’s Regulatory Services Division, said in the proposal that most applicants are expected to already possess the required documentation and, as a result, the agency does not anticipate additional economic costs for most individuals.

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