Updated: Monday, December 8 2014, 01:44 PM CST

by Morgan Smith, The Texas Tribune

As momentum grows behind a push to let Texans carry handguns openly, the biggest fight may be among Second Amendment advocates themselves.

A conflict is emerging over how far changes to the current state law should go, and some gun-rights supporters fear that the divide may sink efforts to lift handgun restrictions during the legislative session that begins in January.

"If the acrimony between the various groups gets too pronounced, then nothing will pass," said Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who helped get the state's concealed handgun law passed in 1995, when he was a state senator. "Their challenge very simply is to recognize that the legislative process is designed to kill legislation and to drop their disagreements, even if it's not perfect."

The law allows the open carrying of long guns like rifles and shotguns. Texas is one of six states that specifically prohibit the open carrying of handguns, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

In the last two legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers have unsuccessfully pushed to allow handgun license holders to openly carry their firearms. Five nearly identical bills that would do that have already been filed.

A sixth, from state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, a Republican, would allow Texans to carry a handgun openly without a license.

"There are a lot of people who are sick and tired of paying a fee for their basic rights and liberties," Stickland said. "It's rejecting the notion that we need to beg government for permission to do things like protect ourselves."

Stickland's proposal has attracted the support of activists who object to the costs of obtaining a concealed handgun license and the restrictions the state places on applicants.

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Parade Of Texas Open-Carry Bills Exposes Divide In Ranks