AUSTIN, Texas — Texans are no longer required to obtain a state license to carry a concealed firearm in public, setting up an increase in the number of people who choose to skip the training process, according to gun experts.

The bill that cut back the requirements, H.B. 1927, known as the constitutional carry law, took effect Wednesday. One Texas Republican touted it as doing away with an “artificial barrier” to citizens’ constitutional right to bear arms.