Great news for open-carry fans: Texas will soon be a place where it is legal to walk down the street carrying a knife, dagger, sword, or spear. At long last, Texans will no longer have to tuck their machetes inside their pants while out in public.

Governor Greg Abbott has signed House Bill 1935 into law; it goes into effect on September 1. According to a statement from Representative John Frullo, who authored the bill, it "continues the work that the legislature has done over the past few sessions to address unfair knife laws, starting with the repeal of the ban on switchblades in 2013 and the removal of local restrictions in 2015."

The only reason it didn't pass sooner is that it got delayed due to the fatal stabbing of Harrison Brown, who was stabbed in May on the University of Texas campus. That tied up the passage until the end of May.

Prior to the passage, knives over 5 1/2 inches long, throwing knives, dirks, daggers, poniards, bowie knives, swords, and spears were illegal to possess in public.

There are restrictions though. Knives with blades that are longer than 5-1/2 inches cannot be carried in schools, colleges, correctional facilities, houses of worship, and bars whose income from alcohol sales is over 51 percent. There are also restrictions on minors.

Frullo is a Republican from Lubbock who was elected in 2010. His joint authors include Representatives Harold Dutton, John Kuempel, Joe Moody, and Drew Springer; and co-authors Terry Canales and Stan Lambert, as well as Senate sponsor Senator John Whitmire. That is a lot of mens; wonder how long their knives are?

Those authors represent both Republicans, who favor second amendment issues, and Democrats, who supported the bill because the previous law said that simple possession of a knife could be a crime, even if no crime was committed.

The Texas Legislature passed a total of seven pro-gun bills into law this year, including reducing fees for new and renewal licenses to the lowest in the nation; and allowing employees who work in the school system to transport and store firearms out of sight in their locked cars and trucks.