The Republican Party of Texas will allow people to carry guns at their state convention, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Both open and concealed carry of firearms will be permitted at Texas State Convention in May, officials confirmed.

On Monday, the U.S. Secret Service announced it would not allow people to carry guns at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. More than 45,000 people had signed a petition calling on the RNC to allow the open carry of firearms at the event.

ADVERTISEMENT

Both Texas and Ohio allow guns to be carried openly in public.

The leader of Open Carry Texas praised the decision to allow guns at the upcoming state convention.

“The bottom line is there is no place where you cannot be the target of criminal activity,” C.J. Grisham told the Dallas Morning News. “Since there’s no such thing to a safe place, there should be no place where you don’t have a right to a self-defense.”