Texas officials have officially announced the location of the Texas Bullion Depository, bringing the Lone Star State one step closer to making the facility fully operational. Once the Texas Bullion Depository is finished, it will represent a significant departure from the federal government, leading many to believe that this could be not only the end of the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money, but also the first step towards secession.

In June of 2015, Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed legislation for the state gold bullion and precious metal depository. In addition to proving a secure place for people and businesses to store their gold and other precious metals, the depository will also allow people to use gold and silver in business transactions, meaning that they will be able to deport their precious metals in the depository and pay others either electronically or via a written check.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced earlier this summer that the Austin-based company Lone Star Tangible Assets would be tasked with building and operating the Texas Bullion Depository. The facility will be located roughly 30 miles northwest of Austin and will cover 60,000 square feet on a 10-acre campus.

“The state-of-the-art facility will provide tremendous benefits to the citizens of Leander and will give Texans a secure facility right here in the Lone Star State where their gold and precious metals will be kept safe and close at hand,” Hegar explained in a press release. But while some are taking pride in the simple fact that Texans will now have a place to store their precious metals without having to travel out of state, others believe that the development of a state gold depository is a step towards independence. (Related. Texas wants to nullify all federal gun laws. Is this the beginning of secession?)

“This is another in a long line of ways to make Texas more self-reliant and less tethered to the federal government,” explained University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus. “The financial impact is small but the political impact is telling. Many conservatives are interested in returning to the gold standard and circumvent the Federal Reserve in whatever small way they can.”

Indeed, the Texas Secession movement has gained quite a bit of traction in recent months, with more and more Texans starting to think that a full departure from the United States government is what’s best for the Lone Star state.

Back in June, for instance, a secession bill won overwhelming support from the mock legislature in Texas Boys State, which is a summer program designed to allow young people to create and run their own simulated governmental body. What made the vote particularly significant was that it marked the first time in almost 80 years that both chambers of this mock government voted in favor of Texas seceding from the Union.

The Texas Secession movement really started to gain traction immediately following Great Britain’s vote to leave the European Union last summer. The Texas Nationalist movement, for example, wasted no time jumping on the bandwagon, calling on Governor Greg Abbott to “support a similar vote for Texans.” Additionally, Daniel Miller, president of Texas Nationalist Movement, said in a statement, “It is past time that the people of Texas had their say” on the Lone Star State’s relationship with the Union and its “sprawling Federal bureaucracy.”

But while many people are extremely passionate about and dedicated to the Texas secession movement, others feel as though the departure of any state from the Union should be discouraged. Even if this new gold depository is a step towards the Lone Star state’s independence, Texas still has a long way to go if it wishes to one day secede from the United States altogether.

Sources include:

Blog.TenthAmendmentCenter.com

WashingtonPost.com

WashingtonTimes.com