Constitutional Carry confusion leading to increased arrests in the Lone Star State?

[toddnjoyce]

I wonder if it's too late to work with some people to get some of this fixed in this coming session.

I doubt it. We’re effectively stuck with signs until businesses lobby for them to be repealed. We’re also effectively stuck with the current shîtshow of statutes that TPC 46 is for the foreseeable future.

 

[jordanmills]

I doubt it. We’re effectively stuck with signs until businesses lobby for them to be repealed. We’re also effectively stuck with the current shîtshow of statutes that TPC 46 is for the foreseeable future.

I don't have much hope for the signs any time soon, but it would be nice to get the rats nest straightened out. And maybe get that condition on volunteer emergency services personnel removed (46.15(a)(10)(B)).

What I'd really like to see a push on is reducing the number of firearms stolen from vehicles by eliminating "gun free zones" of all kinds.

 

[candcallen]

IMPORTANT: 'Applicability' has NOTHING to to with 'A Defense To Prosecution' - Applicability literally means the law is not applicable, i.e. no law was broken, and makes a HUGE difference.

As for hospitals, amusement parks, etc., I believe those are no longer applicable per the DPS-approved LTC course I took fairly recently.

Of course, it is Texas, with Texas' fouled-up legislature, so having a rifle in your car with an LTC is a felony in a school parking lot even though you can stroll around campus with a concealed handgun.

Eli

Where did you get info about the concealed handgun on campus with a LTC?

Again definition are important regarding what is schools grounds and what kinda school. I.e. elementary middle HS college.

Also did parking lots become a campus grounds now?

 

[easy rider]

I'm interested to see how many of these increased arrests are in the big cities compared to the smaller more gun friendly cities and towns. One reason I try to avoid blue areas as much as possible.

 

[innominate]

Our legislators know how to really screw the laws up. It is almost impossible to know what is legal or not legal from one session to the next.

Show me the man, I'll show you the crime. I think that is how the quote goes.

 

[toddnjoyce]

I'm interested to see how many of these increased arrests are in the big cities compared to the smaller more gun friendly cities and towns. One reason I try to avoid blue areas as much as possible.

Considering some may likely be accounted for by handguns past a TSA checkpoint (there were 100 alone in AUS as of 8/1/22), I reckon you won’t be surprised.

I’ll see if DPS has the detailed, county level data on their website yet tomorrow.

 

[x12aesq]

Texas Penal Code​

Sec. 46.02
Unlawful Carrying Weapons​

...​

(a-1)​

A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun in a motor vehicle or watercraft that is owned by the person or under the person’s control at any time in which:

...​

the person is:

(A)​

engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic or boating;

...​

So; the sequence I see around once a week or so is:
1) Get pulled over for a valid traffic stop;
2) Be discovered to be in possession of marijuana (minimum class B misdemeanor;
3) Also be in possession of a legal firearm.

Presto, unlawful carrying weapon.

Not saying it's right, not saying it's Constitutional; just saying it's the law and takes some plain and fancy stepping to get out of that charge (UCW is a minimum class A misdemeanor).

 

[Eli]

Where did you get info about the concealed handgun on campus with a LTC?

Again definition are important regarding what is schools grounds and what kinda school. I.e. elementary middle HS college.

Also did parking lots become a campus grounds now?

It has long been illegal (under state law) to posses a firearm on 'school' campuses in the State of Texas - plus the Federal Gun-Free School Zone laws. What is a 'school' is defined elsewhere, but any licensed/accredited school counted at one point. So, one of my local congregations that has a 'day school' is a school and a felony to carry inside - and there seems to be legal debate if that's any time or only when school is in session - while the other congregations are legally unrestricted. And there isn't a 46.03 sign to inform unaware people, either!
Campuses were more problematic than they still are, there are 'schools' in former retail buildings and office buildings that shared parking lots with businesses. Where is it legal, where is it illegal? What about where I went to NHMCCD (now Lone Star College) Law Enforcement Academy, where the College leased part of a mid-rise office building? What about a 'charter school' in similar circumstances?
It's a mess!

Eli

 

[easy rider]

It has long been illegal (under state law) to posses a firearm on 'school' campuses in the State of Texas - plus the Federal Gun-Free School Zone laws. What is a 'school' is defined elsewhere, but any licensed/accredited school counted at one point. So, one of my local congregations that has a 'day school' is a school and a felony to carry inside - and there seems to be legal debate if that's any time or only when school is in session - while the other congregations are legally unrestricted. And there isn't a 46.03 sign to inform unaware people, either!
Campuses were more problematic than they still are, there are 'schools' in former retail buildings and office buildings that shared parking lots with businesses. Where is it legal, where is it illegal? What about where I went to NHMCCD (now Lone Star College) Law Enforcement Academy, where the College leased part of a mid-rise office building? What about a 'charter school' in similar circumstances?
It's a mess!

Eli

As to college campuses, you have to go deep into the Texas Government Code 411.2031 to get an understanding as to the laws of concealed carry. Each college can prohibit certain areas to what they may consider "for safety reasons", but they can't generally prohibit concealed carry on campus as a whole.

 

[Eli]

As to college campuses, you have to go deep into the Texas Government Code 411.2031 to get an understanding as to the laws of concealed carry. Each college can prohibit certain areas to what they may consider "for safety reasons", but they can't generally prohibit concealed carry on campus as a whole.

When I attended college years ago, the law banned firearms from campus - period.

Eli

 

[easy rider]

When I attended college years ago, the law banned firearms from campus - period.

Eli

The law was passed in Texas in 2015, but it took a couple years to ratify it.

 

[Leadslinger]

As stated early on in this thread.
Dumb people doing dumb things.

 

[Rock Torrey]

My favorite are the locations with signs prohibiting concealed carry holders from carrying but no signage for people who are not-licensed. So you can only carry if you are un-licensed.

 

[Brojon]

One of the reasons I got an LTC is schools, with an LTC you can carry on a school campus without issue - without an LTC it's a felony!
Unfortunately, while the legislature allowed for permitless carry, it really muddied the waters as to where you can and cannot go. Can you carry in a grocery store that's TABC-licensed for off-premises consumption? What about 30.05 signage? Or the fact that 30.06 and 30.07 only alloy to permit holders? The laws really need revision and clarification, and it's likely that innocent people are ending up with convictions.

Eli

Ummm - no.

Where Can You Carry with a Texas LTC?​

• With a Texas LTC, a person is exempt from the general federal prohibition on possessing a handgun within 1,000 feet of a school. Even with an LTC, you cannot carry inside a school building unless it is pursuant to the school’s written regulation or with written authorization from the school.
• You can carry on the Lower Colorado River Authority property with an LTC but not without one.
• LTC holders are allowed to carry in amusement parks and nursing homes as long as the facility has not provided effective Texas Penal Code Sections 30.06 and/or 30.07 notice.
• LTC holders may carry into a room or rooms of an open meeting of a government body.

 

[Coyote9]

"Convictions for unlawfully carrying weapons skyrocketed in the state, from 1,049 in 2020 to nearly 7,000 last year — a spike of 550% and the highest number by far since 2016, the last year of complete data. The state adopted the constitutional carry law in September 2021."

For the rest of the Bearing Arms blog.

EXACTLY what anyone would have expected when the government opened carry to almost all without ANY instruction on the rules, regulations and laws. I saw a guy in Granbury walking into the polling place with a glock... greeter must have said something because he walked back out then re-entered without the weapon. YES signage was present however even without signs there is a long list of firearm prohibited areas of which most people without LTC are unaware. Ignorance of the Law remains NO EXCUSE!

 

[Wallace Dunn]

This may be of help to you - https://txhga.org/texas-ltc-information/where-can-you-carry/

It's from the TxHGA

As the President of the Texas Handgun Association, I thank you for visiting our page and sharing. We try very hard to add value to the gun community.

 

[Eli]

Ummm - no.

No to what, exactly?

Eli

 

[Coyote9]

Ummm - no.

Where Can You Carry with a Texas LTC?​

• With a Texas LTC, a person is exempt from the general federal prohibition on possessing a handgun within 1,000 feet of a school. Even with an LTC, you cannot carry inside a school building unless it is pursuant to the school’s written regulation or with written authorization from the school.
• You can carry on the Lower Colorado River Authority property with an LTC but not without one.
• LTC holders are allowed to carry in amusement parks and nursing homes as long as the facility has not provided effective Texas Penal Code Sections 30.06 and/or 30.07 notice.
• LTC holders may carry into a room or rooms of an open meeting of a government body.

Note to self.. LTC holders MAY NOT CARRY into a room of an open meeting of a government body if that meeting is being held inside a building that prohibits LTC carry. I got bit on that one

 

[jordanmills]

Note to self.. LTC holders MAY NOT CARRY into a room of an open meeting of a government body if that meeting is being held inside a building that prohibits LTC carry. I got bit on that one

You mean like in a school?

 

[Wallace Dunn]

Liquor stores? Sure about that.

These blue NOTICE signs are no longer "required" by TABC law, but many stores still have them posted. Effective Sep. 1st, 2020.