As a Texan and a Family Law Attorney in the city of Dallas and its county, we know how much Texans love their guns. However, Texas has passed a number of bills that have a significant impact on Texas gun owners and CHL licensees.
Texans are able to “open-carry” a handgun such that is it fully or partially visible to other persons. A person must have a Texas Concealed Handgun License, or a license issued by another state that is recognized in Texas.
However, if you are a party in a family law case, and you are under a protective order issued by a Texas Court, you are prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition during the time you are under the court ordered protective order.
Even if you are not under any restriction involving your right to carry, a licensee who carries a handgun in a belt or shoulder holster cannot remove the handgun from its holster without legal justification, or they will violate Tex. Penal Code section 46.035(a). If you want to show your handgun to a friend, then you must do so in a location that is not a public place.
Texas HB910 passed which went into effect on January 1, 2016 allows a person and licensee to openly carry a handgun so long as it is in a belt or shoulder holster. However, licensees cannot openly carry a handgun anywhere on the campus of a public or private school, including in the parking lots, streets and other areas covered by Tex. Gov’t Code section 411.2032(b) and Tex. Penal Code section 46.035(a-1). And for sure, a person can not carry a handgun either concealed or openly carried into a court building.
At Barbosa Family Law, P. C. , we frequently advised our clients that a licensee must not forget that if they have a handgun in their carry-on baggage and they find themselves with a problem when trying to get past the scanners at an airport, they will be in violation of the handgun law. Recognizing that this is a mistake, the 84th Legislature passed HB554 that creates a defense to prosecution for a licensee who has brought a concealed handgun and leaves the secured area of the airport immediately upon completion of the screening process and being advised that they have a handgun. Tex. Penal Code section 46.03(e-1).
A police officer investigating the alleged offense cannot make an arrest unless they have advised the licensee 1) of the defense set out in Tex. Penal Code section 46.03(e-1), 2) immediately in order to assert the defense, and 3) the licensee does not immediately exit the checkpoint upon completion of the screening process. Tex. Penal Code section 46.03(e-2).
The Second Amendment guarantees the right to “keep arms” without specifying them, and the right to “bear arms” without limiting it to a specified place. “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Following almost 200 years of state court decisions, the U. S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570 (2008), and McDonald v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020 (2010), invalidated bans on possession of handguns, and applied the term “bear arms” to the carrying of a firearm for self-defense and hunting, and not just for militia use. However, as with all regulations and rights under the U. S. Constitution, there is a point where the protection ends and the violation of the law begins.
As a Dallas Family Law Attorney, we advise our clients regarding these laws as well as restrictions on the possession of firearms when a party has been adjudicated with a “protective order” or any other “restraining order” where a finding of domestic violence has been found.
If you find yourself under a Protective Order or Restraining Order, check with your legal counsel to make certain that you do not end up violating Texas law regarding possession of firearms.