Carrying a handgun on your ranch - CHL needed?

K

Kleinzeit

New member
Some friends of mine own a ranch and are talking about getting handguns to protect themselves while working on the property. If you are on your own property and a long way from any public ground (perhaps not even in sight of a road), do you still need a CHL and do you still need to keep the weapon concealed?

I'm assuming this is the case, but I'd never thought about it before, and it seems a little weird if you do. I couldn't find anything online about this.

This is Texas we're talking about.

Thanks.
 
No permit necessary - you may carry as you wish on your own property. Concealed, unconcealed, whatever. As long as you don't disobey other laws (such as threatening others), you are within your rights to possess and carry firearms on your own residential property as you see fit.

Doesn't mean, however, that your neighbors will necessarily understand and adore your choice - they may, in fact, call the popos on you - but it is their ignorance, not yours.
 
As always, check state and local laws, but in most places you don't need and sort of permit or license to carry on private property so long as you are the owner of said property or have permission from the owner, the firearm and ammunition are legal to posess in that particular jurisdiction, and you are not otherwise legally prohibited from posessing a firearm due to felony conviction, history of certain mental illness, or other "disqualifying factors". The only place I know of where this does not hold true is Chicago as, last I knew, your 2A rights are literally restricted to the confines of your own home (not your yard, porch, deck, patio, or detatched garage) in the Windy City though I imagine there is some sort of exemption for transporting a firearm to and from a gun shop, gunsmith, or firing range.
 
IN TEXAS

You carry whatever however on your property or at your place of business. Now you can carry the whatever in the car too but it may have to be concealed. No license needed. IANAL and just MHO
 
I am both surprised and relieved. Thanks.

So, even in a residential neighborhood, it's perfectly legal to walk around your front yard with a handgun on display to all the world, so long as you remain within the boundaries of your property?

I'd just assumed you can't do this.
 
So, even in a residential neighborhood, it's perfectly legal to walk around your front yard with a handgun on display to all the world, so long as you remain within the boundaries of your property?
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Yes, and your neighbor(s) is/are perfectly within their rights to call the police and file complaints against you. Just because it's *legal* to do something doesn't necessarily make it a fantastic idea.
 
Don't step off without it concealed however (and a CHL) open carry is illegal in Texas.

I am curious however. Why hand guns on the ranch? Texas hardly has a mountain in it and South Texas hardly a tree. In wide open terrain you could be at a great disadvantage with a handgun. I would carefully evaluate the threat and consider if a rifle might not be a better choice.

Open carry of a long gun is legal most everywhere in Texas.
 
MTT TL
Senior Member
Don't step off without it concealed however (and a CHL) open carry is illegal in Texas.

I am curious however. Why hand guns on the ranch? Texas hardly has a mountain in it and South Texas hardly a tree. In wide open terrain you could be at a great disadvantage with a handgun. I would carefully evaluate the threat and consider if a rifle might not be a better choice.

Open carry of a long gun is legal most everywhere in Texas.
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Hard to work while carrying a long gun.
 
I was thinking rifle racks or rifle scabbard within an easy reach and perhaps an armed lookout if whatever it is they are doing is higher risk. If the threat of attack is so high they would have to carry rifles all the time then they should have a lot more security or not be working and instead preparing for attack.
 
MTT TL
Senior Member

I was thinking rifle racks or rifle scabbard within an easy reach and perhaps an armed lookout if whatever it is they are doing is higher risk. If the threat of attack is so high they would have to carry rifles all the time then they should have a lot more security or not be working and instead preparing for attack.
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Cant speak for the OP, but for us there is almost always multiple long guns in the Pickup's.
Some times the pickup is not close enough, most threats are the 4 legged or no legged variety.
Snakes,coyote's,rabid skunks possum, porcupine and such.

oh, last but not least is those vicious soda and beer cans.
I spend spend a lot of time protecting my self from those sneaky conniving cans.
You will be just walking along minding your own bussiness and pow, out of nowhere they have you surrounded. :D
 
In TX, WA and even places like IL, you can OC or CC on your own properly, or on private property you are a welcome guest on.

What you do on private property is your business.

To csmsss...if it disturbs the neighbors if I OC on my property..tough...if I want to OC on my property it is none of the neighbors business.

If they call the police, the police cannot do a single thing, (they cannot even come on my property and check my ID or gun) unless they have reason to suspect that a crime has occured or I allow them.

Actually, If the neighbors were to call here where I live they would be laughed at and mybe charged with misuse of the 911 system.

OC on private property is not a crime anywhere I know of except maybe DC.
 
I'm really not sure why they are thinking of handguns. They already have rifles.
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Tossing haybales.
Fixing water pipes
moving cattle to the different pens.
Working on machinery.

There are a lot of good reasons to carry a handgun as opposed to a rifle.
 
hermannr (and others): Your open/carry statement is not valid in all states. In NY, MA, for a couple, you cannot own a pistol without a license/permit much less carry it. Just saying so that people know your statements on legal considerations is state specific. It would be more enlightening if you identify the state to which you refer. :)
 
Critters abound. Also, depending on where the ranch is - migrants can be found walking across your place. Also, plain old thieves sometimes come by ranch houses and barns, trucks, etc. Rifles can be heavy to carry in the TX heat.

I once on a dawn walk, followed a big old porcupine through a foggy set of trees - it was really neat. He didn't have a care in the world.
 
Yes, and your neighbor(s) is/are perfectly within their rights to call the police and file complaints against you. Just because it's *legal* to do something doesn't necessarily make it a fantastic idea.
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If enough hand-wringing neighbors make the call to complain, I am willing to bet that after the police have investigated the initial complaints and found no crime, the dispatcher will eventually come around to informing subsequent callers that there is nothing the police or they, the neighbors, can do about it. Fantastic idea or not, the operative word here is *legal*.
 
...operative word here is *legal*.
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Several posters have missed this point. Inasmuch as we land owners feel that we have the right to do what we want on our own land (and in our own houses), there are many things that we might do that are not legal. You may not carry a loaded gun in/on a vehicle in my state (Michigan), and you may not shoot deer from a vehicle, you may not carry a loaded gun in an area frequented by game without a hunting license, etc. Even though I opt to ignore several laws as being in the realm of "none of the state's business", there are practices that are not legal...even on one's own land. In a practical sense, if a person carries a gun on their own land it is very unlikely that anyone would even notice or care regardless of the law.
 
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