Carrying gun in car

C

countryboywithgun

New member
In Texas we can carry a pistol in our vehicle as long as it can't be seen. My question is do you keep in condition 1 or do you just keep the clip in with no bullet in chamber or keep the mag next to the gun. Also you are parent of grade school that have been taught to stay away from firearms unless you are with them.
 
In Texas? Why wouldn't I just get a carry permit and end the problem?

As far as I'm concerned, an unloaded gun under those circumstances might as well be a brick. You don't have time to be inserting magazines and racking slides under most any circumstance that requires a gun.
 
I have a Texas CHL. When I have a concealed weapon in my vehicle, it's in lock and loaded mode either on my person or tucked away out of sight.

I'm not following your grade school part of the question. As far as I know, the local school district still does the NRA "Eddie the Eagle program".
 
Any gun, revolver, pistol, it doesn't matter that is kept with a round chambered should be kept in a holster that protects the trigger. Even a revolver or semi with safety "on" could find a way to get cocked or even discharge riding around in a console or glovebox. Not to mention the possibility of grabbing the trigger as you retrieve it.

In a holster, on your person is best, but not always possible. I keep a handgun in the console. I keep a loaded magazine in the gun, with no round chambered. I have a holster available if I choose to use it, but the gun is unholstered in the console. I've found it faster and a lot easier to just chamber a round, than get the gun with a pre chambered round out of the holster.

No matter how well trained kids are I wouldn't leave the gun and kid together in the vehicle unattended.
 
It is my understanding that in Texas you vehicle is treated as your domicile just as your home is. This applies to car, truck, or motorcycle. It is legal to have a firearm in your vehicle except in the parking of federal buildings. At least that is what I was taught in my CHL class.
 
There is no law that im aware of in the state of USA (I mean Texas) that dictates on the condition one must carry their pistol either with a chl or in their vehicle without a chl. If youre legal to own and carry and do so legally in the state of Texas, you can carry in any condition you please.
 
To my knowledge there is no law against having a loaded weapon in the parking lot of a federal building. The vehicle is an extension of your domicile and therefore not under the same rules as bringing a firearm into a federal building.
 
I am certainly no expert but according to what I was taught in my CHL class there are various places (buildings) where you are not allowed to concealed carry. But a federal building is the only place where that restriction extended to the parking lot.
 
If I am carrying or have a gun in the car, it is loaded and ready to go. If you need it, you might not have time to get to it, much less get it and then load it.

While the so called "Motorist Protection Act" allows concealed carry in your automobile, it does not trump the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act. You need a permit issued by the Great State of Texas (:D) in order to have a loaded firearm in your car in a school zone or within 1000 feet of a school (Texas law makes no distinction between a loaded or unloaded firearm). If you do not have a carry license/permit or have one from another state, even with reciprocity, this does not exempt you from the GFSZA. Otherwise the firearm has to be unloaded, locked up and inaccessible.

As to the grade schooler question. Not only is it a bad idea, allowing a child under the age of 17 unsupervised access to a firearm is a crime in Texas.

This is my understanding of the laws, and I may be missing or glossing over a couple fine points. Also, I am not a lawyer.

A good place to start would be Texas Penal Code 46.02, which covers the unlawful carry of a weapon.

Also, a CHL class would cover these laws, and then you wouldn't have to worry so much.
 
While the so called "Motorist Protection Act" allows concealed carry in your automobile, it does not trump the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act. You need a permit issued by the Great State of Texas () in order to have a loaded firearm in your car in a school zone or within 1000 feet of a school (Texas law makes no distinction between a loaded or unloaded firearm). If you do not have a carry license/permit or have one from another state, even with reciprocity, this does not exempt you from the GFSZA. Otherwise the firearm has to be unloaded, locked up and inaccessible.
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This all gets very confusing. I just read that the federal government does not set laws about where individuals could carry other than federal property and that these decisions were left up to the individual states. I know for a fact that you can have a concealed weapon on your body or in your vehicle in Ga when picking up your child from school. I also just read a 5th district court decision that said it is illegal to have a weapon on post office property including the parking lot, If the parking lot is owned or leased by the Federal government or it is used by Post Office employees for loading or unloading of mail. http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/batf_school_zone.pdf
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/usa.pdf
 
The best answer is to get a CHL and never let a grade school child have unsupervised access to a firearm. Also, read the relevant laws.

Any more to be said?
 
Glenn E. Meyer said:
Any more to be said?
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I'd like to make one additional point.
Gunnels said:
It is my understanding that in Texas you vehicle is treated as your domicile just as your home is.
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It is important to understand the difference between laws regarding the lawful defensive use of a weapon and laws regarding the lawful possession of a weapon.

Sections 9.31 ("Self Defense") and 9.32 ("Deadly Force in Defense of Person") of the TX Penal Code use the phrase "...actor's occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment" when describing places where the use of deadly force is presumed to be reasonable. (Emphasis mine.) IOW these sections of TX law actually treat a vehicle the same way as a domicile.

However, these sections ALSO place a very important caveat on the use of deadly force: the actor may "not [be] otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used." (Emphasis mine.) Unlawful possession of a weapon in violation of TX Penal Code sections 46.02 through 46.04, OR a federal law, could be considered "criminal activity".

IOW the fact that it's lawful to use a weapon in certain circumstances does not automatically protect you when it's not lawful for you to HAVE the weapon in the first place. Under TX law, doing so could result in being charged BOTH with unlawful possession of the weapon AND unlawful use of deadly force (deadly conduct, aggravated assault, manslaughter, etc.)
 
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The best answer is to get a CHL and never let a grade school child have unsupervised access to a firearm. Also, read the relevant laws.

Any more to be said?
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worth repeating since so many do not do so, apparently.
 
Also clarify that in Texas whether you have a Conceiled Handgun License or not when your gun (pistol) is in your vehicle it must be conceiled. There are exceptions..... Someone is trying to carjack you, etc, etc, :D
 
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Any firearm that I carry will be chambered and ready to go. I do not understand that concept of carrying a weapon for self defense that has to be made ready. Violent attacks are typically fast moving events and I believe that seconds count. I don't get into all the conditions, color codes and acronyms ... a weapon is either ready or it isn't. That's the way I see it.
 
Thanks for the input. I actually do have my CHL.
I think what I am asking. If you leave a weapon in your car at all times like a backup pistol or one you would slip in your pocket when you don't take your main carry gun with you do you keep in you vehicle loaded or unloaded.
 
when you don't take your main carry gun with you do you keep in you vehicle loaded or unloaded.
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If I leave a gun in the car, its usually my main carry, and its usually locked up in a travel box.

I do not leave, "loaded, and unlocked," guns anywhere.. A personal preference I guess.
 
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