Long guns don't have to be concealed. Handguns must be concealed.basically it is currently legal to have a gun in your vehicle either loaded or unloaded because the state shows no difference between the two, though it has to be concealed.
The penal code doesn't differentiate between loaded & unloaded guns, so if you can legally possess a gun, you can also legally possess it loaded.
It's legal. Just like having a pen in your pocket or wearing a red shirt or driving a car on public streets with a driver's license. There's no law against it so you don't have to explain why you have it. Besides, if it's concealed, why would the topic even come up?do you have to be able to prove WHY you have the weapon in the car? for example "i'm on the way to the range, i'm on the way home from the range, i'm taking it to get serviced, i'm on the way to my ranch" etc? or can you just....... have it?
Do NOT lie to a police officer. If he asks you any questions about the contents of your vehicle, you can either tell him about the contents of your vehicle, decline to answer, or you can answer that the contents of your vehicle are legal.Now, legally, if you don't have a CHL, you are not required to tell him you have a weapon.. does that account for when he asks specifically? "Do you have any knives or firearms or drugs in the vehicle i should know about?"
There's really no reason for him to start interrogating you about firearms. If he does, you can either answer or not, it's your choice if you don't have a CHL. If you do, then follow the laws that apply.the officer says " do you have a weapon with you now?" and i say "No.. i don't" and he says "are you lying to me? slowly step out of your vehicle and place your hands on top of your head... do you mind if i look around?"
It's going to be problematic for him to arrest people for doing legal things. If he makes a habit of that he won't last long as a police officer.
The problem with the law was that the burden of proof was on the citizen. If you were caught with a handgun in the car, you could be arrested and charged. Then it would be up to you to prove, in court, to the state that you were travelling.You've always been able to carry a concealed and loaded gun in your vehicle in Texas under the "travelling" provisions of the state constitution, which was not defined and therefore not recognized by Harris County (and probably others)
That made it better. Basically it shifted the burden of proof to the state. While that law was in effect, the state, in the absence of evidence to the contrary was required to assume that you were travelling. However, a number of TX DAs grouped together and basically said that they were going to work around the new law and instructed officers in their area to ask questions at traffic stops which, if a citizen answered without thinking, could destroy the presumption of travelling.A couple of years ago, the Texas legislature changed the law so that if you are in a vehicle you are presumed to be "travelling."
That upset the TX legislature since it was clearly contrary to the intent of the new law and so they changed the law again. Now it explicitly states that it is legal to carry a concealed handgun in your car barring a few exceptions like engaging in illegal activity other than Class C traffic offenses, being a gang member, etc.