Law says that whenever a LEO approaches you on business then you are required to show him your license. Does that include when you stop at a border patrol checkpoint 30 miles north of the Rio Grande when you roll down your window just so the Border patrolman can ask you the quick question: "are you an American citizen."?? I haven't been to South Texas since I got my permit, but I'd kinda like to know as South Texas is one place I will ALWAYS carry a handgun.
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Showing your CH license to a Border Patrol in Texas
- Thread starter Doug.38PR
- Start date
It's when an officer asks for ID that you are required to show your CHL. A police officer asking you other questions and not for ID is not asking for ID, so it isn't required to show him your CHL...
Texas CHL: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/ftp/forms/ls-16.pdf
GC §411.205. DISPLAYING LICENSE; PENALTY. (a) If a license
holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person
when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder
display identification, the license holder shall display both the license
holder's driver's license or identification certificate issued by the
department and the license holder's handgun license. A person who
fails or refuses to display the license and identification as required by
26 GC §411.206. TEXAS CONCEALED HANDGUN LAWS
this subsection is subject to suspension of the person's license as
provided by Section 411.187.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person fails or refuses to
display the license and identification as required by Subsection (a)
after previously having had the person's license suspended for a violation
of that subsection. An offense under this subsection is a Class B
misdemeanor.
Texas CHL: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/ftp/forms/ls-16.pdf
GC §411.205. DISPLAYING LICENSE; PENALTY. (a) If a license
holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person
when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder
display identification, the license holder shall display both the license
holder's driver's license or identification certificate issued by the
department and the license holder's handgun license. A person who
fails or refuses to display the license and identification as required by
26 GC §411.206. TEXAS CONCEALED HANDGUN LAWS
this subsection is subject to suspension of the person's license as
provided by Section 411.187.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person fails or refuses to
display the license and identification as required by Subsection (a)
after previously having had the person's license suspended for a violation
of that subsection. An offense under this subsection is a Class B
misdemeanor.
I don't show my CHL to Border Patrol or Customs Officers and I don't show it to LEO's that I contact. I will show it readily to any LEO that initiates contact with me.
The Immigration Checkpoints operate on an overtly racist basis. Most of the Border Patrol Agents are Hispanic around here and they most often don't even stop Anglos, they just peer at you and wave you through. Doesn't seem to matter if you're from Russia, Kosovo or Bosnia. Homeland security?
A wise choice.
The Immigration Checkpoints operate on an overtly racist basis. Most of the Border Patrol Agents are Hispanic around here and they most often don't even stop Anglos, they just peer at you and wave you through. Doesn't seem to matter if you're from Russia, Kosovo or Bosnia. Homeland security?
South Texas is one place I will ALWAYS carry a handgun.
A wise choice.
My dad worked in Starr County (Rio Grande City) about 10 years ago and said he could see drug deals going down in the parking lot next to the motel. He has two friends that live down there. It is quite a dangerous place. But McAllen is a nice town with plenty of eating places and all. I worked down there for a few days to do some checking at the Starr County Courthouse. Nice people in South Texas, Hispanic and Anglo but the drug and illegal alien situation down there is way out of hand. Border violence is probably as dangerous now as it was back in the 1850s when Col. Robert E. Lee said it would take 10,000 troops to control the lawlessness of the area. It was his opinion that both American and Mexican people would violate the law if they could do so with impunity.
I as well as others have constantly said that we need the armed forces back at home to clean up the situation and guard our borders.
I as well as others have constantly said that we need the armed forces back at home to clean up the situation and guard our borders.
Texas Code Of Criminal Procedure doesn't define federal agents as peace officers under Texas law. They can enforce federal law, of course.
Art. 2.12. Who Are Peace Officers
The following are peace officers:
(1) sheriffs, their deputies, and those reserve deputies who hold a
permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701,
Occupations Code;
(2) constables, deputy constables, and those reserve deputy
constables who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under
Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated city, town, or
village, and those reserve municipal police officers who hold a
permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701,
Occupations Code;
(4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public Safety
Commission and the Director of the Department of Public Safety;
(5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal district
attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
(6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission;
(7) each member of an arson investigating unit commissioned by a
city, a county, or the state;
(8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081, Education Code, or
Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
(9) officers commissioned by the General Services Commission;
(10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the Parks and
Wildlife Commission;
(11) airport police officers commissioned by a city with a
population of more than 1.18 million that operates an airport that
serves commercial air carriers;
(12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace officers by
the governing body of any political subdivision of this state,
other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that operates an
airport that serves commercial air carriers;
(13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and security
officers;
(14) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace
officers by the comptroller;
(15) officers commissioned by a water control and improvement
district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
(16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees under Chapter 54,
Transportation Code;
(17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State Board of Medical
Examiners;
(18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of the Dallas
County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital District, or
the Bexar County Hospital District under Section 281.057, Health
and Safety Code;
(19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter E, Chapter
351, Local Government Code;
(20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing Commission;
(21) officers commissioned under Chapter 554, Occupations Code;
(22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a metropolitan
rapid transit authority under Section 451.108, Transportation
Code, or by a regional transportation authority under Section
452.110, Transportation Code;
(23) investigators commissioned by the attorney general under
Section 402.009, Government Code;
(24) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace
officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
(25) an officer employed by the Texas Department of Health under
Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;
(26) officers appointed by an appellate court under Subchapter F,
Chapter 53, Government Code;
(27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal under Chapter
417, Government Code;
(28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner of insurance
under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code;
(29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the Texas Youth
Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human Resources Code;
(30) officers appointed by the executive director of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.019, Government
Code;
(31) investigators commissioned by the Commission on Law
Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Section
1701.160, Occupations Code;
(32) commission investigators commissioned by the Texas Commission
on Private Security under Section 1702.061(f), Occupations Code;
Text of subd. (33) as amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 474, Sec.
Doug.38PR,
As has been mentioned, by law you do not have to state that you are a CHL holder when dealing with a BP agent. However, if that agent asks for your ID and runs checks on you, you will pop up as a CHL holder. This can give rise to a little nervousness on their part since you didn’t bother to tell them you have a CHL and are armed. A BP checkpoint isn’t like most other LE encounters you’ve had, since unless they think you are smuggling or are an illegal yourself, they most likely won’t spend more than a few seconds interaction with you. If you don’t get put in secondary I wouldn’t waste their time telling them you have a CHL. Do be aware that things are awfully frisky along the South Texas border right now, so take that into consideration in where you go as well as the possibility that a given law enforcement officer might just be a bit more keyed up than normal.
As has been mentioned, by law you do not have to state that you are a CHL holder when dealing with a BP agent. However, if that agent asks for your ID and runs checks on you, you will pop up as a CHL holder. This can give rise to a little nervousness on their part since you didn’t bother to tell them you have a CHL and are armed. A BP checkpoint isn’t like most other LE encounters you’ve had, since unless they think you are smuggling or are an illegal yourself, they most likely won’t spend more than a few seconds interaction with you. If you don’t get put in secondary I wouldn’t waste their time telling them you have a CHL. Do be aware that things are awfully frisky along the South Texas border right now, so take that into consideration in where you go as well as the possibility that a given law enforcement officer might just be a bit more keyed up than normal.
Nemesis,
That is an awfully ignorant thing to say. How do you explain the aliens caught at the south Texas checkpoints that were from the Ukraine? Or what about the ones from China? Or how about the ones from Turkey? What do you say about the non- K-9 drug smuggling cases caught where the smuggler is a “corn fed white boy” from the deep south? What might very well appear to be racist on the surface most likely isn’t. I can promise you that pretty much any given BP agent with more than a year or so working at a checkpoint can spot a goodly majority of the smuggling cases before he even has a conversation with you. I’ve seen them do it. You have to remember that after about a year at any of the normal to large sized checkpoints, a given agent has probably interacted with thousands of vehicles, been present when hundreds (literally hundreds) of drug and alien smuggling cases have been caught, caught a good bit of those smuggling cases himself, pulled a jillion illegal aliens off of the buses, and been presented with an untold number of false documents. A conversation with you usually isn’t to find out if you’re an illegal alien. Don’t forget either that a legal alien might not have the paperwork to travel beyond a certain number of miles from the border. Asking the alien for his immigration documents can also just be to verify that a currently in-status alien isn’t about to drive for another 5-10 miles and become an out of status alien.The Immigration Checkpoints operate on an overtly racist basis. Most of the Border Patrol Agents are Hispanic around here and they most often don't even stop Anglos, they just peer at you and wave you through. Doesn't seem to matter if you're from Russia, Kosovo or Bosnia. Homeland security?