TexasCHLforum.com

If you can't find a convenient way to carry concealed on your bike, there's always this option:

Morgan wrote:2) FLB said that "there is no legal limit on the books about alcohol and CHL." Please correct me if I'm wrong but what I understood was that "the law" says that a person is impaired if they're shown to be impaired or if their BAC is over .08. This "legal impairment" is then utilized by the motor vehicle rules and regulations to determine that a driver has violated the DUI rules, and is likewise the essential criteria for determining that a CHL carrier is in violation... carrying while impaired. Is that incorrect?

This has been a point of contention for quite some time. There are many past posts on this topic, but let's look at the law:

Subch. H. LICENSE TO CARRY A CONCEALED HANDGUN
GC §411.171. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(2) "Chemically dependent person" means a person who
frequently or repeatedly becomes intoxicated by excessive indulgence
in alcohol or uses controlled substances or dangerous drugs so as to
acquire a fixed habit and an involuntary tendency to become intoxicated
or use those substances as often as the opportunity is
presented.
...
(6) "Intoxicated" has the meaning assigned by Section 49.01,
Penal Code.

PC §46.035. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUN BY LICENSE
HOLDER.

(b)(6)(d) A license holder commits an offense if, while intoxicated, the
license holder carries a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H,
Chapter 411, Government Code, regardless of whether the handgun is
concealed.

PC §46.035 does not directly define or reference a definition of "intoxicated." I imagine, realistically, most DAs will look to GC §411.171(6) for that, and subsequently PC §49.01.

You can read PC §49.01 here: http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/do ... 049.00.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here is the relevant portion:

PC §49.01 wrote:(2) "Intoxicated" means:

(A) not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; or

(B) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

Notice very closely the word "or."

Far too many people assume the .08 BAC is the deciding factor. Not so. Texas law says you are intoxicated if you do not have "the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of [a]...substance into the body."

I've heard of CHL instructors who admonished their classes that the statutes meant zero alcohol consumption, period. I've heard of other instructors who said .08 BAC was the official guideline. Both are wrong.

The guide is PC §49.01(2)(A). It ain't definitive, but it's what we got.

I'm not a lawyer, so Charles can--and should--come along and shoot me down on this one.