Charles L. Cotton wrote:No, the statute doesn't say "school grounds" but the entirety of TPC§46.03(a) clearly deals with school property. It covers buildings, grounds (real estate outside of buildings) and school buses. A phrase often missed is the closing phrase unless pursuant to written regulations or authorization of the institution. A school could not authorize you to carry in or on property it doesn't own. (Note, TPC §46.03(a) applies to everyone and all firearms, not just CHLs and handguns.)
Charles, I have to disagree with you on this point. I do not agree that this applies only to school property. Since the phrase included the term "premises" of the school, and premises clearly does not include grounds by definition, then this must mean something else. I think it does mean property owned by someone other than the school where a school sponsored acticity is taking place. I also think it does not mean school property based on the "school sponsored" part. This, to me, implies a location other than the school or school owned property.
As for school's giving permission to carry on property other than their own, they certainly can. After all, they can restrict it on property other than their own, so they must be able to give it also. Consider how many organizations, including school districts, have a policy that says you may not carry a weapon while on any business-related activity at any location. So, the school district could write a policy that says an employee that has a CHL could carry while on school related business. This would meet the terms of the law as a policy from the institution. Of course, the location could still have a 30.06 sign which could override the school rule for that employee.
So, since reasonable people can disagree on the way this law is worded, I strongly suggest we work on this one for the next legislative section to get it clarified. Either get it changed to read the premises and grounds of an actual school, or take out the reference to school sponsored activity. And while we are at it, defining a school would be nice.