TexasCHLforum.com

One of the problems with Texas law is that we have a few offenses that are designated as crimes but no punishment is defined. The Penal Code says (section 12.03(b)) that any thing designated as a misdemeanor is a class C misdemeanor if no other level is specified. It also says (section 12.04(b)) that anything designated a felony is a state jail felony unless otherwise designated.

But it does not say what to do with offenses that are specified without a level at all (such as failure to display or failure to come to the aid of a peace officer when requested - Code of Criminal procedure article 2.14 and 2.15).

Penal Code chapter 12 also says all penal laws enacted after the date of the Penal Code enactment are classified according to the code and all offenses are either felonies or misdemeanors.

So I really have no idea what the courts would do with this if someone decided to try to prosecute it. Especially in the case of failure to display your CHL, where the history clearly shows it was a misdemeanor to begin with, then lowered to only a misdemeanor on your second offense. I could see some enterprising anti-CHL DA trying to make it a class C now.

It is not that they get to pick and choose, but more like a conflict in the law that needs to be cleaned up. Currently, there are two laws that have a slight conflict. The law in the Penal Code granting the exception to unlawfully carrying specifies that you are carrying a weapon AND your CHL. If you do not meet this law, you are now unlawfully carrying your weapon.

There is a law in the Government Code that still requires you to present your CHL to a police officer if you are carrying and asked for ID. There is now no penalty for not presenting the CHL, for example if you just forget to when you give your DL.

Common sense would say that as long as you have a valid CHL, you are not unlawfully carrying if you do not have it with you BUT you cannot always use common sense with the law. We tried to get the duty to notify the police officer repealed. We were unable to actually get it repealed and compromised on no penalty for not doing so. But, I don't think anyone looked at the way the exception was worded. It will be a long time until we get that law changed since cops cannot be counted on to verify that you have a valid CHL all the time if you do not have it with you. We have no way to verify other states CHL's on the spot yet, and even our state computers go down occasionally. So, the law will still require you to have the CHL with you or risk being charged with unlawfully carrying.

This is actually a somewhat reasonable way to do things. Until we successfully do away with PC 46.02, you are guilty of the offense when carrying until you can prove you are not guilty. You can do that by having the CHL with you or by showing it later.

Abraham, the penalty for not showing your CHL on demand to a peace officer was removed as of Sep 1. This is what I was referring to. If you do not have a penalty for not showing it, you would normally not have a penalty for not having it with you (like a DL when driving). As long as you do have one and it is valid at the time of the stop, you should be good to go. I did point out the potential flaw, but I really think the court would find you not guilty of unlawfully carrying for having a CHL and not having it with you.

One of the very weird quirks in Texas law is that if you are carrying a pistol on or about you, and if you have a CHL, you must have the CHL and either a Texas Driver's License or a Texas ID card with you. Section 411.205 of the Govenrment Code says you will produce botht he driver's license (or ID Card) and the CHL on demand of a peace officer if you are carrying. It does not limit this to driving.

So, if you are riding your bicycle, you may carry a concealed weapon if you have your DL and CHL with you at the time. The good news is that there is no penalty for not obeying this since Sep. 1.