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by frankie_the_yankee
Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:30 pm
Forum: General Gun, Shooting & Equipment Discussion
Topic: Printing - failure to conceal?
Replies: 18
Views: 3242

Re: Printing - failure to conceal?

Crosswind81 wrote:This may have been asked a dozen times but I have not seen it...if I am printing and someone notices and notifies management at Home Depot or something or a handy LEO...am I in trouble for something? This occured to me today as I felt like I was printing alittle. Thanks!
It all depends on just how "visible" the gun is.

From Government Code, Section 411.171 Definitions

(3) "Concealed handgun" means a handgun the presence of which is not openly discernable to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person.

"Printing" is not a crime per se. It's all a matter of degree.

Say you were carrying in an IWB under an untucked white teeshirt. So far so good. Then you get sprayed with water as in a wet teeshirt contest. The shirt clings to every contour under it, including in this case, your gun. The gun is outlined clearly such that anyone who looks at it can tell it's a gun. At that point, it is discernable to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person, which is one element of the offense.

But the other element is that your failure to conceal must be "willful". So if someone doused you with water against your will, or without your foreknowledge, you have not violated the law.

As a practical matter, a little printing is not normally a problem. These days, people have cellphones, PDA's, and all kinds of stuff on their belts. So a bulge here or there is not automatically a gun.

Note that IANAL. But IMO, people worry about this a lot more than they need to.

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