TexasCHLforum.com

G26ster wrote:

Keith B wrote:I am going to say no. Reason being is the statute states 'not reasonably discernible by the average person'. If you have that hanging on your belt, it may NOT have a gun in it, but if John Q. Public sees it and determines you are carrying a gun and calls, then you will not have been properly concealing as they identified it as a gun, cause it looked like a holster, and you will have a VERY hard time explaining to the Judge that is was concealed properly since it looks like a gun holster.

Keith B; You are certainly one of the most knowledgeable on the forum, so I respect greatly what you have to say. Using your reasoning above, one could argue all kinds of reasons a non-CHL could not be charged, where a CHL could be charged with Failure to Conceal. Under PC46.02(a)(2) John Q. Public can walk out of a gun store, Bass Pro, Cabela's, etc. to their car with a big black case that says "GLOCK" on it, and be protected, even if police are called by some frantic anti type, and there is a gun in the case. However PC46.035(a) prohibits a CHL from failure to conceal under any circumstances. The big black case that says "GLOCK" is on or about his person, and it's not concealed if you use the holster analogy above. Does PC46.02 trump PC46.035? I don't know. Or, am I reading the statutes wrong?

Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, but just remember, these just are MY opinions. These and $6.50 will buy you a Grande at Starbucks.

It really boils down to the fact we have the extra responsibility of concealing placed on us by 46.035 and 411.171(3) and can lose our license that way. See:

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... /PE.46.htm

Sec. 46.035. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUN BY LICENSE HOLDER. (a) A license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a handgun on or about the license holder's person under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and intentionally fails to conceal the handgun.

and http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... GV.411.htm

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

So, if someone reasonably determines you have not concealed, calls the cops, they arrest you and the Judge decides that you were not concealing, then you will lose your license.

46.02 applies to us, but it spells out that the handgun is in plain view. That means you can see the gun, not that you can tell that it is a gun under a towel on the car seat, or that there is a gun is in a box or inside an enclosed holster. We have that extra part of 46.035 and 411.117(3)that a non-licensee doesn't have. So, 46.02 doesn't really trump 46.035 for us if they want to push the issue and try to charge you and get the Judge to buy in on their view IMO.

Hope that makes sense as I interpret it. Again, JMO and IANAL.

I am going to say no. Reason being is the statute states 'not reasonably discernible by the average person'. If you have that hanging on your belt, it may NOT have a gun in it, but if John Q. Public sees it and determines you are carrying a gun and calls, then you will not have been properly concealing as they identified it as a gun, cause it looked like a holster, and you will have a VERY hard time explaining to the Judge that is was concealed properly since it looks like a gun holster.