Question

[Sovereign]

"I THINK" you can open carry a rifle of shotgun at the age of 18 no license needed . I'll look it up. Might be in your way at work but at least going from car to work and work to car you would be able to protect yourself.

You can as long as it's in a non-threatening manner. Unfortunately I wish Texas was a little more friendly with its open carry laws like in Arizona.

[EEllis]

I think you would have issues with open carry legal or not. You are in a business that is open to the public and I'm thinking no one is going to want to go though what you will have to go through to figure out the result in your area. Why not just stash a gun at your most common location or heck carry concealed?

[nyj]

As someone who has been in your spot before, the best I can say is get a good can of pepper spray (Fox Labs is what I use). Even if there was a loophole in the law, do you really think you'll get permission from your employer?

[Texas1999]

This is one of those deals where you have to ask yourself whether you'd rather obey the law and be defenseless against an assailant, or survive a robbery and get arrested for UCW.

Get a better job, or open carry a rifle of your back. Seems to be the only two (legal) options here.

[srothstein]

The law (PC 46.02) says that you can carry on property under your control. If you are supervising operations means you are the shift manager, you would have a great argument that you were in control of the property. If you are the only employee on duty, the same argument would hold. If you are not the only employee and not the shift manger or supervisor of the other employees, I think it would be illegal for you to be in possession of the firearm at work and outside of your car.

But, if there is a place to lock the pistol up in the store, you can carry while walking directly to the store from your car and back (based on the MPA). That would at least solve part of your issues on personal safety. There is a gray area in the law if the store owner leaves a pistol in the store where you could access it during the shift if needed. I am not sure you would be in possession of it if it were not on your person. This might save some security issues if robbery during the shift is the threat, if the owner also agrees. I am not sure of the legality of this and recommend that the owner talk to his attorney if he considers it.

As others have also posted, you could carry a long gun. From your description of the other neighborhood occupants, I don't recommend this because they might take it as a threat or challenge, but it would be legal.

[SewTexas]

I was talking with a friend this afternoon, she mentioned the possibility of getting a pepper ball gun for her older teen daughter to carry with her to college. these are interesting, look them up on Amazon:

there is the Mace Pepper Gun and the Kimber Pepperblaster

[Sovereign]

The law (PC 46.02) says that you can carry on property under your control. If you are supervising operations means you are the shift manager, you would have a great argument that you were in control of the property. If you are the only employee on duty, the same argument would hold. If you are not the only employee and not the shift manger or supervisor of the other employees, I think it would be illegal for you to be in possession of the firearm at work and outside of your car.

But, if there is a place to lock the pistol up in the store, you can carry while walking directly to the store from your car and back (based on the MPA). That would at least solve part of your issues on personal safety. There is a gray area in the law if the store owner leaves a pistol in the store where you could access it during the shift if needed. I am not sure you would be in possession of it if it were not on your person. This might save some security issues if robbery during the shift is the threat, if the owner also agrees. I am not sure of the legality of this and recommend that the owner talk to his attorney if he considers it.

As others have also posted, you could carry a long gun. From your description of the other neighborhood occupants, I don't recommend this because they might take it as a threat or challenge, but it would be legal.

I am a supervisor and I normally have another employee with me. I'm just trying to look at the legality of it and really don't want to take a chance with misinterpreting the law which is why I came to the forum in the first place. I just wanted to explore my options and though the likelihood of anything happening is slim to none, I'd rather err on the side of caution. Thanks to everyone for clearing and confirming my questions!

I'll be reviewing my options and definitely taking everyone's advice into consideration. Much appreciated again for everyone answering. I'll probably be looking to invest in some pepper spray to go along with my EDC knife.

I was talking with a friend this afternoon, she mentioned the possibility of getting a pepper ball gun for her older teen daughter to carry with her to college. these are interesting, look them up on Amazon:

there is the Mace Pepper Gun and the Kimber Pepperblaster

I have looked at those but I wasn't impressed with them. Especially after seeing videos of them. If anything I'm going to go with something really potent such as bear spray or something in spray form. Take less human error out of the equation especially under stressful situations.

[EEllis]

Pepper spray is very effective if used in the right circumstances. Realize though by using bear spray, which is greater strength than what police use, you can set yourself up for other issues, and there is no particular reason to believe it will have any greater effectiveness than regular pepper spray and some reason to believe it might be more dangerous than regular pepper spray. You do not have bears on your driving range so you do not want to explain to a cop why you have bear spray. One of the secrets to using pepper spray is when you use it. It is not always as effective on people who are under the influence of drugs and alcohol. If you are able to spray someone before their adrenalin kicks in it is exponentially more effective, basically you should try and hit them right before the blows start to fly, if not spray their head and face and haul butt. Even if it will not stop them it will have a serious effect on their ability to breath cutting down their ability to take in oxygen and greatly effecting their mobility. Spray and run keeping an eye on your attacker. Often they will drop panting a few min after you hit them even if you didn't think it had an effect at the time. It also effects their vision. Sure you can blink and see thru the pain but it takes a lot of effort and concentration and most people can only keep it up for so long and your vision is greatly impaired no matter what.

[mr surveyor]

I'm familiar with the facility the OP works at, and if they still operate the lighted 9 hole, par 3 course as well as the driving range, he covers a lot of "territory" to shut that place down at night. I can understand the desire to be "armed". As for the firearm issue, I won't even make a guess at the correct response. Maybe a mallet head putter for a walking stick and a can of spray on the belt might be the best alternative.


surv

[Sovereign]

Pepper spray is very effective if used in the right circumstances. Realize though by using bear spray, which is greater strength than what police use, you can set yourself up for other issues, and there is no particular reason to believe it will have any greater effectiveness than regular pepper spray and some reason to believe it might be more dangerous than regular pepper spray. You do not have bears on your driving range so you do not want to explain to a cop why you have bear spray. One of the secrets to using pepper spray is when you use it. It is not always as effective on people who are under the influence of drugs and alcohol. If you are able to spray someone before their adrenalin kicks in it is exponentially more effective, basically you should try and hit them right before the blows start to fly, if not spray their head and face and haul butt. Even if it will not stop them it will have a serious effect on their ability to breath cutting down their ability to take in oxygen and greatly effecting their mobility. Spray and run keeping an eye on your attacker. Often they will drop panting a few min after you hit them even if you didn't think it had an effect at the time. It also effects their vision. Sure you can blink and see thru the pain but it takes a lot of effort and concentration and most people can only keep it up for so long and your vision is greatly impaired no matter what.

I will take this into consideration. Thanks for the post.

I'm familiar with the facility the OP works at, and if they still operate the lighted 9 hole, par 3 course as well as the driving range, he covers a lot of "territory" to shut that place down at night. I can understand the desire to be "armed". As for the firearm issue, I won't even make a guess at the correct response. Maybe a mallet head putter for a walking stick and a can of spray on the belt might be the best alternative.


surv

We still do and it is indeed a lot of territory to cover. I always try to keep my situational awareness constant throughout the day but during closing it really jumps up. I like the idea of the mallet or even a just a standard golf club with the pepper spray. Gives me a lot more range and options if I need to defend myself.

[RogueUSMC]

If your duties are in a static location most of the time, consider asking him to mount a quick access safe or lockbox in your work area, You would not have the gun on your person so it should be fine there.

For roving closing duties, maybe a small .410 or 20ga without stock on a single point sling. It would just dangle and shouldn't interfere too much with your duties. Wearing this during business hours around the shop may get folks' panties in a wad though...

[Shoot Straight]

Which brings up: What's the minimum age for MPA carry?

I was going to say 16 but then I remembered a friend who inherited his grandpa's car at 14 and got it titled in his name more than a year before he got a driving license.

[oohrah]

My two cents, IANAL - if he is a manager, has keys, he is in control of the property, then he should be able to carry on the property, if he is otherwise not prohibited from carrying/owning.