TexasCHLforum.com

ELB wrote:

ldj1002 wrote:If a person in TX has a chl issued by another state and TX is reciprocal with that state , How can he be violation if within 1,000 ft of a school.

It is not clear to me that it is absolutely true that one state's CHL does not qualify one for the GFSZA exception in another state with reciprocity, but the text of the GFSZA could be interpreted that way. Here is the text

(2)
(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the possession of a firearm—
...
(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license;

It says the "if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located..." OK, to my thinking, if Texas recognizes Indiana's License To Carry Handgun (LTCH), then I would think that a person with an Indiana LTCH is "licensed" by Texas to carry a handgun (which is what reciprocity is all about), and would be good to go in a Texas school zone. However, I don't know that this has ever been tested in court, and could certainly be aggressively contested by an unfriendly US Attorney.

ldj1002 wrote:Maybe if I go to another state I should just leave my gun at home even if reciprocal with TX

Oh I wouldn't go that far. As noted here and in numerous other threads, your chances of ever having to deal with this question are close to non-existent unless you are doing drug deals or other gang activity in the reciprocal state's school zones.

stash wrote:I wonder how many citizens drive within 1000 feet of a school and have a gun in their car and don't have Texas CHL? I don't think this is a problem unless you are arrested for something else in a GFSZ with a gun in the car or are carrying on a out of state license.

JSThane wrote:If it's concealed, how would anyone know? How would cops, FBI, et. al., find out about it? Either the person with the gun would have to be doing something -else- that got their attention, or the LEO is conducting an illegal search. Either the gun is being very obviously involved in a major crime, which would be a crime on or off campus regardless, or the gun is not involved in any crime at all (other than crossing an invisible, arbitrary line), and no one will ever find out about it.

This law is, quite frankly, impossible to enforce, absent some other illegal derring-do on the part of the gun owner which would provide Probable Cause to even search and -find- the gun. If it's per an illegal search, then it's inadmissable in court, and therefore pointless. If it's on the part of some real crime, then the possession charge is still pointless, as it's small potatoes next to the real thing.

Frankly, this law is as pointless as licensing concealed-carry. Those who violate ONLY this law will probably never be found out. Those who ARE discovered, are usually involved in something heinous against persons or property anyway, and don't care that it's illegal for them to use a gun in the commission of a felony, which is the only way to discover the carry law is being violated in the first place. It's a victimless crime. Finding a violation of the law requires another felony, or a 4th Amendment violation.

I do hold a CHL in New Mexico, and have held one in Texas. I do follow this pointless and impossible-to-enforce law, but it doesn't change the fact that it IS pointless and impossible to enforce. It's the same way with the schools and "Gun Free Zones." It's pointless and impossible to enforce.

ldj1002 wrote:It's a bucket of worms. Reciprocal agreement with Indiana allows one to carry in a restaurant in TX but not a school zone. I think all the TX chl laws refer to licensed in TX.

cb1000rider wrote:

ldj1002 wrote:It's a bucket of worms. Reciprocal agreement with Indiana allows one to carry in a restaurant in TX but not a school zone. I think all the TX chl laws refer to licensed in TX.

Have you read the agreement. Looking at reciprocity when going from TX to MI, the language in MI indicated that a TX CHL had "all the rights and privileges" (quoted off the top of my head) granted a MI CHL. Note, I didn't look at it the other way around.

jocat54 wrote:Then there people who live closer than a 1000' to a school and maybe carrying under mpa or an out of state license...guess they're breaking the law also. To darn many laws!

sjfcontrol wrote:

JSThane wrote:If it's concealed, how would anyone know? How would cops, FBI, et. al., find out about it? Either the person with the gun would have to be doing something -else- that got their attention, or the LEO is conducting an illegal search. Either the gun is being very obviously involved in a major crime, which would be a crime on or off campus regardless, or the gun is not involved in any crime at all (other than crossing an invisible, arbitrary line), and no one will ever find out about it.

This law is, quite frankly, impossible to enforce, absent some other illegal derring-do on the part of the gun owner which would provide Probable Cause to even search and -find- the gun. If it's per an illegal search, then it's inadmissable in court, and therefore pointless. If it's on the part of some real crime, then the possession charge is still pointless, as it's small potatoes next to the real thing.

Frankly, this law is as pointless as licensing concealed-carry. Those who violate ONLY this law will probably never be found out. Those who ARE discovered, are usually involved in something heinous against persons or property anyway, and don't care that it's illegal for them to use a gun in the commission of a felony, which is the only way to discover the carry law is being violated in the first place. It's a victimless crime. Finding a violation of the law requires another felony, or a 4th Amendment violation.

I do hold a CHL in New Mexico, and have held one in Texas. I do follow this pointless and impossible-to-enforce law, but it doesn't change the fact that it IS pointless and impossible to enforce. It's the same way with the schools and "Gun Free Zones." It's pointless and impossible to enforce.

It wouldn't be that hard for the firearm to be discovered. Consider getting stopped by a LEO for speeding in a school zone (doing 6MPH in a 5 zone). The officer asks for license and registration, and following Texas law, you also give him your out-of-state gun license. He then asks if you're armed. I agree it would be unlikely that they'd try to add on the FGFSZ charge, but they could try if they wanted to.

Keith B wrote: That is the State of Michigan's rules. Not federal. See the link above in mikeloc's post. You must have a license from the state you are in to be allowed the school zone exemption. AND, the exemption only exists IF your stae's CHL allows you to be within 1000' of a school.

Tic Tac wrote:Realistically speaking, there are a lot of people carrying under the MPA authority. I haven't heard of a single one arrested, much less prosecuted, for violating the GFSZA. It seems to be limited, in practice, to a stack on charge for drug dealers and so on.

texanjoker wrote:I've seen school zones used for dope enforcement. On one caper I worked after the fact, the house was searched for nothing to do with dope, but some personal marijuana was found. The guy was charged with the school zone enhancement because his house was down the street from a school. (that was the least of his worries)

texanjoker wrote:Here is another dilemma. You park your car within the 1000 foot zone or even at school picking up your kids and it is broken into and your weapon taken. You forget about the zone and call the PD to make a report and you potentially open up a can of worms.