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I don't know how I would handle this if stopped carring in a city bus.
I know it is legal to carry on city buses

DO I HAVE TO ANSWER THEIR ???

Can I tell them I have a license to carry and a right
to remain silent and give no more info???

TSA is going too far again

Back up. Where did you hear that the TSA was going to put agents on city buses? They don't have enough for interstate air flights, let alone a city bus. Which prompts the second question. Under what authority would they be able to insert federal employees on a city bus? Me thinks you have something confused.

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Modern Redcoats

gdanaher wrote:Back up. Where did you hear that the TSA was going to put agents on city buses? They don't have enough for interstate air flights, let alone a city bus. Which prompts the second question. Under what authority would they be able to insert federal employees on a city bus? Me thinks you have something confused.

Ask Sheila Jackson Lee - She's on the Homeland Security Committee in the House, so maybe she thinks that gives her the authority.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Under ... 117ru4m/-/

tommyg wrote:....DO I HAVE TO ANSWER THEIR ???

NO! Read more here: http://www.aclu.org/files/kyr/kyr_english_1.pdf
Q: Do I have to answer questions asked by law enforcement officers?
A: No. You have the constitutional right to remain silent. In general, you do not have to talk to law enforcement officers.....

tommyg wrote:Can I tell them I have a license to carry and a right to remain silent and give no more info???...

Here is what the law requires of you:
GC §411.205. REQUIREMENT TO DISPLAY LICENSE. (a) If a license holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder display identification, the license holder shall display both the license holder's driver's license or identification certificate issued by the department and the license holder's handgun license.

Here is a question from me: Is a TSA agent a "magistrate or a peace officer"? I doubt it.

Rights are like muscles, you have to exercise them to keep them strong.

Just tell them your an illegal alien, that way the Fed's will leave you alone.

4t5 wrote:
Here is a question from me: Is a TSA agent a "magistrate or a peace officer"? I doubt it.

I can't speak for any other states, but in Texas, TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) are not peace officers. Even at the airport, their law enforcement powers are basically equivalent to that of a security guard at a business.

donkey wrote:

4t5 wrote:
Here is a question from me: Is a TSA agent a "magistrate or a peace officer"? I doubt it.

I can't speak for any other states, but in Texas TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) are not peace officers. Even at the airport, their law enforcement powers are basically equivalent to that of a security guard at a business.

I don't believe they are not officers of any sort, but rather agent;, at least the one's doing the checks at airport.

donkey wrote:

4t5 wrote:
Here is a question from me: Is a TSA agent a "magistrate or a peace officer"? I doubt it.

I can't speak for any other states, but in Texas, TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) are not peace officers. Even at the airport, their law enforcement powers are basically equivalent to that of a security guard at a business.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Houston does not use "TSO" they use Metro transit POLICE and they are law enforcement officers, TSA screening agents have no authority on a metro bus no matter what Ms Lee says, as a matter of fact they have no law enforcement authority anywhere not even in the airport. The retread security guards that the TSA uses are only screeners nothing more and ill trained at that.

puma guy wrote:

donkey wrote:

4t5 wrote:
Here is a question from me: Is a TSA agent a "magistrate or a peace officer"? I doubt it.

I can't speak for any other states, but in Texas TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) are not peace officers. Even at the airport, their law enforcement powers are basically equivalent to that of a security guard at a business.

I don't believe they are not officers of any sort, but rather agent;, at least the one's doing the checks at airport.

The official title of TSA personnel at airports is Transportation Security Officer (Screener), which is a series SV-1802. They have very limited powers, even at airports. If they find something illegal at a checkpoint all they can do is detain the individual until actual law enforcement arrives (similar to a security guard at a business). The only law enforcement personnel that are a part of the TSA are Federal Air Marshals.

In addition, in TX, a detainee is not required to identify himself unless he has been lawfully arrested, but it is a crime to provide a false name. Again, the statute references the "peace officer" requirement.

Sec. 38.02. FAILURE TO IDENTIFY. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally refuses to give his name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person and requested the information.
(b) A person commits an offense if he intentionally gives a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has:
(1) lawfully arrested the person; (2) lawfully detained the person; or (3) requested the information from a person that the peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal offense.

Just a caution, when a TSA employee stops you on a bus in Houston, it may or may not be a federal law enforcement officer. They are using the VIPR teams, which consist of screeners AND air marshals. An air marshal is a federal law enforcement officer with full arrest authority. I do not think, but cannot find out for sure right now, if the inspectors and screeners used for these teams have any arrest authority.

The key points to this are that the federal air marshals are NOT all assigned to fly, some work these ground based teams. And NO federal employee is a peace officer in Texas requiring you to identify yourself as a CHL under Texas law. When dealing with them, it is probably still a good idea to do so, but the law does not require it (unless there is a federal law that I am not aware of that does).

Answering questions or consenting to their search are as much a tactical question (how much do you want to be hassled at the time) as a legal one. I will say the article made me want to go ride a Houston bus just to answer them with a "nunya" when they asked where I am going or why I took a bus, but since I don't take buses or go looking for trouble as a general rule this will probably not come up with me.

srothstein wrote:Just a caution, when a TSA employee stops you on a bus in Houston, it may or may not be a federal law enforcement officer. They are using the VIPR teams, which consist of screeners AND air marshals. An air marshal is a federal law enforcement officer with full arrest authority. I do not think, but cannot find out for sure right now, if the inspectors and screeners used for these teams have any arrest authority.

The key points to this are that the federal air marshals are NOT all assigned to fly, some work these ground based teams. And NO federal employee is a peace officer in Texas requiring you to identify yourself as a CHL under Texas law. When dealing with them, it is probably still a good idea to do so, but the law does not require it (unless there is a federal law that I am not aware of that does).

Answering questions or consenting to their search are as much a tactical question (how much do you want to be hassled at the time) as a legal one. I will say the article made me want to go ride a Houston bus just to answer them with a "nunya" when they asked where I am going or why I took a bus, but since I don't take buses or go looking for trouble as a general rule this will probably not come up with me.

Neither TSOs nor TSIs have any arrest authority whether at an airport or on a bus. The VIPR teams use TSO/TSI personnel for manpower, but air marshals and local police to deal with the law enforcement sides of things. The only reason the VIPR teams have any authority is due to the presence of local law enforcement and actual federal law enforcement agents.

The power mongers at TSA want to expand their presence to every form of public transportation and to major events where people gather (football games,etc). They want to add on enough personnel to do this and they are trying to gain a promotion in status that will give them arrest authority. If congress does not rein them in, you can bet it will come to pass. It's amazing what people will allow if you tell them it will make them "safer".