Urgent Traveling Question

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 9:14 pm

My sister-in-law, who is in the middle of a very ugly divorce, will be traveling home soon, from Woodlands to Rockdale, TX. She does not have a CHL, she is qualified to purchase a handgun, etc. We were discussing her carrying her revolver in her truck earlier today and I need your help.

Since she's not a licsensed CHL holder, does the firearm that she travels with have to be concealed, in plain sight, etc?

She's leaving town Sunday afternoon, so any input would be appreciated.

JLaw

jimlongley · Post by **jimlongley** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:45 pm

It MUST be concealed.

HB 823, signed into law this past session and enacted 09/01/05 provides, according to the author:

"HB 823 provides for a legal presumption in favor of citizens that they are travelers if they are in a private vehicle with a handgun that is not in plain view, they are not otherwise engaged in unlawful activity nor otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a firearm, and they are not a member of a criminal street gang."

yerasimos · Post by **yerasimos** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:55 pm

Jim, you beat me to it! :)

Anyway, this was what I was going to post:

Must be concealed in the vehicle. A closed glove compartment or console should be OK. It would be a very good idea for her to keep her proof of vehicle registration & insurance away from the revolver in the rare event she gets pulled over by a LEO.

As long as she meets the 5 criteria for HB 823 (not a member of a gang, not breaking any laws except for low-level moving violations, not prohibited from possessing the weapon, keeping the weapon concealed from ordinary observation, and traveling in a private conveyance--in this instance, her truck) she should be "free to go" in the eyes of the state legislature. Certain district attorneys have their own agendas and have given contrary instructions to some LEOs.

All of the above was just a thumbnail version off the top of my head, so if someone sees I missed anything, please feel free to jump in.

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 8:24 am

Thank you very much for the clarification. She does meet all criteria outlined above, I'll pass on the info about keeping the revolver away from insurance papers, etc.

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:04 am

Does she have any kind of "peace" language in her divorce papers? If so, she may not be able to posess a firearm of any kind. Charles????

txinvestigator · Post by **txinvestigator** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:42 pm

MoJo wrote:Does she have any kind of "peace" language in her divorce papers? If so, she may not be able to posess a firearm of any kind. Charles????

Good catch, if there is a restraining under in the temporary orders that require either not commit violence against the other I believe she is ineligable under Brady; therefore, ineligible under the traveling presumption.

I think though, that she can still have the weapon about her person as the presumption is not inclusive, IOW, it is but one method of being a traveler.

txinvestigator · Post by **txinvestigator** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:44 pm

yerasimos wrote: It would be a very good idea for her to keep her proof of vehicle registration & insurance away from the revolver in the rare event she gets pulled over by a LEO.

Great advice.

Just for informational purposes, in Texas our registrations are affixed to our windshields. We are not required to carry any registration information in the vehicle. Commercial vehicles not included.

KBCraig · Post by **KBCraig** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:46 pm

txinvestigator wrote:
yerasimos wrote: It would be a very good idea for her to keep her proof of vehicle registration & insurance away from the revolver in the rare event she gets pulled over by a LEO.

Great advice.

Just for informational purposes, in Texas our registrations are affixed to our windshields. We are not required to carry any registration information in the vehicle. Commercial vehicles not included.

Try convincing an Arkansas trooper of that...

After many rounds of arguing that Texas doesn't issue a paper registration, and that the sticker on my windshield was my registration, I finally figured out that he was talking about the receipt for the registration. I didn't have it, having trashed it, but these days I keep the receipts with my other vehicle documents.

Kevin