Daycare/church question...

[BoneDigger]

My daughter goes to a daycare that is run by a church. The daycare also serves as a PRE-school. Would this type of fascility meet the requirements of a "school or educational fascility" or not? I realize as a church it would need to be posted with 30.06, but I'm not sure about the pre-school aspect.

Ideas?

Todd

[seamusTX]

Every time this topic comes up, the consensus is that a day care or pre-school is not a school and CHLs can carry there.

- Jim

[lawrnk]

Every time this topic comes up, the consensus is that a day care or pre-school is not a school and CHLs can carry there.

- Jim

This is pretty much what my CHL Instructor/ Retired Leo told me as well.

[DoubleActionCHL]

I asked this question of the DPS Legal staff and the following is the answer given:

"We are aware of no statutory definition, so it would be for a court to decide whether the premises were an "educational institution." We are aware of no caselaw on the matter, so we would suggest that you consult with a private attorney and/or your local law enforcement agency regarding a specific scenario."

My take on this is you are not necessarily safe carrying at a daycare. There IS no clear definition and you could, therefore, be the test.

[seamusTX]

My take on this is you are not necessarily safe carrying at a daycare. There IS no clear definition and you could, therefore, be the test.

That's true, but what are the chances of being busted in a day care center?

- Jim

[DoubleActionCHL]

My take on this is you are not necessarily safe carrying at a daycare. There IS no clear definition and you could, therefore, be the test.

That's true, but what are the chances of being busted in a day care center?

- Jim

I don't know. Do you? Is it worth the risk? Can you afford to be the test case if you do get busted?

[Kalrog]

My take on this is you are not necessarily safe carrying at a daycare. There IS no clear definition and you could, therefore, be the test.

That's true, but what are the chances of being busted in a day care center?

- Jim

I don't know. Do you? Is it worth the risk? Can you afford to be the test case if you do get busted?

You could always just get permission to carry at the school/daycare from your wife who happens to be on the board. Or is that just me?

[seamusTX]

My take on this is you are not necessarily safe carrying at a daycare. There IS no clear definition and you could, therefore, be the test.

That's true, but what are the chances of being busted in a day care center?

I don't know. Do you? Is it worth the risk? Can you afford to be the test case if you do get busted?

I'd say the chances of being busted on any private property are very low unless you're making a fool of yourself.

Everyone has to make this kind of decision for himself.

- Jim

[ELB]

My take on this is you are not necessarily safe carrying at a daycare. There IS no clear definition and you could, therefore, be the test.

That's true, but what are the chances of being busted in a day care center?

- Jim

I don't know. Do you? Is it worth the risk? Can you afford to be the test case if you do get busted?

Alternatively:

My take is you are not necessarily safe NOT carrying at a daycare. You don't get to choose when you need your gun; the bad guy gets to choose that. What are the chances of being attacked in a day care center? I don't know. Do you? Is it worth the risk? Can you -- and your daughter -- afford to be unarmed if you do get attacked?

Me, I would be carrying. I think the risk of either being "caught" doing something that looks legal to me, or being attacked, are both very small, but the consequence of being unarmed when I need to be armed is far worse than being armed when I wasn't supposed to be.

A smart man pointed out to me that there are risks in everything you do, there are no 100% "safe" choices, so you have make a decision and go with it. Good luck to you.

elb

[DoubleActionCHL]

Alternatively:

My take is you are not necessarily safe NOT carrying at a daycare. You don't get to choose when you need your gun; the bad guy gets to choose that. What are the chances of being attacked in a day care center? I don't know. Do you? Is it worth the risk? Can you -- and your daughter -- afford to be unarmed if you do get attacked?

Me, I would be carrying. I think the risk of either being "caught" doing something that looks legal to me, or being attacked, are both very small, but the consequence of being unarmed when I need to be armed is far worse than being armed when I wasn't supposed to be.

A smart man pointed out to me that there are risks in everything you do, there are no 100% "safe" choices, so you have make a decision and go with it. Good luck to you.

elb

You're absolutely right. You DON'T get to choose when you need your gun. However, we're not talking about something that's subjective here. By your logic, we can choose to carry in a post office or federal court as long as we don't get caught. It is a felony to carry in a school. The statute doesn't define 'school', and neither have the courts. We don't know if a court will define a daycare or preschool as a 'school'. While I agree that in order to ensure one's safety, one should carry anywhere the law allows. In this particular case, the law is a bit vague and certain risks exist. It's certainly up to you to weigh those risks, but I'd never tell anyone that it's simply ok or legal to carry in a daycare or preschool.