Soccerdad1995 wrote:OK, here's something I just thought of and I would like to get y'all's opinion.
Let's say a gun show is posted with valid 30.06 and 30.07 signage, and is not held on government owned property. There are officers at the door checking guns that you bring in for sale. They verify the guns are unloaded, zip tie them, and then allow you to place the gun in a case that you can carry throughout the venue. They also allow you to remove the gun from the case to show it to prospective buyers.
If you have a LTC, then how are you not violating 30.06? I believe that carrying a gun in a case that is in your hand meets the definition of carrying concealed (if not that solves a host of other 30.06 issues). Is it because you are not carrying under the authority of your LTC while at the gun show, so the 30.06 sign never applies in the first place? Or is it possible to get conditional verbal authority that overrides a 30.06 restriction, but only so long as you follow the conditions laid out by the owner? If you then violate those conditions, could you be charged with a 30.06 violation if you were willing to leave if / when asked?
Basically, I am wondering whether a 30.06 sign could be enforced at all in such a situation where representatives of the Gun Show management are openly allowing people to carry weapons in spite of the signage?
This comes up often and seems to have since 30.06 was passed. The better question of law is what allows a non-LTC to carry a handgun AT ALL at a gun show....loaded or unloaded, zip tied or not, concealed or open. Absent an exception from 46.15, it is illegal to carry a handgun in public in Texas TXPC 46.02. So if a non-CHL carries a on privately or publically owned property, not their own, for a gun show they are committing a class A misdemeanor (unlawful carrying of a weapon). It doesn't matter if the managers of the venue gave you permission. They can't give you permission to break the law. Since gun shows have been going on in Texas since before CHL, one might wonder how people have been getting away with it for all these years. One argument is that people attending a gun show are engaged in "sporting activity". I think that's a little weak, but it's the only exception (i.e. Defense to Prosecution) that I can find. Lot's of people were "traveling" before CHL too.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun, illegal knife, or club if the person is not:
(1) on the person’s own premises or premises under the person’s control; or
(2) inside of or directly en route to a motor vehicle or watercraft that is owned by the person or under the person’s control.
PC §46.15. NON-APPLICABILITY.
...
(b) Section 46.02 does not apply to a person who:
(1) is in the actual discharge of official duties as a member of the armed forces or state military forces as defined by Section 437.001, Government Code, or as a guard employed by a penal institution;
(2) is traveling;
(3) is engaging in lawful hunting, fishing, or other sporting activity on the immediate premises where the activity is conducted, or is en route between the premises and the actor’s residence, motor vehicle, or watercraft, if the weapon is a type commonly used in the activity;
(4) holds a security officer commission issued by the Texas Private Security Board, if the person is engaged in the performance of the person’s duties as an officer commissioned under Chapter 1702, Occupations Code, or is traveling to or from the person’s place of assignment and is wearing the officer’s uniform and carrying the officer’s weapon in plain view;
(6) is carrying:
(A) a license issued under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, to carry a handgun; and
(B) a handgun:
(i) in a concealed manner; or
(ii) in a shoulder or belt holster;
So show me where it says you can carry a handgun without a license at a gun show, or gun shop for that matter...
I have "heard" that the Texas courts have decided that since you have the right to own a handgun in Texas, you must therefore have the right to purchase or procure it and bring to a location where you may legally carry it...like your property or property under your control.
As far as carrying past a 30.06/7 sign without a CHL/LTC, that is irrelevant if you don't have a LTC, because it doesn't apply to non-LTC. For an LTC it is illegal (class C misdemeanor) to carry past a sign,
unless the owner gives you permission.....by say having you unload and zip tie your gun; or unless you are a Volunteer Emergency Responder, or a cop, or in the parking lot of your employer. But no LTC and you are theoretically committing a class A misdemeanor.
As for gun shows on publicly owned property not otherwise prohibited, but unlawfully posted 30.06/7, I personally do not give a whit what the show promoter/lessee wishes, I will carry (concealed). If they're wanding and patting down, I'll probably leave as unless I'm willing to physically force my way in, or defeat the screening, there's really not much I can do. But there's also not much the law may "properly" do to me for carrying either.
