TexasCHLforum.com

LarryH wrote:

SecedeTX wrote:I live in Brazoria Co, and work in Harris Co (downtown). The current DA is against people carrying in their cars in Harris County under the castle doctrine. He opposed having the castle doctrine extend to your automobile. According to very reliable sources (multiple LEO's in different depts) if an officer pulls over a NON-CHL person who is carrying in the car under the castle doctrine, that person is to be arrested, gun confiscated, processed, bailed out, hire a lawyer, day in court. Once that person gets to court and is asked to make a plea, they say "not guilty, under castle doctrine" and the case is dismissed.

You are still out the time in jail being processed, bail, and attorneys fees. Makes it an expensive hassle.

The LEO's that I know are not fond of this, but it is unwritten policy. The are HIGHLY supportive of CHL holders as we are clearly not the problem. From my understanding, the anti-gun stance from Harris Co. is more concentrated on castle doctrine carriers rather than CHL carriers. They don't want protection from castle doctrine to extend to our inherited thug problem (it was bad enough before the storm).

I think it is interesting that I have approx 650 like minded individuals in my zip code that all have CHLs. Maybe we should all meet up at Don Picos for dinner one night!

Ahem. Chuck Rosenthal is not the Harris County DA and hasn't been for quite some time. The current DA, Pat Lykos (a woman), is, I believe, quite friendly toward law-abiding CHLs.

This story sounds like urban legend, perhaps based on the former DA (Rosenthal's) opposition to the earlier implementation of the car carry. Previously, the exemption for carry in a motor vehicle was implemented by expanding the "traveling" exemption in PC 46.15 to include basically anyone in a car. Rosenthal didn't like that definition of traveling, even though it was clearly in the statute. He said he would prosecute people doing this because they weren't really traveling. However, I think only one case ever actually came up and the guy plead to a lower charge (by his own choice) rather than pay a lawyer.

Now the law 46.02 has been changed and says simply:

PC §46.02. UNLAWFUL CARRYING WEAPONS, (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 that is owned by the person or under the person's control.

...

There doesn't seem to be a lot of room for interpretation there.

It seems unlikely that Harris County LEO's would articulate a (unwritten) policy that required them to arrest someone for something that the DA and LEO's know is not a crime. In fact it's unethical for the DA and perhaps even illegal. It's also a bit disturbing that in describing the DA's "policy" they used the term "Castle Doctrine", which has nothing to do with carrying in a motor vehicle, and that they referred to the DA as "he" when the current DA is a SHE (assuming OP didn't just mishear the pronoun).

The first one or two times the LEO's "implemented" this (unwritten) policy and the person arrested didn't, plead "Not guilty, under the Castle Doctrine" (how the heck are they supposed to know to say this?)...but instead protested that they were arrested for a non-crime... Well, I would suspect the arraigning judge would not be amused by the LEO's and prosecutor's explanation of the reason for arrest. Then if this "policy" ever came to light, it wouldn't be a stretch to get a judge to enjoin the County and LEO's from this behavior in the future.

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:TAM:

Have you read their rris County.crime reports? It seems like Houston
has enough BG's that a CHL is needed by all who can qualify to get one.
IMHO.

SIA

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:VenusPax, et al:

Did anyone notice that of all the 2009 CHL's awarded,
that over 22% went to females?

In 2008 it was 18% females, which I thought was pretty
good. But 22% is even better.

Maybe enough women saw Debra Medina waving her XD
around on the news and could more easily envision them-
selves with a CHL (even though Medina only carries under MPA,
since she doesn't have a CHL).

SIA

I'm not sure why they're on the rise, but I'm glad they are.
When the law was first passed in 1995, it was such a new concept to most people that they found it semi-violent. It's becoming more and more normal--perhaps heading toward being somewhat mainstream for Texas, so more people in general are entertaining the idea.

It may have been the hurricanes that shocked people, but I bet the uptick in crime after Katrina was a big motivator also.

MechAg94 wrote:It may have been the hurricanes that shocked people, but I bet the uptick in crime after Katrina was a big motivator also.

Absolutely. It has absolutely nothing to do with how many people in that area like guns or shooting. Heck... I have lost count of the number of folks on this forum who have posted that they never owned a gun until getting a CHL. I believe an increase in violent crime will cause an increase in CHL applications. Houston is like like living in a huge prison system. there are violent criminals running off with that city. Ft Worth is not much better. Gangs have over taken Ft Worth and grand prarie. No wonder guys on this forum from Houston are drawing guns on anyone that walks up to them.

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:VenusPax, et al:

Did anyone notice that of all the 2009 CHL's awarded,
that over 22% went to females?

In 2008 it was 18% females, which I thought was pretty
good. But 22% is even better.

Maybe enough women saw Debra Medina waving her XD
around on the news and could more easily envision them-
selves with a CHL (even though Medina only carries under MPA,
since she doesn't have a CHL).

SIA

Might simply be normal growth. There's been a press for education and family time centered around firearms. That's one consideration. The other is sport. More and more women are introduced by guy friends and even women who already shoot. Last but not least, safety. The downturn of the economy has seen the rise of crime. Women are targeted and many have refused to be an easy one.

Shorts wrote:

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:VenusPax, et al:

Did anyone notice that of all the 2009 CHL's awarded,
that over 22% went to females?

In 2008 it was 18% females, which I thought was pretty
good. But 22% is even better.

Maybe enough women saw Debra Medina waving her XD
around on the news and could more easily envision them-
selves with a CHL (even though Medina only carries under MPA,
since she doesn't have a CHL).

SIA

Might simply be normal growth. There's been a press for education and family time centered around firearms. That's one consideration. The other is sport. More and more women are introduced by guy friends and even women who already shoot. Last but not least, safety. The downturn of the economy has seen the rise of crime. Women are targeted and many have refused to be an easy one.

That is a good point. I have to say that I put some pressure on my daughter to get her CHL. Reading all the stories of women being victimized by crazies caused me to get concerned for her. She had met a new girlfriend who had a CHL and this helped but your basicly right. Hearing about women being victims causes the guys in their lives to put some pressure on them to carry... IMHO.