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JALLEN wrote:

E.Marquez wrote:

JALLEN wrote: Assuming the shotgun is unloaded, I suppose.

Where do you derive the need for it to be unloaded?
Best I can tell, there is no law that regulates the carrying of a long gun in Texas.

Sec. 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

Then why are folks arrested for it?

It seems this gang is getting a "King's X!"

I was not tracking the common, or or even infrequent arrest of a citizen in Texas for the charge of carrying a loaded long gun in the vehicle.
If you would, can you cite a case? I'd love to read up on it.

Respectfully

E.Marquez wrote: I was not tracking the common, or or even infrequent arrest of a citizen in Texas for the charge of carrying a loaded long gun in the vehicle.
If you would, can you cite a case? I'd love to read up on it.

Respectfully

Haven't there been a couple reported here on the Forum in the last year or so? I recall one, the fellow on a Boy Scout hike with his kid and AR type.

"in the vehicle" is probably legally irrelevant.

JALLEN wrote:

E.Marquez wrote: I was not tracking the common, or or even infrequent arrest of a citizen in Texas for the charge of carrying a loaded long gun in the vehicle.
If you would, can you cite a case? I'd love to read up on it.

Respectfully

Haven't there been a couple reported here on the Forum in the last year or so? I recall one, the fellow on a Boy Scout hike with his kid and AR type.

"in the vehicle" is probably legally irrelevant.

I started this part of the discussion talking about a long gun in a car....that was the specific type of "carry" of a loaded long gun I was focusing on, and what I thought you were replying to. I now understand, your lumping any carry of a long gun into the discussion.. My apologies i did not catch that.

Yes, a local activist went out to get arrested, and accomplished his goals.. Making sure his young son was present to capture it on video. A hung jury trial was the result, case is being retried last i heard. Likely there are other Open carry activists that have been arrested as well.. but that is not what i was discussing. Sorry for the confusion.

I appreciate your participation in it. I learn a lot from these things.

It seems to me that the law doesn't distinguish between "open" carry and "visible" in a car, other than handguns under the Motorist Protection Act which requires hidden from view, and the CHL laws, of course.

I'm still somewhat concerned that police are being briefed about these gang members with shotguns, but not briefed adequately, or similarly, about ordinary citizens who might carry in the same way, both equally lawful, it seems.

JALLEN wrote:I'm still somewhat concerned that police are being briefed about these gang members with shotguns, but not briefed adequately, or similarly, about ordinary citizens who might carry in the same way, both equally lawful, it seems.

Im not a LEO, and have in the real big picture only limited contact with LEO's I know ..
All I can say from my small port window view is.. The LEO's I know or have met, are fully aware of what is legal or not when it comes to open carry.
And yes, most of them in passing discussion have said, if they observed a person open carrying a long gun in a manner, or location that appear to be out of place, out of the norm, they would contact them... that contact may or may not move to detention and investigation depending on how the initial contact goes.

I think arresting people carrying in school zones under MPA is a better use of time than hassling people legally open carrying long guns.

bayouhazard wrote:I think arresting people carrying in school zones under MPA is a better use of time than hassling people legally open carrying long guns.

Where I live, a new school is going up.
That school is on the only road in/out of one small town as well as my home. Anyone in the area who is involved in hunting or sport shooting will be in violation of this law unless they have a CHL.

IMHO, this is where LEO discretion should play... Otherwise, stopping cars / trucks along this single road and asking if there are weapons in the vehicle provide a very real reason why you might not want to be truthful.

cb1000rider wrote:

bayouhazard wrote:I think arresting people carrying in school zones under MPA is a better use of time than hassling people legally open carrying long guns.

Where I live, a new school is going up.
That school is on the only road in/out of one small town as well as my home. Anyone in the area who is involved in hunting or sport shooting will be in violation of this law unless they have a CHL.

IMHO, this is where LEO discretion should play... Otherwise, stopping cars / trucks along this single road and asking if there are weapons in the vehicle provide a very real reason why you might not want to be truthful.

I think the school zone law is stupid, but would be OK as an add-on for another crime....like felon with a weapon plus weapon in a school zone. Or, if as you say, used with common sense. Unfortunately, we can't count on the law being applied with common sense. Look at the cops up north arresting good citizens for having 8 rounds in a magazine; or the guy in New Jersey who got seven years for having unloaded and locked legal firearms in the trunk of his car at his parent's home. The law in these leftist habitats is intentionally Draconian and only seems to be applied in places like that against the law abiding. We're not at that point yet here, but it may well be coming....and we're a lot closer to it now in the big cities than we should be.

I agree with you, other than insinuating that the political demographics are to blame.
Round Rock is conservative, handdog still got arrested.

cb1000rider wrote:I agree with you, other than insinuating that the political demographics are to blame.
Round Rock is conservative, handdog still got arrested.

Wasn't insinuating...was stating. Granted, I glossed over the difference between Federal and State law, but there are states that viciously target law abiding gun owners, like New York and New Jersey and Texas isn't one of them. I believe law for law, common sense is more likely to be applied in a State like Texas than one like New Jersey.

E.Marquez wrote:

JALLEN wrote:I'm still somewhat concerned that police are being briefed about these gang members with shotguns, but not briefed adequately, or similarly, about ordinary citizens who might carry in the same way, both equally lawful, it seems.

Im not a LEO, and have in the real big picture only limited contact with LEO's I know ..
All I can say from my small port window view is.. The LEO's I know or have met, are fully aware of what is legal or not when it comes to open carry.
And yes, most of them in passing discussion have said, if they observed a person open carrying a long gun in a manner, or location that appear to be out of place, out of the norm, they would contact them... that contact may or may not move to detention and investigation depending on how the initial contact goes.

There is a new "2nd amendment course" floating around. I am dying to sign up. I want to hear what they say. This is for LEO's.

VMI77 wrote:there are states that viciously target law abiding gun owners, like New York and New Jersey and Texas isn't one of them. I believe law for law, common sense is more likely to be applied in a State like Texas than one like New Jersey.

I know of some awful charges in NJ, but those charges stemmed from aggressive gun laws enacted by a liberal state. The laws didn't make a lot of sense (to me) - but I recognize them as law. The cases that I know about the gun owners didn't follow the laws of that state. Do you mean that liberal states tend towards more firearms restrictions? That I can get behind.

I'm not sure that I believe that liberal governments choose to go after law-abiding citizens more than conservative ones. IE - I'm much more wary of a trip through Williamson county than I am in Travis county. It's pretty well documented that the hammer of "justice" is much more costly in Williamson county. My blood pressure is much higher if I'm stopped up there than it is in Travis county.

I made trips through "restrictive" states this year: Illinois, I disassembled firearms, separated them from ammunition, locked them in cases, and put them in storage where I couldn't get to them from the vehicle. New Jersey - I didn't risk it at all, no firearms period...

texanjoker wrote: There is a new "2nd amendment course" floating around. I am dying to sign up. I want to hear what they say. This is for LEO's.

Honestly, I don't think it will matter. The law is very clear on the matter and it's not like LEOs charge people with "unlawful carry" of long guns in these situations. I have some amount of sympathy for LEO in this space - they're expected to keep the peace and a bunch of calls just eat resources. So instead, they'll charge someone with "disturbing the peace" - I can't really see a downside on the LEO side for doing so. The charge passes the smell test, it solves the immediate problem, and punitively shows the not-so-smart long gun person who has the pants.

I've read legislation of other states that explicitly forbid this sort of thing but we don't have it in Texas. I don't hold LEO's responsible. We are the voting group that needs to feel safe at the cost of billions of tax dollars (TSA, NSA spying, etc) and we're willing to throw in some of our liberty in exchange for that fuzzy feeling.

Since we got off on the issue of long gums if you carry a long gun and the police
charge you with disturbing the peace then you get your CHL Revoked if convicted.
This makes open carry a long gun a crime

Back to school: MRS. TommyG left me in a hotel while she went to a work meeting in Houston. She took the car
I wanted some lunch , I walked out of the hotel carrying. Unknown to me the hotel was next to an elementary school.

I knew I was covered by my CHL This just shows how easy it is to stray into a GUN Free Zone without knowing it.

Would you put it past Obama to ruthlessly enforce the Gun Free School law