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On-Duty Prohibition for Volunteer Open Carry- Volunteers shall not openly carry firearms either on Department premises or while on-duty for the Department unless the volunteers has specific volunteer duties that require firearms handling and the volunteer is handling firearms in the manner required for performing those volunteer duties. A non-commissioned volunteer holding a handgun license under Government Code Chapter 411 may possess a handgun on department property if carried in a manner in which the presence of the handgun is not openly discernible to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person.

The handgun must be in a belt or shoulder holster. The law does not specify what that holster has to look like. There is specific provision in the law that requires the person to carry the license on them. Common sense indicates most people would have it with them just as they do their driver’s license or hunting/fishing license. There is no requirement under the law absent a peace officer’s reasonable suspicion or probable cause to present their license.

Q: TPWD has some facilities that are used for educational purposes can those facilities get an official designation and ban guns?

A: Certain places are listed in the penal code as places where a firearm cannot be carried at all – even by someone with a license to carry. Facilities like Sea Center Texas are not an educational institution as that term is used in statutes.

Q: Can I ask someone to see the license to carry?

A: A peace officer may however it is advised to only do so in situations where the officer has probable cause or reasonable suspicion to believe the person is committing some offense. Volunteers should not ask to see the license as it would be a violation of the new firearms policy. (Volunteers will not take actions to discourage members of the public from the lawful carrying of firearms in areas of the Department that are generally accessible to the public.)