Photoman wrote:Charles L. Cotton wrote:Photoman wrote:Charles L. Cotton wrote:it is illegal for a non-CHL to carry a handgun in a gun show. People are not charged with UCW, but a lack of enforcement does not change the law.
If I (a non-CHL for this example) take my revolver to the gun show to sell or trade it, I am UCW?
If I (a non-CHL for this example) take my revolver to the local gun store to sell or trade it, I am UCW?
Yes, but the law is not enforced.
Chas.
That is amazing. All these years I've been misinformed? What law covers this issue? I need to look into this as I've been under the impression for years that having a handgun on or about ones person while directly to or from a transaction was not UCW.
As Renegade said, most of us have been going to gun shows with handguns long before the CHL statute was passed in 1995. It was never prosecuted because people in law enforcement as well as prosecutors knew that gun shows would be impossible, if TPC §46.02 and its predecessors were enforced. I think they also knew that the Legislature would likely step in and change the law if they did, as gun shows are clearly a well-established Texas tradition. Only relatively recently have the anti's tried to portray gun shows as gathering places for criminals.
Choosing not to enforce any given statute is not unusual. Prior to 1995, most officers who caught certain people (especially women at night) with handguns in their cars or purses usually didn't make an arrest for UCW, if the person was otherwise "clean." Every time a LEO watches some make a "California stop" at a stop sign and doesn't issue a citation, they are choosing not to enforce a law.
The general prohibition on having a handgun on or about your person is found in TPC §46.02. (As of 9/1/07, it's narrower because of the passage of HB1815.) You then have to look at TPC 46.15 to see what persons, places and activities are excluded from the general prohibition in TPC §46.02. "Sporting" activities is very broad, but it isn't so broad as to include static gun shows. (Now, if we had something akin to boat shows on the water where we could shoot our guns while at the gun show, then that would be a different story.)
As far as having the gun on your person to and from a transaction such as purchasing or having a handgun repaired, it is more a matter of what the officer at the scene is going to do, based upon the evidence. I received a call from a gentleman in Houston who bought a pistol from a co-worker. That evening on the way home he was stopped for a traffic violation by an HPD officer. The officer asked if he had any weapons in the car and the driver said yes and told him he had just purchased it that day. Since he didn't have a receipt, the officer arrested him. (He should win because this occurred after HB823 "traveling presumption" passed.) Although not legally relevant, if he had a receipted dated that day, or if it had been in the trunk, the officer likely wouldn't have made the arrest.
Ironically, one of the hurdles we sometimes face when promoting pro-gun legislation is the argument that it isn't necessary, "since we don't enforce it anyway." This was the leading argument against the "Castle" Doctrine, with prosecutors loudly proclaiming, "we never prosecute for failure to retreat, so you don't need this law."
Chas.