Well, this brings up a whole bunch of interesting (and largely academic) scenarios....TexasGal wrote: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 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.
I was taught this meant you could only have your gun in the car under MPA if the car was yours or you were driving it--not just a passenger in someone else's car. Under CHL, it is ok. The OP does not have a CHL. Is this wrong? The person who answered this for me originally was a Fort Worth PD officer who teaches CHL.
1) My son (21 years old) drives me to the courthouse annex for something. I (as a CHL holder) disarm and leave the gun in the car and he goes and gets a bite to eat while I wait in the vehicle registration line. I guess since he is driving, he's in control of the vehicle. So I'd imagine this is fine. (he does NOT have a CHL yet).
2) I'm driving with my 21 year old son and disarm for some reason. He is the passenger. Is he allowed to remain the vehicle while in the parking lot? I guess this is ok also.
3) what about the same as above but with my 18 year old son driving me or as a passenger in a parking lot? Seems ok since he is over 18.
4) What if I'm with my 11 year old son, I disarm and go into the court house. He's a passenger, but the gun is left in the car. I'd imagine in this case that's a problem since he's < 18 and I'm allowing unsupervised access to a handgun.
I'm sure we can come up with an infinite number of scenarios with combinations of different types of folks.
And I'm not really requesting answers so much as illustrating that there are a bunch of scenarios associated with the car carry that aren't explicitly covered by the law. Seems to me the operating principle is 1) somebody who can possess a gun. 2) in control of the vehicle 3) not doing anything illegal at the time.