TexasCHLforum.com

ScottDLS wrote:

HotLeadSolutions wrote:

wconn33 wrote:Yeah I just wasnt sure if that meant I could have the weapon on the motorcycle or on my body. So if I am carrying a weapon I am good as long as I stay on the bike the trouble would start if I went into a store to eat or pay for gas correct?

It can't be on your person unless you are on the vehicle or "Directly en route to" your vehicle. Getting off your bike does pose a problem or two.

The law actually says inside of a motor vehicle. I'm not sure how you can be "inside" a typical motorcycle, so I guess that's what's causing folks concern.

I don't think an LEO would make a distinction between inside and outside for a motorcycle rider, but the "directly en route to" part is pretty specific. It has to be between your home and your vehicle, and your vehicle and your place of business. That would not include a gun concealed inside a tankbag or on your person, carried into the local bike hangout/coffeeshop.

Given:

1. you cannot legally carry it concealed on your person on a motorcycle under MPA any other way than between between your house and bike, and bike and office;
2. you cannot (IMHO) get off your bike with the gun on your person between your home and place of business for any other reason (since getting off would constitute "exiting the vehicle");
3. you cannot even remove the tankbag holding the gun from the gas tank to fill up en route at a gas station;
4. a gun stored in a locked saddlebag or a zipped up tankbag is not readily or easily deployable;
5. a gun stored on the bike is not very well secured unless it is in your line of sight at all times, there is little or no practical value in carrying a gun on your bike between home and place of business unless you A) are not making any stops along the way; and B) your place of business permits you to bring the gun inside.

Let me make it perfectly clear that I am not against mixing guns and bikes. I would just hate to see somebody with a pending CHL get carted off to jail by an overzealous cop who couldn't think outside the box enough to deal in a sensible way with the specifics of how the law might apply to motorcycle carry. Since the OP has an alternate means of transportation which would permit him to carry under MPA to his heart's content without risking capricious application of the law by an LEO, and since there will still be plenty of good riding weather ahead after his CHL arrives, I just don't think the risk is worth the possible hassles of bike carry without a CHL.

wconn33 wrote:In the truck my gun rides between the seats beside my right leg for easy access, on the MC I cant see it being very effective to have to dig in my saddlebags if i ever need it. I am getting my CHL just waiting for work schedule and class schedules to line up.

I agree. In fact, one of the guys I know carries his Kimber in a trunk on the back of his Goldwing. Not exactly easily accessible.

For whatever my counsel is worth, I would counsel patience. You have a CHL application in process. You should have plastic in hand before spring is over. Still plenty of good riding weather after that. I wouldn't try to push the limits of MPA during this period. If things were to go against you in an encounter with an LEO, it could lead to revocation of your application/CHL. You can currently carry in your truck. Be satisfied with that for a temporary period. If you must have a gun on your motorcycle, do nothing in the interim that a cop could interpret as a violation of MPA.

That's just my 2¢. Your mileage may vary.

wconn33 wrote:While waiting to recieve a CHL is it permissable to CC on a motorcycle, is that considered to be the same as having a concealed weapon in your vehicle?

That's a good question.... You can carry on your person under MPA while inside your car, and between your residence and your car, and between your car and your place of business; but I don't know if the law is so clear when it comes to motorcycles. The problem, of course, is that if you're carrying on your person inside a car, it is fairly easy to disarm and conceal the gun in the car without it being seen by anyone else. Not so easy on a bike.

I do know a couple of different guys who do not have CHLs and who "carry" a gun on their bikes concealed in a tank bag or saddle bag, but they have the same problem if they are on a Saturday morning ride for breakfast somewhere. What do you do with the gun when you get there? It is presumably safe, locked in a saddlebag. Not so much if left in a tank bag on the bike, and if you carry the tank bag into the restaurant with you, then you're carrying concealed without a CHL...