Easterwood Airport College Station

[Noggin]

Last Wednesday evening I drove to Easterwood Airport with my wife to meet our daughter who is home on weekend leave from the Air Force. My wife and I and the two dogs were standing in the parking lot opposite the arrivals entrance. There was a cop there who we were having a conversation with, after a few minutes he noticed my OC and told me to go and lock my weapon in my vehicle. He explained that as the airport was Texas A&M property no open carry was allowed. I decided not to make a big issue of it at he was still being polite about it so I did as he said. At no time did he ask to see my LTC. As I was locking my truck another guy who was just pulling out in his car spoke to me to say he was surprised by this as he had heard of no such rule before. This was not the first time I had OC'd at that airport, about 2 months earlier I had sat inside the terminal building waiting for my wife's flight to land on that occasion nobody challenged me or passed any comments. I know on that earlier occasion there had been no 30:06 or 30:07 signs because I had looked for them, I don't know if there are any there now as I did not get close enough to the building to see any.

[george72]

"Easterwood Airport is owned by Texas A&M University (TAMU)."
https://www.flyeasterwood.com/about-us/

So yes, I would guess that "campus carry" would apply, if so then no OC is allowed (campus carry only allows concealed carry not open carry where/when designated by the campus).

[Liberty]

But is it a part of the campus? Is the property attached to the rest of the university? Apparently, they aren't using the airport for educational purposes. The OP should have been only asked to cover-up instead of having to go to his car.

[JustSomeOldGuy]

Governing document for Campus Carry Texas A&M College Station is http://rules-saps.tamu.edu/PDFs/34.06.02.M1.pdf which makes no mention of the airport. I am inferring from your statement that you carried at the airport previously, that there are no 30.06/30.07 signs posted at the airport. I'd further postulate that, out of the group composed of you and the security guard, that AT LEAST one of you has been misinformed in this case....

[george72]

http://rules-saps.tamu.edu/PDFs/34.06.02.M1.pdfn this case....

The doc says;

Campus - means all land and buildings owned or leased by Texas A&M.

and

3. The open carrying of handguns is prohibited everywhere on campus. Licensed peace
officers are authorized by law to carry firearms at all times.

No 30.07 sign is required to prohibit open carry on a campus, as it is outlawed completely as open carry was never allowed on campus when open carry was originally passed;

The changes enacted by House Bill 910 (Open Carry) are effective January 1, 2016. However, this law does not permit open carry on a university campus.

--

OP is lucky the cop was in a good mood. This is a great example of why prohibited places are silly.

[Liberty]

I honestly don't know, but just because TAMU claims it is a campus doesn't mean that it is legally a campus.

[Noggin]

I honestly don't know, but just because TAMU claims it is a campus doesn't mean that it is legally a campus.

This has me wondering when is campus not campus, TAMU owns a lot of land in this area not all of which is used for university buildings/activities.

[rotor]

How would the average person even know they were on a college campus? No signs. Glad the cop was nice so you didn't "take the ride" so they say.

[WTR]

The airport is listed on the campus map. Unless posted you could carry concealed there..... What's the big deal?

[Liberty]

The airport is listed on the campus map. Unless posted you could carry concealed there..... What's the big deal?

The unwary could believe it is OK to open carry on the property. The peoperty isn't posted 30.07.

[WTR]

I would have untucked my shirt ...Concealed.....problem solved.

[Jusme]

The airport is listed on the campus map. Unless posted you could carry concealed there..... What's the big deal?

The unwary could believe it is OK to open carry on the property. The peoperty isn't posted 30.07.

Yet another distinction that should have been clarified when the campus carry law was passed. What constitutes a campus? TAMU owns, and leases a lot of property for farming. Would someone be in violation if they happened to find themselves unknowingly on land miles away from any known campus?
I'm sure other universities are the same way. a lot of property is deeded to colleges, by deceased alumni. There needs to be a definitive definition of a campus.

The security guard was mistaken, in that even if it was part of the "campus" concealed carry was legal, unless posted.

[Keith B]

The airport is listed on the campus map. Unless posted you could carry concealed there..... What's the big deal?

The unwary could believe it is OK to open carry on the property. The peoperty isn't posted 30.07.

Yet another distinction that should have been clarified when the campus carry law was passed. What constitutes a campus? TAMU owns, and leases a lot of property for farming. Would someone be in violation if they happened to find themselves unknowingly on land miles away from any known campus?
I'm sure other universities are the same way. a lot of property is deeded to colleges, by deceased alumni. There needs to be a definitive definition of a campus.

The security guard was mistaken, in that even if it was part of the "campus" concealed carry was legal, unless posted.

See the post above where the document says 'Campus - means all land and buildings owned or leased by Texas A&M',

The document spells it out. Cop was correct in that they do not allow open carry and the land does not have to be posted. However, unless posted, the OP had not been given notice until he was notified by the TAMU police officer. When he was, he could have said 'Oops, unaware and will conceal', but he may not have had a method to cover it up if it was a large gun and he did not have a way to do so with the clothing he was wearing.

[Noggin]

The document spells it out. Cop was correct in that they do not allow open carry and the land does not have to be posted. However, unless posted, the OP had not been given notice until he was notified by the TAMU police officer. When he was, he could have said 'Oops, unaware and will conceal', but he may not have had a method to cover it up if it was a large gun and he did not have a way to do so with the clothing he was wearing.

I thought of trying to cover up but I was not wearing a loose shirt so there would have been some very blatant printing. I did not want to provoke the situation with my wife there, especially as while we were talking my daughter's flight had just landed. Therefore it was easier to walk the 30 yds across the lot to my truck and put the weapon in my console vault. I untuck and cover whenever I go to HEB or Whataburger.

This is what I was carrying that night:

[aero10]

But is it a part of the campus? Is the property attached to the rest of the university? Apparently, they aren't using the airport for educational purposes. The OP should have been only asked to cover-up instead of having to go to his car.

Yes it is attached. There are multiple labs on airport property over at the general aviation terminal. The airport is also, or was up until recently, used for educational purposes because the Aerospace Engineering Department has a flight research lab at a hangar on the general aviation ramp that they performed flight testing out of.