stealthyeliminator
Regular Member
Yeah, I'm not trying to get way off topic, or act like we have it so rough here compared to the rest of the US, but Texas is pretty bad when you think about it. To carry a handgun at all outside of your car in public, you have to have a CHL. What a lot of people don't realize is that when you do get a CHL, you gain the "privilege" of carrying your handgun but you actually forfeit other rights (to me, pretty important ones, at that...). For example, in Texas you don't have to ID yourself to law enforcement unless you are actually placed under arrest. Get your CHL and happen to be carrying? Not anymore.
The way the statute is phrased it would seem that you not only have to present your CHL along with your DL, you actually have to present it any time law enforcement demands it, whether they have RAS or PC or nothing at all. It simply says that when a LEO demands ID you must present both. Not when a LEO lawfully demands ID, but when a LEO demands ID. And then the disarmament statute, and then that they can (AND WILL) run your gun's serial number when they disarm you.
So now, they can simply walk up to you without RAS or PC and demand ID. You must legally present your CHL. Now they want to disarm you "for their safety" per Sec. 411.207. Now that they've legally disarmed you and are in "lawful possession of" the firearm, it isn't considered an unlawful search to check the serial number. Conclusion? The CHL laws need major reform.
Sec. 411.205. REQUIREMENT TO DISPLAY LICENSE. If a license holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder display identification, the license holder shall display both the license holder's driver's license or identification certificate issued by the department and the license holder's handgun license.
This is one reason that many people in Texas refuse to get their CHL, they do not want to (and should not have to) forfeit one set of rights to be able to exercise another.
The way the statute is phrased it would seem that you not only have to present your CHL along with your DL, you actually have to present it any time law enforcement demands it, whether they have RAS or PC or nothing at all. It simply says that when a LEO demands ID you must present both. Not when a LEO lawfully demands ID, but when a LEO demands ID. And then the disarmament statute, and then that they can (AND WILL) run your gun's serial number when they disarm you.
So now, they can simply walk up to you without RAS or PC and demand ID. You must legally present your CHL. Now they want to disarm you "for their safety" per Sec. 411.207. Now that they've legally disarmed you and are in "lawful possession of" the firearm, it isn't considered an unlawful search to check the serial number. Conclusion? The CHL laws need major reform.
Sec. 411.205. REQUIREMENT TO DISPLAY LICENSE. If a license holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder display identification, the license holder shall display both the license holder's driver's license or identification certificate issued by the department and the license holder's handgun license.
This is one reason that many people in Texas refuse to get their CHL, they do not want to (and should not have to) forfeit one set of rights to be able to exercise another.