TX State Law Library Only CC Guide - Flipbook - Page 17
WHAT CONDUCT IS PROHIBITED UNDER
TEXAS CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY?
General Note on Open Carrying
In addition to other criminal acts located in the Texas Penal Code and elsewhere—a person openly
carrying a handgun under the authority of Texas Constitutional Carry must keep the handgun holstered!
A handgun should not leave the holster unless the person is acting in justified defense (see Texas
Penal Code Chapter 9) or other lawful activity.
Brandishing
A person cannot display a firearm (including a handgun) in a manner calculated to “alarm.” People
commonly call the display of a handgun “brandishing” although this word is not used in the Texas
Penal Code. Texas law criminalizes the general display of a firearm as either disorderly conduct or
deadly conduct. If a person intentionally or knowingly displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in
a public place in a manner calculated to alarm, this is an act of disorderly conduct. The complicated
language of Tex. Penal Code Sec. 42.01(a)(8) went uninterpreted by the appellate courts for
decades. However, in May 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals finally clarified the proper
standard to apply to the conduct of a person who displays a deadly weapon, including a firearm, in
public. “[T]o be guilty of disorderly conduct under Penal Code Section 42.01(a)(8), a person must
intentionally and knowingly display a firearm in a public place in a manner that he knows is likely,
under an objective standard of reasonableness, to frighten the average, ordinary person.” State v.
Ross, 573 S.W.3d 817, 825 (Tex. Crim. App. 2019).
Carrying While Intoxicated
An unlicensed person commits an offense if the person carries a handgun while the person is
intoxicated and is not: A) on their own property or property under their control or on private
property with the consent of the owner of the property; or B) inside of or directly en route to a motor
vehicle or watercraft: (i) that is owned by the person or under their control; or (ii) with the consent of
the owner or operator of the vehicle or watercraft. Tex. Penal Code Sec. 46.02(a-6)(1).
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TEXAS CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY GUIDE 2022
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