Although most bills passed by the Texas Legislature become effective either 90 days after the legislative session ends (typically in the last week of August) or on September 1, it is important to remind Texas CHL holders that the open carry bill is not effective until January 1, 2016. The old law regarding concealed carry remains in effect until that time and open carry will continue to be illegal until then.
CAMPUS CARRY IS EFFECTIVE FOR NEXT SCHOOL YEAR FOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND FOR THE 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Major Second Amendment bills passed by the Legislature
The 2015 legislative session was a banner year for Second Amendment rights in Texas, with three major Second Amendment bills being signed into law. Texans who have a license to carry a handgun will now be able to open carry, carry a concealed handgun on campuses of public colleges, and be free from their own government misleading them about where they can exercise their Second Amendment rights on government property. The authors of these bills did a very good job of sticking to their guns (as it were), only compromising on provisions that would have kept the bills from having enough votes to pass, while ensuring that the individual rights of Texans were advanced.
HB 910 (Open Carry)
Starting January 1, Texans who are licensed to carry a handgun will be allowed to openly carry in a secured holster.
The Open Carry bill, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Abbott, essentially takes the current “concealed carry” law and removes the provision requiring a licensed carrier to conceal their weapon. Under this law, a person who is licensed to carry a handgun in Texas will now be able to carry it openly anywhere where carrying is not explicitly prohibited.
The bill maintains the current licensing procedure, and adds a requirement that any openly carried handgun be secured in a holster (including shoulder or belt holsters).
As was the case with the prior law, property rights of landowners and businesses will be respected – the owner can post a 30.06 sign stating that concealed carry is not allowed on their property, and the new law creates a “30.07” sign stating that a person may not openly carry on the property. Disregarding these notices will continue to be a trespass. Property owners should note that the required language has changed, and they will have to change their signs before January 1 if they wish to continue to bar licensed carry on their property.
While most laws become effective 90 days after the session ends or on September 1, it is important for gun owners to remember that the Open Carry law is effective January 1, 2016, not on September 1. The old concealed carry law remains into effect until then.
SB 11 (Campus Carry)
Once this bill takes effect, Texans will now be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights on public college campuses. The bill was authored by the representative from our neighboring district, Rep. Allen Fletcher.
When this bill becomes effective (August 1, 2016 for public universities, and August 1, 2017 for community colleges), handgun license holders will be able to carry on campus. Licensees will continue to have to be 21 years of age.
The primary difference between the Campus Carry bill and what the Open Carry bill allows in the rest of the state is that the Campus Carry bill will continue to require that handguns on campuses be concealed.
An amendment to the bill will allow colleges to establish “reasonable rules” regarding concealed carry on campus so long as they don’t have the effect of generally barring guns from the campus. Following the policy of respecting private property rights, the bill would allow private colleges and universities to bar handguns from campus if they wish.
SB 973 (Improper 30.06 posting by government)
Regardless of the issue, it is completely unacceptable for any level of government to lie to you about what your rights are. Yet, there have been local governments that have posted 30.06 signs barring handguns on government property where the law did not allow them to bar firearms.
Some local governments seem to have randomly put up signs anywhere they didn’t want Texans to carry. In other cases, local governments would post signs on the front door barring licensed carry from the entire building (such as a courthouse or county administration building), even though guns could only be banned from certain areas (such as courtrooms where hearings were taking place or where a governmental body is meeting).
SB 973 will hopefully stop this practice by creating stiff fines for governments that post signs banning licensed carry in places where the law requires Second Amendment rights to be honored. Prior to this new law, there was no penalty for a governmental entity that put up a sign barring licensed carry from a place where Texans were legally allowed to carry.
Under the new law, any citizen or license holder can file a complaint with the attorney general that a government-posted 30.06 sign purports to bar the licensed carry of handguns in a place where the government has no right to ban them. The government will then have 15 days to remove the signs or the attorney general can sue to collect the fine. The law applies to both state and local governments. It does not apply to private property owners, who can continue to ban firearms on their property.
Unlike the other Second Amendment bills passed this session, this bill is effective September 1.
District Office
The work doesn’t stop just because the legislative session is over. I will continue to work throughout the interim to see that the interests of Texas taxpayers are served, and especially those of Katy and Cy-Fair. Don’t forget that you can always reach me, or my District Director Sarah Singleton, at our district office in the HCC Campus at 1550 Foxlake Drive, Suite 120. That’s just north of I-10, off of Park Row, between Fry Road and Greenhouse. The phone number is (281) 578-8484.
As always, please feel free to forward this email to your friends. If you or someone you know would like to be added to our distribution list, you can email repmikeschofield@gmail.com. Similarly, if you would like to be removed from our distribution list, send us an email and we will remove you promptly.
I want to hear from YOU! In order to better represent you, I need to know what issues matter to you or what concerns you and your family. If you have any questions or comments about legislation or the legislative process, you can email us HERE.
Thank you again for allowing me the honor of representing you. Please let me know if there’s anything that my office can to do be of service to you.
God bless Texas!
Mike Schofield
State Representative
House District 132
Katy & Cypress