Texas

Confirmed via an official-mirror fetch of Texas Penal Code §46.02: subsection (a-5) exempts a handgun 'carried in a holster' from the unlawful-display prohibition, and the general carrying offense itself no longer applies to eligible persons 21+ following HB 1927 ('constitutional carry'), effective Sept 1, 2021. A holster is required for lawful open carry.

Texas Penal Code §46.03's list of statutorily prohibited places does not include churches — a place of worship is ordinary private property. The owner/church can bar license holders only via the standard §30.06 (concealed) / §30.07 (open) written notice or signage, same as any business; carrying after such notice is criminal trespass by a license holder, not a churches-specific offense. Separately, 2019 legislation (post-Sutherland Springs) clarified rules for church-organized volunteer security teams, but did not change the baseline rule for ordinary CHL holders.

Texas's well-known "51% rule": it is a felony to carry on the premises of a business that derives more than 51% of its revenue from on-premises alcohol sales (a "51% establishment" — colloquially a bar/nightclub), required to post a specific statutory sign. An ordinary restaurant under that threshold is not covered, and absent 30.06/30.07 trespass signage, carry there is lawful. Corroborated via a well-sourced tertiary summary citing Gov't Code § 411.204/Penal Code § 46.03/Alc. Bev. Code § 11.49; raw statute text was not independently fetched during this session.

Texas has statewide permitless carry for qualifying adults 21+ (since 9/1/2021); Texas Penal Code treats a 'watercraft' the same as a motor vehicle for carry purposes, and a License to Carry holder (or permitless carrier) may carry in/on a watercraft they own or control, or with the operator's consent. The only carve-outs found relate to intoxication, criminal activity, and criminal-street-gang membership (Tex. Penal Code §§ 46.02, 46.04, 46.15) — none specific to recreational boating.

Penal Code §46.03(a)(3) bars carrying (even with a License to Carry, which subsection (f) expressly says is not a defense) 'on the premises of any government court or offices utilized by the court,' unless the court's own written regulations or authorization allow it. This reaches courts and court offices specifically, not general government buildings — a DMV office or city hall is not listed in §46.03 and is governed instead by Texas's ordinary posted-notice (30.06/30.07) framework if the owning agency chooses to post.

Senate Bill 11 ("Campus Carry," effective Aug. 1, 2016 for 4-year institutions, Aug. 1, 2017 for community colleges) requires PUBLIC universities to let License-to-Carry holders carry concealed handguns in most campus buildings, though the school may adopt reasonable, non-prohibitive location rules. PRIVATE institutions may opt out entirely by adopting a rule banning weapons after consultation, and many major private Texas universities (e.g., Rice, SMU, TCU, Baylor) have done exactly that.

Under Texas Penal Code §§ 30.06 (concealed) and 30.07 (open carry), entering a private business with a licensed handgun is criminal trespass ONLY after the license holder receives effective written notice (the specific card-stock '30.06' sign with statutory language/lettering) or oral notice and fails to leave. Absent that specific notice, carrying in an ordinary retail or grocery store is lawful.

Textbook opt-out model: Texas Penal Code 30.05 (criminal trespass) combined with the licensee-specific notice statutes 30.06 (concealed) and 30.07 (open carry) make clear that a license holder commits trespass ONLY after the property has been posted with the statutory sign or after oral/written notice is given — carry is presumptively allowed on private property (including a private residence) absent such notice.

Texas's carry-restrictions statute is confirmed by two independent secondary sources (usacarry.com and Wikipedia's 'Gun laws in Texas') as restricting handguns only 'in secured areas of an airport' — the well-known Texas Penal Code § 46.03 provision. Non-secure public terminal areas (ticketing, baggage claim, curbside) are not restricted for a License to Carry holder.

Texas has had permitless (constitutional) carry since September 1, 2021 (HB 1927) for anyone 21+ who is not otherwise prohibited. Independently, Texas has long exempted carrying a handgun while 'inside of or directly en route to a motor vehicle... owned by the person or under the person's control' from the general unlawful-carry statute.

Tex. Penal Code §46.03(a) bars carrying on the premises of a hospital licensed under Health & Safety Code ch.241, a nursing facility licensed under ch.242, or a 'mental hospital' as defined by Health & Safety Code §571.003 — UNLESS the person has written authorization from that facility's administration. That prohibition applies regardless of whether the hospital is publicly or privately owned. Critically, it does NOT reach a standalone doctor's office or clinic that isn't part of a licensed hospital — those fall under ordinary private-property trespass rules (the 30.06/30.07 posted-notice regime), so carry there is generally allowed unless the office has posted the statutory sign. So: hospital = no by default; independent doctor's office = yes by default.

Texas is permitless-carry (21+, LTC still available/required for reciprocity purposes). Tex. Penal Code §46.03's 14-category prohibited-place list (schools, polling places, courts, racetracks, secured airport areas, correctional/civil-commitment facilities, hospitals, amusement parks, certain government meetings) has no rest-area entry, and vehicle carry is separately protected. Verified against the statute text directly.

Tex. Gov't Code § 411.205 (confirmed directly via texas.public.law): "If a license holder is carrying a handgun ... when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder display identification, the license holder shall display" both regular ID and the handgun license. Reactive, triggered specifically by a demand for identification — not a freestanding duty to announce possession, and there is no statutory penalty if a license holder isn't asked for ID and says nothing. Acts 2021, 87th Leg., eff. Sept. 1, 2021.

Texas DPS FAQ, answering whether Texas residency is required: "No. Per Texas Government Code §411.173, legal residents of another state or persons who relocate to Texas with the intent to establish residency may obtain an LTC," after completing required training in Texas and submitting all supporting documents.

Tex. Penal Code §46.03(a) bans possessing/going with a firearm on K-12 school premises; unlike some other Texas carry contexts, License to Carry (LTC) holders get NO exception here — the only way in is written authorization from the school itself. A locked, out-of-sight vehicle exception exists in the parking area (Tex. Educ. Code §37.0815).

Tex. Penal Code § 30.06 (concealed) / § 30.07 (open carry) make it a Class C misdemeanor (fine up to $200) for a license holder to carry onto property after 'notice that entry... was forbidden' — which includes a statutorily-compliant posted sign, a card, or oral notice; no request to leave is required for this base offense. It escalates to a Class A misdemeanor only if, after entry, the license holder is personally given oral notice by the owner/agent and then fails to depart. Note the sign must meet specific statutory formatting (contrasting colors, specific language, minimum letter size, English and Spanish) to count as effective notice — a generic 'no guns' sign that doesn't comply may not trigger liability.

Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 229.001(a) (municipalities) / § 236.002 (counties): local governments may not adopt regulations on firearm transfer, ownership, keeping, transport, licensing, or registration. Named local exceptions: discharge, riot/disaster emergencies, and carrying in public parks/government meetings/certain non-hunting sporting events.

Texas Penal Code § 46.03(a)(2) makes it a felony to possess a firearm on the premises of a polling place on election day or during early voting; subsection (f) expressly states it is NOT a defense that the person held a license to carry a handgun under Government Code Ch. 411 Subch. H — i.e., CHL/LTC holders are explicitly NOT exempted.

No state-level magazine capacity restriction found.

No state ERPO/red flag law. RECENT: Texas SB 1362 ('Anti-Red Flag Act'), signed June 2025, bars Texas courts from issuing/enforcing civil ERPOs (felony penalties for a judge who does so), while leaving criminal-case and domestic-violence-related firearm removal intact.

No additional state restriction beyond the federal NFA process. Texas Penal Code § 46.05 prohibits machine guns and destructive devices UNLESS registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record — an explicit statutory defense. SBR/SBS were removed from Texas's prohibited-weapons scheme entirely by SB 1596, effective Sept. 1, 2025 — simple possession is no longer a state Penal Code offense at all (federal NFA registration still required). Texas's 2021 'Texas Firearm Suppressor Act' theory exempting TX-made suppressors from federal jurisdiction was rejected by the 5th Circuit in 2024, so the full federal NFA process still applies. Pre-1986 transferable machine guns legal if federally registered.

Stand Your Ground by statute: Tex. Penal Code §§ 9.31(e); 9.32(c) — no duty to retreat.

No Texas statute requires background checks on private firearm transfers; Texas also broadly preempts local firearm regulation. Confirmed via absence from Giffords' UBC list.

House Bill 957 (87th Legislature) removed firearm silencers from the Penal Code §46.05 prohibited-weapons list entirely, effective September 1, 2021 — there is no remaining Texas offense at all, so no federal defense is even needed.

Penal Code §46.05 still lists machine guns as a prohibited weapon; §46.05(c) makes full compliance with the National Firearms Act only an affirmative defense to prosecution, so the owner bears the burden of proving federal registration if charged, rather than a clean statutory exemption.

Senate Bill 1596 (89th Legislature) removed 'short-barrel firearm' (Penal Code §46.01's definition covers both rifles under 16" and shotguns under 18") from the §46.05 prohibited-weapons list, applying to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025.

The same SB 1596 removal of 'short-barrel firearm' from §46.05, effective September 1, 2025, covers shotguns as well as rifles under the statute's single definition.

AOWs aren't on the §46.05 list (legal), but 'explosive weapon' (destructive device) remains listed, with full NFA compliance available only as an affirmative defense under §46.05(c) — the same burden-shifting structure Texas still applies to machine guns.