TexasCHLforum.com

8-6 Weapons and Concealed Handguns

The department prohibits all persons who enter department property from carrying a handgun,

firearm or prohibited weapon of any kind onto the property unless the person is licensed to

carry a concealed handgun and are complying with their license. Prohibited weapons include

any form of weapons or explosive restricted under local, state and federal regulation including

all firearms, illegal knives, or other weapons covered by the law. Employees are held

responsible for making sure that any potential item they possess or carry is not prohibited by

this policy.

It is not a violation of this policy for employees to carry concealed handguns on department

property provided they are licensed in accordance with the Texas Government Code §411.172

and are complying with their license. Employees and visitors must abide by all applicable state

and federal laws, including that:

 the handgun is kept concealed at all times, except in a life-threatening situation,

 the license is current and valid, and

 handguns must not be carried where prohibited by any state or federal law, which specifically

includes Texas Penal Code, Chapter 46. This statute prohibits concealed handguns at any

meeting of a government entity, among other prohibited locations. Any violation of any law

concerning concealed handguns (such as a handgun in plain sight, or any other violation) will

be referred to law enforcement authorities.

The revised policy above is now even a little more friendly sounding, so to speak. They also clarified that weapons means only those restricted by law, whereas before it was open to interpretation whether a simple pocket knife could be construed as a weapon. It is scheduled to go into effect June 17th.

Saintango wrote:[quote rule is not a violviolation for employees who lawfully possess firearms to transport and store firearms in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle while parked in a parking lot, garage, or other employee parking area provided by the department

Is this applying to refinery parking lots? Does anyone know?[/quote]

TxDOT does not have any rule making authority over refineries, and in any case couldn't supercede state law. The applicable portion of state law would apply to those lots.

dicion wrote:I'm still seeing it being prohibited here on page 8:

http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-in ... onduct.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently they haven't updated that link since Nov 2011. There have been several revisions since then, including the Dec 2012 update. The text in my OP was directly cut and pasted from the internal online manual.

I don't work in the field, so I carry iwb and with a tucked shirt. Sounds like you need long shirts or consider carrying iwb to make less of it show if it gets accidently exposed. Maybe pocket carry would be a good idea.

What office did you contact in Austin? I would check with maybe OGC for their legal interpretation. Not sure if HR will get you too far.

I don't find anything in the policy that gives the DDOR authority to require a copy of your license, or for that matter to even require you to tell them you are carrying. That sounds to me like they are freelancing beyond their authority, much like the HOU district did when they said they wouldn't post directions to the gunshows on the traffic information signs. They were slapped down by HQ after the press heard that.

I've been carrying since they changed the policy, and nobody in any of the Austin HQ type offices has asked for anything and I haven't found the need to tell a single person I am carrying. Did your district send out a memo saying people needed to show their license or something like that? How did it come up?

We have at least one warning per year that someone was fired or quit and we should be on heightened alert, so I am glad to be carrying. Fortunately nothing has ever come of it, but better safe than sorry.

The meetings thing, as I interpret it, is like the statute and means an official meeting of something like the Texas transportation commission where elected or appointed government officials are present, not something simple like a team or even DDOR meeting.

Agreed, which is why I haven't mentioned to anyone I know there that we are now allowed to carry, even those I know to have CHLs. It's not worth the risk to have anyone I know there think I might be carrying. I'm going to have to experiment more with tucked carry options. I always carried untucked since I wasn't at work.

Purplehood wrote:

Employees who are licensed to carry a concealed handgun and who choose to carry a handgun while on department property are subject to immediate disciplinary action, up to and including termination, I mentioned in andgun becomes visible, unless acting in response to a life-threatening event. In such a case, an automatic investigation will be triggered to review the employee's handling of the situation.

Major step in the right direction, but this paragraph really annoys me. In reality it should read much like the law, in as much as it should say, 'intentional unconcealment' or something to that effect.

I fully agree, and it concerns me to the point I wonder if some people will be looking to get others in trouble over this. I am hoping most employees like that won't even notice the change happened. The email they sent out mentioned about a dozen unrelated changes first and then it didn't say chl holders were allowed to carry, it just said they were updating the policy in accordance with government code, Chapter 411. You had to actually go to the online manual to read that it is now allowed. I posted this here in part because a lot of people don't read the administrative announcements and I didn't want any chl holders to miss it.

TxDOT has finally amended their employee handbook to state that concealed carry is permissible for employees. Previously, they were not posted 30.06 as they weren't allowed to by law, but they did have an employee policy that did not allow for concealed carry even though the public is allowed to carry there. TxDOT is allowed to have up to 12,293 employees, so a large number of Texans may now carry without worrying about violating policy now, if they have their CHL.

Here is the updated policy.

Weapons

Employees will not carry or keep firearms or any other weapons on department property, except as allowed below, while on duty or while representing the department. Failure to comply with this policy will subject that individual to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

It is not a violation for employees who lawfully possess firearms to transport and store firearms in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle while parked in a parking lot, garage, or other employee parking area provided by the department.

It is not a violation for employees or visitors to carry concealed handguns on department property if they are licensed in accordance with Texas Government Code, Chapter 411, Subchapter H. Employees and visitors must abide by all applicable state and federal laws, including that:

·    the handgun is kept concealed at all times, except to act in a life-threatening situation

·    the license is current and valid, and

·    handguns must not be carried where prohibited by any state or federal law, which specifically includes Texas Penal Code, Chapter 46. This statute prohibits concealed handguns at any meeting of a government entity, among other prohibited locations. Any violation of any law concerning concealed handguns (such as a handgun in plain sight, or any other violation) will be referred to law enforcement authorities.

Employees who are licensed to carry a concealed handgun and who choose to carry a handgun while on department property are subject to immediate disciplinary action, up to and including termination, if their handgun becomes visible, unless acting in response to a life-threatening event. In such a case, an automatic investigation will be triggered to review the employee's handling of the situation.

Employees must not provoke or challenge anyone displaying or recklessly carrying a handgun, but must report the incident to building security or law enforcement personnel when and where it is safe to do so.

…

Definitions

Concealed handgun

A handgun, the presence of which is not openly discernible to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person.

Weapon

Any instrument used to threaten, or cause injury or death to another person.