Open carry in vehicles

[PaJ]

I think how to define "carrying" is the rub. The bill requires a "belt or shoulder holster". If I get in my car and want to make my weapon more accessible, I cannot put it in a holster mounted in some other fashion and have it 'open'. So now, I would have to resort to the CC laws currently in place. OC should make our lives easier, even for those who don't often open carry.

I'm still not getting the issue. Open carry, does not mean open display on your dashboard or anywhere. As noted earlier, just cover it up as we have always been doing. A non-issue IMO.

here's the beauty of this particular thread. For some it's a non issue. For others it's a stumbling block. But we are all pulling for the same goal. Personally I'd like to find new ways to comfortably and legally carry in my truck. If what you do today works for you that is great. We both just want a solution that works for us and they aren't far apart.

Now the pot I stirred on my Facebook this week regarding campus carry is another story.

[mr1337]

Works out for everyone because when he asks you to step out of the car the "shoulder belt holster" stays with the car

Wouldn't change the classification of the holster. A belt holster that's inside the car would still be a belt holster.

I'm contemplating doing this to my Grassburr mountable holster. It's not a belt or shoulder holster in any sense of the word, but it is a holster securely mounted to the car. And it covers the trigger just as well as any other holster. If I sew on some belt loops, it will become a belt holster.

Only thing is, I'd hate to damage an otherwise superb holster due to some finicky verbiage in the law. I really hope they get rid of the "belt or shoulder" requirement part of the holster.

[Jumping Frog]

I think how to define "carrying" is the rub. The bill requires a "belt or shoulder holster". If I get in my car and want to make my weapon more accessible, I cannot put it in a holster mounted in some other fashion and have it 'open'. So now, I would have to resort to the CC laws currently in place. OC should make our lives easier, even for those who don't often open carry.

I'm still not getting the issue. Open carry, does not mean open display on your dashboard or anywhere. As noted earlier, just cover it up as we have always been doing. A non-issue IMO.

Reminds me of a statute change about six years ago in Ohio regarding CHL's and their loaded handguns in vehicles.

When concealed carry first passed in 2004, there were poison pill-type restrictions about how the loaded handgun had to be carried in the car by licensees. A later bill sought to remove all restrictions on how a licensee could carry their handgun in the car. A representative from the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) testified that the lack of controls would make it legal for someone to drive down the road twirling the gun on their finger or simply placing it up on the dash. Just another variation on the "blood in the streets" hysteria that antigunners always roll out to oppose any expansion of liberty. (The OSHP is as anti gun freedom as Austin's Acevedo.)

Of course, years later, there never was the blood in the streets and how licensees transported their handgun has never been an issue. Politicians still have an instinct to control when basic liberty seems to be the better answer.

[lws380]

I use my Concealed Caddy® for vehicle carry. It works well, totally concealed, and easy access while driving. It is portable to any vehicle and nothing to mount. This is one made in Bison (buffalo). There is a video here showing how they work--www.concealedcaddy.com

[JKTex]

This sill doesn't make sense. It's about carry, not storage.

Storage has nothing to do with concealed or open carry. The requirements for keeping a handgun out of plain sight in a car apply to anyone with a handgun in a car, not just CHL holders.

Open or concealed carry in a car is no different than out of a car, you'd still wear, or carry the same way, or you'll store it out of plain sight as would anyone, CHL or not.

[hillfighter]

I'm opposed to unlicensed open carry in vehicles. If people with a handgun license aren't allowed to open carry, it makes even less sense to allow unlicensed people to open carry in their cars.

[JKTex]

Argghhhh..... the text in SB17 addresses carrying in a vehicle:

• "SECTION 45. Section 46.02(a-1), Penal Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
  (a-1) A person commits an offense if the person
  intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or
  her person a handgun in a motor vehicle or watercraft that is owned
  by the person or under the person's control at any time in which:
  (1) the handgun is in plain view, unless the person is
  licensed to carry a handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411,
  Government Code, and the handgun is carried in a shoulder or belt
  holster..."

So if they pass open carry, and you carry in your car, it STILL has to be in a holster.

All this is is amending what deals with storage in a car as it would continue to do when including open carry by a license holder.

Once you get in a car and unholster, nothing changes, the "in plain view" part, when not on your person doesn't change. I think this thread is just a misunderstanding.

Based on this, a licenced person can carry in their car the same way they do out of their car. When you disarm is when it must be stored out of plain view, which is the law now as it will continue to be because you are no longer carrying when you remove it from your person.

[Ruark]

Argghhhh..... the text in SB17 addresses carrying in a vehicle:

• "SECTION 45. Section 46.02(a-1), Penal Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
  (a-1) A person commits an offense if the person
  intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or
  her person a handgun in a motor vehicle or watercraft that is owned
  by the person or under the person's control at any time in which:
  (1) the handgun is in plain view, unless the person is
  licensed to carry a handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411,
  Government Code, and the handgun is carried in a shoulder or belt
  holster..."

So if they pass open carry, and you carry in your car, it STILL has to be in a holster.

All this is is amending what deals with storage in a car as it would continue to do when including open carry by a license holder.

Once you get in a car and unholster, nothing changes, the "in plain view" part, when not on your person doesn't change. I think this thread is just a misunderstanding.

Based on this, a licenced person can carry in their car the same way they do out of their car. When you disarm is when it must be stored out of plain view, which is the law now as it will continue to be because you are no longer carrying when you remove it from your person.

I see exactly what you mean, but it still seems somewhat fuzzy. Presently, even if you have a CHL, the gun must be concealed, whether it's in a vehicle or walking along a sidewalk. If you can legally open carry, however, it's clearly visible, but must be in a holster. The point here, I'm assuming, is that you can't walk down the street waving a gun around in your hand, because that could cause alarm. It's different when you're in your vehicle, say, placing the gun on the seat next to you, or in the map pocket or maybe an open compartment in the center console. That's different from strolling into a restaurant holding a 1911 in your hand. We're kinda splitting hairs here, I know....

[JKTex]

It's not splitting hairs at all. As soon as you get in the car and take the gun off of your person, regardless of how it was worn/carried, you're no longer talking about carry, you're talking about storage in the car and everything changes. No matter what, it must be out of plain view.

That's why this discussion is confusing, it started out without acknowledging carry and storage are 2 different things. That's what ends the thread.

[poppo]

It's not splitting hairs at all. As soon as you get in the car and take the gun off of your person, regardless of how it was worn/carried, you're no longer talking about carry, you're talking about storage in the car and everything changes. No matter what, it must be out of plain view.

Yep, it really is that simple. I just don't understand why some people think open carry=open display when not being carried.