TexasCHLforum.com

I have tried to do many searches about my dilemma but nothing with my question ever came up. After finding this forum and reading everyone here seems knowledgable and hopefully my question can be answered here.

I used to live in Texas but had to move back to Commyfornia (California). I have a Texas CHL prior to moving out of state and submitted a change of address to DPS for the CHL with my CA address now.

The question I have is: since I am out of state but still have a valid Texas CHL, if I were to travel to Texas can I still carry? Would I be able to purchase a firearm in Texas even though I have a CA drivers license but a Texas CHL?

Thanks for all your help.

Welcome to the forum. Yes, Texas issues non-resident CHL's, so your license will still be valid in Texas and any other state Texas has reciprocity with for non-resident licenses. Some states such as Colorado and Florida will honor resident licenses, but not non-resident licenses.

As for buying a firearm, you would not be able to purchase a handgun in Texas without shipping it to a dealer or FFL in California and following their laws. That is a Federal law on handguns. You would be able to buy a long gun though. However, you would need to follow California laws when taking it back there to make sure it's legal.

Keith B wrote:Welcome to the forum. Yes, Texas issues non-resident CHL's, so your license will still be valid in Texas and any other state Texas has reciprocity with for non-resident licenses. Some states such as Colorado and Florida will honor resident licenses, but not non-resident licenses.

As for buying a firearm, you would not be able to purchase a handgun in Texas without shipping it to a dealer or FFL in California and following their laws. That is a Federal law on handguns. You would be able to buy a long gun though. However, you would need to follow California laws when taking it back there to make sure it's legal.

Is that because California law does not allow that purchase of a handgun directly for example, at a gun dealer in Texas?

Glockster wrote:

Keith B wrote:Welcome to the forum. Yes, Texas issues non-resident CHL's, so your license will still be valid in Texas and any other state Texas has reciprocity with for non-resident licenses. Some states such as Colorado and Florida will honor resident licenses, but not non-resident licenses.

As for buying a firearm, you would not be able to purchase a handgun in Texas without shipping it to a dealer or FFL in California and following their laws. That is a Federal law on handguns. You would be able to buy a long gun though. However, you would need to follow California laws when taking it back there to make sure it's legal.

Is that because California law does not allow that purchase of a handgun directly for example, at a gun dealer in Texas?

California has some additional requirements about verifying the FFLness, but the basic requirement is Federal law. It also gives the CA FFL the chance to collect CA sales tax, money they desperately need, as well as restrict purchases to guns on the DOJ approved list, and compliance with other peculiarities of CA law.

Glockster wrote:

Keith B wrote:Welcome to the forum. Yes, Texas issues non-resident CHL's, so your license will still be valid in Texas and any other state Texas has reciprocity with for non-resident licenses. Some states such as Colorado and Florida will honor resident licenses, but not non-resident licenses.

As for buying a firearm, you would not be able to purchase a handgun in Texas without shipping it to a dealer or FFL in California and following their laws. That is a Federal law on handguns. You would be able to buy a long gun though. However, you would need to follow California laws when taking it back there to make sure it's legal.

Is that because California law does not allow that purchase of a handgun directly for example, at a gun dealer in Texas?

FEDERAL law prohibits handgun purchases outside your home State without shipping them via a home-State FFL.

https://www.atf.gov/questions-and-answe ... -any-state

RoyGBiv wrote:

Glockster wrote:

Keith B wrote:Welcome to the forum. Yes, Texas issues non-resident CHL's, so your license will still be valid in Texas and any other state Texas has reciprocity with for non-resident licenses. Some states such as Colorado and Florida will honor resident licenses, but not non-resident licenses.

As for buying a firearm, you would not be able to purchase a handgun in Texas without shipping it to a dealer or FFL in California and following their laws. That is a Federal law on handguns. You would be able to buy a long gun though. However, you would need to follow California laws when taking it back there to make sure it's legal.

Is that because California law does not allow that purchase of a handgun directly for example, at a gun dealer in Texas?

FEDERAL law prohibits handgun purchases outside your home State without shipping them via a home-State FFL.

https://www.atf.gov/questions-and-answe ... -any-state

So what about what this which indicates that the law was overturned?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... /?page=all:

The Washington Times - Wednesday, February 11, 2015
"A federal district court in Texas overturned a 1968 gun law prohibiting the sale of handguns to out-of-state residents, granting those who live in Washington, D.C., the ability to travel to an out-of-state gun store, buy a handgun and bring it home without a middleman."

Glockster wrote:

RoyGBiv wrote:

Glockster wrote:

Keith B wrote:Welcome to the forum. Yes, Texas issues non-resident CHL's, so your license will still be valid in Texas and any other state Texas has reciprocity with for non-resident licenses. Some states such as Colorado and Florida will honor resident licenses, but not non-resident licenses.

As for buying a firearm, you would not be able to purchase a handgun in Texas without shipping it to a dealer or FFL in California and following their laws. That is a Federal law on handguns. You would be able to buy a long gun though. However, you would need to follow California laws when taking it back there to make sure it's legal.

Is that because California law does not allow that purchase of a handgun directly for example, at a gun dealer in Texas?

FEDERAL law prohibits handgun purchases outside your home State without shipping them via a home-State FFL.

https://www.atf.gov/questions-and-answe ... -any-state

So what about what this which indicates that the law was overturned?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... /?page=all:

The Washington Times - Wednesday, February 11, 2015
"A federal district court in Texas overturned a 1968 gun law prohibiting the sale of handguns to out-of-state residents, granting those who live in Washington, D.C., the ability to travel to an out-of-state gun store, buy a handgun and bring it home without a middleman."

ADDED: "“Based on the foregoing, the Court concludes that Defendants have not shown that the federal interstate handgun transfer ban is narrowly tailored to be the least restrictive means of achieving the Government’s goals under current law. The federal interstate handgun transfer ban is therefore unconstitutional on its face,” he wrote. The decision can be appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and Justice may ask for a stay." Perhaps a stay was issued (but I can't find anything that indicates that.)

And I found that the 5th District in fact refused to issue a stay on March 3rd, 2015, and said that it would not do so even if an appeal was submitted. Still not finding anything indicating an appeal was filed, and nothing to say that the stay wasn't lifted.

ADDED: Now found that they submitted an appeal on 6/21/15, but that the court still refused to grant a stay pending that appeal.

Mance v. Holder
Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth)
CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 4:14-cv-00539-O
“Accordingly, the Court DECLARES that 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(3), 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(3), and 27 C.F.R. § 478.99(a) are UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and Defendants are ENJOINED from enforcing these provisions.”

And according to court records, the government filed an initial brief for an appeal, but there isn't any record of any actual appeal filed, and the ruling still stands as is, with no stay.

Hmmm....
http://michellawyers.com/mance-v-holder/
Stay denied: http://michellawyers.com/wp-content/upl ... y-Stay.pdf

This decision applies in the "UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH DIVISION"
No other Federal Districts are bound by it, IIRC.

IANAL. This is OPINION.

Well, for starters, the OP didn't say where he intended to make a purchase, but from everything that I read (including the same site you found), if you do it in that part of TX, for certain it appears to be legal to do so.

BUT....I did find this in CA Penal Code:

Penal Code 27585

(a) Commencing January 1, 2015,

a resident of this state shall not import into this state, bring into this state, or transport into this state,

any firearm

that he or she purchased or otherwise obtained on or after January 1, 2015,

from outside of this state unless

he or she first has that firearm delivered to a dealer in this state for delivery to that resident pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 27540 and Article 1 (commencing with Section 26700) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 26800) of Chapter 2.

How would it work for me?

I have a Canadian drivers licence. My Texas Chl lists my Canadian drivers licence address and has a special licence number starting with "YY" and my Canadian drivers licence number. My listed zip code is all zero's since Canada doesn't use zips.

DPS said its the first time they have had a Canadian drivers licence and issued the yy number for that purpose.

If I wished to purchase, then there would be no way for me to ffl to Canada and return here. How would or wouldn't it work for me?

Thanks

RJDA wrote:How would it work for me?

I have a Canadian drivers licence. My Texas Chl lists my Canadian drivers licence address and has a special licence number starting with "YY" and my Canadian drivers licence number. My listed zip code is all zero's since Canada doesn't use zips.

DPS said its the first time they have had a Canadian drivers licence and issued the yy number for that purpose.

If I wished to purchase, then there would be no way for me to ffl to Canada and return here. How would or wouldn't it work for me?

Thanks

You can carry on your (now) non-resident CHL in Texas, but you may only purchase a handgun in the US state of your residence, which would be California now. If you wanted to buy one here, you would have to have it shipped to a FFL in California and then complete the purchase there (assuming you could under California law). Also, it sound like you are not a permanent resident of the US, which is not in and of itself a problem. But I'm interested to hear why you wouldn't want to obtain a California driver's license. They are available to legal non-immigrant aliens...(and illegal ones for that matter).