New gun law favors residents, Farren says By Jim McBride
For decades, Texans have been permitted to carry concealed firearms in their vehicles if they were traveling.
But just what constituted "traveling" largely was the call of law officers making traffic stops.
Now, a new law spells out gun owners' legal defenses against prosecution for unlawfully carrying a weapon in their vehicle and describes when a gun owner is legally presumed to be traveling.
But the new law doesn't necessarily protect a gun owner from arrest if an officer questions the person's basis for carrying a weapon in their vehicle.
Charlissa Stokes of Panhandle Gunslingers, 710 S. Georgia St., said some gun owners want to know how the new law ties into existing law allowing gun owners to obtain a concealed handgun license.
"Basically they're just wondering if the CHL is necessary with the new law, but that new law just gives you the right to carry in your car; it doesn't give you the right to take it in and out of some place, carry it concealed on your body or carry it in your purse," she said.
Prosecutors say they will have to scrutinize weapons cases more diligently because of the new law. Unlawfully carrying a firearm is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4.000 fine.
Randall County Criminal District Attorney James Farren favors the rights of law-abiding citizens to legally carry firearms, but said prosecutors now must prove that a gun owner is not traveling if a weapons case goes to trial.
"The change in the law is that they have created a presumption in favor of the citizen, stating that it is presumed the citizen is traveling," he said. "That puts the burden back on the prosecutor's office and law enforcement to prove that, in fact, the person is not traveling. ... Unless there is other criminal activity afoot, it is unlikely that we're going to file a case because we'd be basically wasting our time."
The Legislature, he said, got the attention of prosecutors and law enforcement officers with passage of the new law.
"Our interpretation of the change in the law is that the legislators were basically sending a message to law enforcement and to the prosecutors: that we're in essence allowing people to carry guns in their cars when they drive around and we're going to make it really difficult for you to prosecute those cases," he said. "If that's the current state of the law, I don't have a problem with it."
Potter County Attorney Scott Brumley, whose office prosecutes misdemeanor offenses, said his office will examine weapons offenses more closely in light of the new law.
"Basically what we have to do is take a much closer look at the facts that the officer is able to report when they bring a case to us. The long and short of it is we have to screen UCWs (unlawfully carrying weapons) much more closely if there is a vehicle involved," he said.
Amarillo Police Cpl. Jerry Neufeld said officers on the streets will continue to handle weapons offenses on a case-by-case basis.
"I don't think you're going to see much of a change in what we're doing at all," he said. "If you've got a 45- or 50-year-old person driving a car, going to the bank or something like that, they may be carrying it with them for protection. If you've got somebody at 2 o'clock in the morning driving down through warehouse districts with some burglar tools, you're thinking that may be a little different situation."
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It's the Law
The new law, which went into effect on Sept. 1, states that a person is presumed to be traveling if they meet the following criteria:
They are in a private motor vehicle;
The person is not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of law or traffic ordinance;
The person is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.
The individual is not a member of a criminal street gang;
The person is not carrying a handgun in plain view.
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/102205/new_3032077.shtml.
