Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Texas

This answer applies to you if you are in Texas and you do not have any felony convictions. You can carry a gun with you if you are directly en route to your home or your vehicle. Your handgun cannot be in plain view, and you cannot have it if you are engaging in unlawful activities while you have the gun. If you are caught riding your bike while you are not en route to your home, then you can get charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon.

I have enclosed the unlawful carrying law here for your reference:

Sec. 46.02. UNLAWFUL CARRYING WEAPONS. (a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun, illegal knife, or club if the person is not:

(1) on the person's own premises or premises under the person's control; or

(2) inside of or directly en route to a motor vehicle or watercraft that is owned by the person or under the person's control.

(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; or

(2) the person is:

(A) engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic or boating;

(B) prohibited by law from possessing a firearm; or

(C) a member of a criminal street gang, as defined by Section 71.01.

When you refer to using the gun to prevent harm, you are referring to the Texas Law on Self Defense. The law is that if someone presents you with the threat of imminent bodily harm or death, you can use the minimum amount of force necessary to protect yourself or another. If someone has taken out a deadly weapon, and the only way you can protect yourself is to use your hand gun, then you may use your hand gun.

It must be an immediate threat, not some vague feeling that you might get hurt in the future. This article explains self defense in Texas:

http://lawyerdefend.me/?p=572

I have enclosed the self-defense law for your reference:

� 9.31. SELF-DEFENSE. (a) Except as provided in

Subsection (b), a person is justified in using force against

another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force is

immediately necessary to protect himself against the other's use or

attempted use of unlawful force.

(b) The use of force against another is not justified:

(1) in response to verbal provocation alone;

(2) to resist an arrest or search that the actor knows

is being made by a peace officer, or by a person acting in a peace

officer's presence and at his direction, even though the arrest or

search is unlawful, unless the resistance is justified under

Subsection (c);