Carrying a Concealed Handgun in Texas

Texas has concealed handgun laws. They are very specific as to what you can do and can't do when it comes to carrying a handgun. Hollywood has portrayed the average Texan as a gun-toting hillbilly, which does not represent the majority of the citizens here. In west Texas, you will see a lot of guns from August through January of the next year as hunters take to the country to hunt. The rest of the year you will see rifles or shotguns in gun racks in mostly country citizen's pickups. These are not gun slinging criminals nor are they crazy. The guns are for use in their everyday lives, for killing rattlesnakes, or putting animals that are terminally ill out of their misery.

Carrying a handgun is an entirely different matter. Handguns are rarely used for anything but to protect yourself from other people, or in the hands of the crazies to kill you. In Texas the belief is that you have a God given right to protect your family and your property. This is usually done with a handgun. And in rare instances the hand gun has been used to protect other people by people who are not law enforcement officers. And as we have seen in the recent news this ability to carry a firearm has been used to kill the person who was randomly shooting people. This kept the number of deaths less than it would have been.

In Texas to get a concealed handgun permit you have to be a legal resident of Texas. In addition you cannot have any felony convictions. Some misdemeanor convictions will disqualify you. These can include probationary or deferred adjudication charges. Pending criminal charges, chemical or alcohol dependency can keep you out. If you are default on student loans or child support or taxes or governmental fees you cannot get the license. And of course some psychological problems will prevent you from getting a license.