There has been a change in that you are supposed to be assumed to be a traveler and the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove you aren't a traveler.
The intent is that law enforcement is supposed to assume that you are a traveler legally having the gun in your vehicle.
But some jurisdictions, I believe Harris County is one, that say they will arrest anyone caught with a handgun and no CHL.
I and many people I worked with traveled hundreds of miles to work for many years and I never heard of anyone having trouble with having a loaded handgun in the car.
TRAVELERS
A traveler under the statute is not defined. Case law indicates some general characteristics as to what has been held to be a traveler.
The subject must make a direct unbroken journey without lengthy stops or deviations in route. A mere pause or brief deviation for purpose of business incidental to the journey have been allowed but courts generally will not allow interruption of a trip for pleasure or deviation for purposes not directly incident to the journey.
Generally the journey must be of some considerable length at least to the extent that he leaves his home county. Distances of 15, 18, 35 and 40 miles have been held insufficient to be "traveling" while 150 miles in one case was held sufficient.
The distance must be considered in relation to time and the mode of travel. What was a bona fide journey in a horse drawn wagon is not necessarily so in an automobile. A 6-7 hour trip in an automobile has been held not to be "traveling". Generally cases require subject to be away from original point of departure at least overnight.
All considerations of whether subject is a traveler must be made remembering that (1) it is the burden of the defendant to show he is a traveler and therefore exempt, and (2) the question of whether subject is traveler is one for the jury. The court has been strict in many cases in requiring clear and convincing proof that defense is genuine and not a sham. The court's attitude in this and other defenses to U.C.W. is characterized by the statement that any incident of carrying such weapons as prohibited in the statute even where a defense exists must not be done "habitually, in roundabout ways, or while loitering in the streets or in unnecessary deviation from the route to which it is being carried.
EXAMPLES:
Subject residing in a county travels to the county seat of that county intending to return the next day held not to be a traveler under the statute. Darby v. State 5 S.W. 90
Where a traveler deflects from his journey on business not connected with his journey, the fact that he initially was a traveler does not prevent conviction. Pecht v. State l99 S.W. 2g0
Mere delay or temporary cessation of the journey on legitimate business incident to journey does not necessarily make one cease to be a traveler. Campbell v. State 125 S.W. 2g0
Subject left on trip at SPM and was to return 11-12 PM the same night held not to be traveler. Vogt v. State 258 S.W. 2d 795
Subject had traveled 25 miles and was preparing to camp out overnight held to be a traveler. Price v. State 29 S.W. 473
