TX church carry has been legal for over 2 decades. It remains legal.
The original CHL law (1995) did prohibit church carry, but during the very next legislative session in 1997, the law was changed to allow it.
HOWEVER, the when the law was changed to legalize church carry, it was done in a way that left it confusing. Instead of removing churches from the list of the prohibited places, the change added a caveat down farther in the section that said that the prohibition against church carry applied ONLY if there was notice given under the 30.06 (and later 30.07) laws. That change (confusing though it was) made church carry pretty much the same as carry any other place. It was legal unless notification was given per 30.06 (and later 30.07).
The problem was that people would read the list of prohibited places and then stop. They wouldn't read the entire section of the law and so they never read the caveat. Furthermore, the caveat referred to church carry ONLY by noting the section of law that applied [literally, '(b)(6)' ] which meant that the word 'church' or 'worship' did not appear in the caveat. Thus, even searching the laws for anything else that might apply to carry in 'church' or places of 'worship' would not find it.
Here's the caveat from Section 46.035 of the TX Penal Code as it appeared before the September 2019 revision. It's certainly not going to jump out at someone reading about prohibited places. It is placed around 600 words below the portion of 46.035 that apparently prohibits church carry, and there are 18 subsections intervening between the mention of churches/places of worship and where the caveat shows up.
The obscurity of the caveat resulted in a common misconception that church carry was still prohibited in TX although that was only true for the 2 years between when the initial CHL bill was passed and when the caveat allowing it was added.
In 2019, a bill was introduced (and passed) to clarify the law. It doesn't CHANGE anything in terms of legality, it just simplifies the law. Instead of relying on a caveat that appears after the list of prohibited places, the new law strikes churches from the list of prohibited places. It also strikes '(b)(6)' from the caveat since it is no longer required.
I was just listening to the radio and some "research specialist" stated that church carry had just been legalized in TX. Apparently the term "research" doesn't mean what it used to...
In addition, a coworker said that his church was now concerned about church carry with the "change in the law" and was going to make a public announcement this Sunday.
Nothing has changed except the WAY the law is written. It was already legal and it still is.
The original CHL law (1995) did prohibit church carry, but during the very next legislative session in 1997, the law was changed to allow it.
HOWEVER, the when the law was changed to legalize church carry, it was done in a way that left it confusing. Instead of removing churches from the list of the prohibited places, the change added a caveat down farther in the section that said that the prohibition against church carry applied ONLY if there was notice given under the 30.06 (and later 30.07) laws. That change (confusing though it was) made church carry pretty much the same as carry any other place. It was legal unless notification was given per 30.06 (and later 30.07).
The problem was that people would read the list of prohibited places and then stop. They wouldn't read the entire section of the law and so they never read the caveat. Furthermore, the caveat referred to church carry ONLY by noting the section of law that applied [literally, '(b)(6)' ] which meant that the word 'church' or 'worship' did not appear in the caveat. Thus, even searching the laws for anything else that might apply to carry in 'church' or places of 'worship' would not find it.
Here's the caveat from Section 46.035 of the TX Penal Code as it appeared before the September 2019 revision. It's certainly not going to jump out at someone reading about prohibited places. It is placed around 600 words below the portion of 46.035 that apparently prohibits church carry, and there are 18 subsections intervening between the mention of churches/places of worship and where the caveat shows up.
(i) Subsections (b)(4), (b)(5), (b)(6), and (c) do not apply if the actor was not given effective notice under Section 30.06 or 30.07.
The obscurity of the caveat resulted in a common misconception that church carry was still prohibited in TX although that was only true for the 2 years between when the initial CHL bill was passed and when the caveat allowing it was added.
In 2019, a bill was introduced (and passed) to clarify the law. It doesn't CHANGE anything in terms of legality, it just simplifies the law. Instead of relying on a caveat that appears after the list of prohibited places, the new law strikes churches from the list of prohibited places. It also strikes '(b)(6)' from the caveat since it is no longer required.
I was just listening to the radio and some "research specialist" stated that church carry had just been legalized in TX. Apparently the term "research" doesn't mean what it used to...
In addition, a coworker said that his church was now concerned about church carry with the "change in the law" and was going to make a public announcement this Sunday.
Nothing has changed except the WAY the law is written. It was already legal and it still is.