Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 273
The law simply states that a person commits a crime “if the person
carries a handgun and intentionally displays the handgun in plain view
of another person in a public place.” An unintentional, accidental, or
inadvertent display is not a crime under Texas Penal Code Section
46.02. Likewise, to be a crime under this subsection, any intentional
display of a handgun must take place in a public place; if you are
on your own property, you are not in a public place. Additionally,
there is a major exception to this crime: if the handgun was partially
or wholly visible but was carried in a holster, the person has not
violated Section 46.02. It is important to note that this prohibition
extends to LTC holders. LTC holders are not exempt from Texas
Penal Code Section 46.02 unless their handgun is carried concealed
or in a holster. Since this offense involves intentionally displaying a
handgun outside of a holster, the protection offered by Texas Penal
Code Section 46.15(b)(6) does not apply.
Must have “intentionally” displayed to be a crime
The statute’s use of the word “intentional” refers to a person’s
culpable mental state. In other words, a person must have “intended”
to display the handgun outside of a holster. “Intentionally” is defined
in Texas Penal Code Section 6.03(a): “[a] person acts intentionally,
or with intent, with respect to the nature of his conduct or to a result
of his conduct when it is his conscious objective or desire to engage
in the conduct or cause the result.” “Intentionally” is the highest
degree of culpable mental state in the Texas Penal Code, meaning
that it will be more difficult for a prosecutor to prove that you were
intentional in your conduct than it would be to prove the lowerdegree mental states of “knowingly” (being aware of the nature of
your conduct or that a certain result will happen as a result of your
actions) or “recklessly” (being aware of but consciously disregarding
a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the
result will occur).
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