Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 362
Since LTC holders, as well as other lawful individuals, are allowed
to carry handguns in their motor vehicles under Texas Penal Code
Chapter 46, this law does not prohibit them from carrying a handgun,
visible in a holster or concealed, within 300 feet of the premises of a
school. The law only applies to people who are committing, or who
have committed, a weapons crime near a school.
B. Federal “Gun-Free School Zone” law: 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)
The text of the federal Gun-Free School Zone law is found in 18
U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A), and, in contrast to Texas law, creates its own
independent criminal offense. This law states that it is a federal crime
for a person to possess a firearm that has moved through interstate
commerce (this includes virtually all firearms) on the grounds of
or within 1,000 feet of a public, parochial, or private school. As
surprising as it may seem, under this federal law, the mere possession
of a firearm by the occupant of a motor vehicle while driving past a
school or dropping off a child is a federal crime.
However, 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(B) provides seven exceptions:
1) Exception one: if the possession is on private property which is
not part of the school grounds. This means that a person living
within 1,000 feet of a school can keep a firearm in their house.
2) Exception two: if the individual possessing the firearm is
licensed to do so by the state in which the school zone is located
or a political subdivision of the state, and the law of the state or
political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains
such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the state
or political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified
under law to receive the license. This means that an LTC holder
may legally carry a firearm into a Gun-Free School Zone in
Texas. However, there is one important note about the statute:
Law Of Handgun Carry: Part III 351
