Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 55
Because the police in Texas may arrest when they have probable
cause that almost any infraction has occurred or is occurring, there
are literally thousands of criminal offenses for which a person may
be arrested. Almost everyone who drives a car or walks around in
public violates some minor law on a daily basis and is subject to
arrest if a police officer so desires. For example, if you are driving
an automobile, you can be arrested for having a burnt out light
around your license plate, an expired registration sticker, crossing
a solid line on the roadway, failing to signal a lane change, failing
to signal 100 feet prior to turning, or hundreds of other infractions.
This can be equally true if you are on a bicycle or even on foot,
because the Texas Transportation Code regulates pedestrian and
bicycle riders in public. Arrestable offenses include crossing a
street in the wrong place, stepping out of a crosswalk, or crossing
against a “Don’t Walk” sign.
C. Warrantless apprehension of suspected dangerous persons
with mental illness
In recent years, there has been a nationwide push for “extreme risk
protective orders” or “red flag laws” specifically designed to remove
firearms from individuals who are accused of engaging in conduct
or making statements that others may deem “dangerous.” As of
2021, the Texas Legislature has resisted the reactionary enactment
of legislation that could be viewed as too broad, too vague, subject
to abuses, and lacking due process. However, for the last several
decades, Texas has had a process which allows law enforcement to
seize a person without a warrant and remove their firearms based
upon that person’s mental illness.
Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 573 provides that the police
may take a person into custody without a warrant under certain
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