Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 86
TEXAS LAW
Texas Penal Code Section 46.01(12) defines armor-piercing
ammunition as “handgun ammunition that is designed primarily
for the purpose of penetrating metal or body armor and to be
used principally in pistols and revolvers.” Texas Penal Code
Section 46.05(a)(3) makes the intentional or knowing possession,
manufacture, transport, repair, or sale of armor-piercing ammunition
a third degree felony.
A couple of notable exceptions to this law are available. One is in
the form of a defense to prosecution, and the other is an affirmative
defense. First, under Texas Penal Code Section 46.05(b), it is
a defense to prosecution that a person’s intentional or knowing
possession, manufacture, transport, repair, or sale was “incidental
to the performance of official duty by the Armed Forces or National
Guard, a governmental law enforcement agency, or a correctional
facility.” Persons employed in any of these agencies should not be
prosecuted so long as their use of armor-piercing ammunition was a
part of their official duties. Second, it is an affirmative defense that a
person’s intentional or knowing possession, manufacture, transport,
repair, or sale of armor-piercing ammunition was incidental to
dealing with armor-piercing ammunition solely for the purpose of
making the ammunition available to the Armed Forces or National
Guard, a governmental law enforcement agency, or a correctional
facility. See Tex. Penal Code § 46.05(d)(2).
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Legal Definitions And Classifications Of Firearms: What Is Legal? | 75
