Texas has no laws regarding the carrying of long guns (rifles or shotguns) in motor vehicles.
Texas law generally restricts people from intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly openly carrying handguns in plain view of other people in motor vehicles and watercraft that they own or under their control, unless they carry the handgun in a holster and are either at least 21 years old or licensed to carry a handgun.1
Texas law also generally prohibits intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possessing or going with a firearm on a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution except pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the institution,2 except that people with a valid license to carry a handgun may be authorized to carry concealed handguns in passenger transportation vehicles and parking areas of institutions of higher education.3
A public or private employer also may generally not prohibit an employee who lawfully possesses a firearm or ammunition from transporting or storing a firearm or ammunition in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle in a parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area the employer provides for employees.4 State law similarly prohibits K-12 school districts and open-enrollment charter schools from preventing their employees who lawfully possess firearms or ammunition from keeping firearms or ammunition in a locked, privately owned or leased motor vehicle in school parking areas, provided that the firearm or ammunition stored in the vehicle is not in plain view.5
In 2011, Texas passed a law generally prohibiting the Department of Family and Child Services from restricting a foster parent from carrying a handgun in a vehicle while transporting a foster child.6
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- Tex. Penal Code §§ 46.02(a-1); 46.035(a). For other narrow exceptions to the requirement that firearms in cars and watercraft be concealed, see section 46.15(b).[↩]
- Tex. Penal Code § 46.03(a).[↩]
- See Tex. Penal Code § 46.03(a)(1)(B).[↩]
- Tex. Lab. Code § 52.061.[↩]
- Tex. Educ. Code § 37.0815 (as amended by 2017 TX SB 1566, Section 13.[↩]
- Tex. Hum. Res. Code § 42.042(e-2).[↩]
