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Border Bob
Regular Member
| Joined: | Tue Mar 31st, 2009 |
| Location: | New Mexico USA |
| Posts: | 13 |
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Posted: Wed Apr 1st, 2009 06:46 pm |
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| When we go to the big city, El Paso, we drive 65 miles through the desert along the border. There are no settlements between Columbus and Texas along Hwy 9. It's not safe to drive the road without a weapon, especially at night. When we cross over the state line into Texas, what do we legally need to do with our pistols? I have a small lock box into which I can place my pistol while in Texas. I can't lock it in the truck because I have a pickup. I just don't want any problems in Texas. In El Paso, they single out New Mexico plates a lot.
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cloudcroft
Activist Member
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Posted: Thu Apr 2nd, 2009 02:30 am |
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You do NOT need any lockbox...unless you want to avoid one of the "charms" of the El Paso area: Someone breaking into your car. But legally speaking re: firearms in your car, you do not need to lock the gun up.
You legally can have a loaded gun in your car, concealed...so no worry there. You can have it UNconcealed while you are driving (i.e., on the seat or in a holster on the console) but be sure it's concealed if you are pulled over (or stop at a Border Patrol checkpoint -- throw a towel over it). IIRC, long guns, IIRC, do not have to be concealed, like they can be in a rifle rack (except someone would steal it, as I said).
Used to be in TX carrying a HANDGUN in your car you had to prove you were "travelling" (whatever any DA said "traveling" meant as it was not defined) with your HANDgun (long arms had no restrictions on them at all) OR, were going to or coming back from a shooting range/event or whatever. So carrying HANDGUNS in one's car was a "gray area."
The law has changed to be more "liberal" and you don't have to worry about that now.
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R/billtext/html/HB01815F.htm
I suspect it's like if *I* cross the state line into NM from TX: I can start Open Carrying immediately, but when I come back into TX I have to take it off, but I do not have to be a resident of NM to enjoy open carrying. I believe you do not have to be a resident of TX to enjoy having a handgun in your car with no expectation of trouble over it.
-- John D.
P.S. I've been on Hwy 9 cruising on my motorcycle from El Paso to Deming...you're right, nothing much out there except Border Patrol agents and a whole lot of illegals, drug and gun runners -- and "lost" Mexican Army soldiers -- using those trails out there. 
I wouldn't travel out there unarmed, either!
Last edited on Thu Apr 2nd, 2009 02:56 am by cloudcroft
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Border Bob
Regular Member
| Joined: | Tue Mar 31st, 2009 |
| Location: | New Mexico USA |
| Posts: | 13 |
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Offline
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Posted: Thu Apr 2nd, 2009 04:10 pm |
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Thanks for the information. I've heard conflicting 'rules' from different people, and several who've had run ins with El Paso police being, shall we say, over zealous. Usually I wind up going to Las Cruces just to avoid the possibility of trouble in Texas.
You're right, Hwy 9 is pretty lonesome all the way from Santa Teresa over to Animas. We used to go metal detecting, rock collecting, etc all the time along there, but not too much any more. There are lots of things crossing over from Mexico, the least dangerous of which is drugs. If you don't spend much time on the border, you wouldn't have any idea of what really goes on. This is why we can't afford to let the hysteria about weapons in Mexico affect our right to be armed on this side.
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cloudcroft
Activist Member
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Posted: Thu Apr 2nd, 2009 06:50 pm |
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True...
Most Americans in the rest of the country are entirely CLULESS re: what BS goes on along the Mexican Border. I lived in El Paso 44 years so I have a good idea, but most other people do not. AND, some of it is not even reported so even the news media does not pick it up.
As for sorry Mexico -- "our friendly neighbors to the South" as the El Paso C of C like to advertise -- I have not gone there for maybe 25+ years now...they have NOTHING I would want anyway.
And also true, their problems should be NO reason to impact OUR civil rights here re: the RKBA and the 2nd Amendment. As for "90% of the guns and ammo comes from America," that's GOT to be pure BS...it comes from their own Mexican Army deserters/collaborators or bordering countries (or South America), not from here.
-- John D.
P.S. I just saw THIS article that says only about 17% of the guns come directly from the US, not 90% (damn lying liberals):
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fraction-number-claimed/
Excerpt:
'These Don't Come From El Paso'
"Ed Head, a firearms instructor in Arizona who spent 24 years with the U.S. Border Patrol, recently displayed an array of weapons considered "assault rifles" that are similar to those recovered in Mexico, but are unavailable for sale in the U.S.
"These kinds of guns -- the auto versions of these guns -- they are not coming from El Paso," he said. "They are coming from other sources. They are brought in from Guatemala. They are brought in from places like China. They are being diverted from the military. But you don't get these guns from the U.S."
-- JD
Last edited on Thu Apr 2nd, 2009 07:00 pm by cloudcroft
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Border Bob
Regular Member
| Joined: | Tue Mar 31st, 2009 |
| Location: | New Mexico USA |
| Posts: | 13 |
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Posted: Fri Apr 3rd, 2009 03:20 pm |
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We rarely go over the border, usually for medicine at the pharmacy in Palomas. Friends over there say that it's not unusual to see "border crossers" who look Mexican but don't speak Spanish. Hmmm. It's well known that tons of weapons come into the port of Ensenada on Chinese ships. Mexicans have shown me empty Chinese cartridges they've found on the street.
When you live on the border, one of the biggest surprises is that the corruption of officials on this side is just about as bad as it is over there. It's just that on this side, they're more discrete and have a little more finesse.
I thank God every day that we have open carry in New Mexico. Let's keep it that way!
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NavyLT
Regular Member
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Posted: Tue May 5th, 2009 11:37 pm |
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| Deleted - never mind. Last edited on Tue May 5th, 2009 11:41 pm by NavyLT
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nonameisgood
Regular Member
| Joined: | Thu Dec 4th, 2008 |
| Location: | Big D |
| Posts: | 22 |
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Posted: Tue Jun 23rd, 2009 01:40 am |
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cloudcroft wrote: You can have it UNconcealed while you are driving (i.e., on the seat or in a holster on the console) but be sure it's concealed if you are pulled over (or stop at a Border Patrol checkpoint -- throw a towel over it). One correction, the recent change to the law requires all handguns in vehicles in Texas to be concealed. 2005 changes made the traveling exemption presumptive (they had to prove you weren't traveling.) 2008 changes allow anyone, who is not otherwise prohibited, to have a loaded handgun in a vehicle, but it must be concealed.
Since NavyLT didn't post it, I will:
Sec. 46.02. UNLAWFUL CARRYING WEAPONS.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun, illegal knife, or club if the person is not:
(1) on the person's own premises or premises under the person's control; or
(2) inside of or directly en route to a motor vehicle that is owned by the person or under the person's control.
(a-1) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun in a motor vehicle that is owned by the person or under the person's control at any time in which:
(1) the handgun is in plain view; or
(2) the person is:
(A) engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic;
(B) prohibited by law from possessing a firearm; or
(C) a member of a criminal street gang, as defined by Section 71.01.
(a-2) For purposes of this section, "premises" includes real property and a recreational vehicle that is being used as living quarters, regardless of whether that use is temporary or permanent. In this subsection, "recreational vehicle" means a motor vehicle primarily designed as temporary living quarters or a vehicle that contains temporary living quarters and is designed to be towed by a motor vehicle. The term includes a travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper, motor home, and horse trailer with living quarters.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if the offense is committed on any premises licensed or issued a permit by this state for the sale of alcoholic beverages.
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