Texas allows concealed carry of handguns through two paths. First, constitutional carry under Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a) covers any adult 21 or older...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Texas allows concealed carry of handguns through two paths. First, constitutional carry under Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a) covers any adult 21 or older who is not a prohibited person. No permit is required, and the rule has been in effect since September 1, 2021, when H.B. 1927 (87th Leg., ch. 809) took effect. Second, the License to Carry (LTC) under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.171 et seq. remains the permit-based path. The LTC adds out-of-state reciprocity, statutory carve-outs at certain prohibited places, exemption from the Gun-Free School Zones Act for K-12 staff carry where authorized, and access to the airport-checkpoint defense under § 46.03(e-1). For most adult Texans who only carry in-state, constitutional carry is sufficient. For instructors, professionals who travel, and people who carry for work, the LTC is still the practical choice.
This section covers concealed handgun carry by civilians. Open carry of handguns by adults 21 and over is now lawful under the same § 46.02(a) framework and is covered in OPEN_CARRY. Long-gun carry, NFA items, vehicle and premises rules, and prohibited places each have their own sections. The bottom-line rule for concealment is simple: if you are over 21 and not prohibited, Texas does not care whether the handgun is concealed or holstered openly, so long as you keep it in a holster on your person and do not intentionally display it in plain view. Vehicle carry is governed by a separate plain-view rule in § 46.02(a-1) - see VEHICLE_CARRY.
Before H.B. 1927, Texas Penal Code § 46.02 made it a Class A misdemeanor to carry a handgun on or about your person off your own premises and not directly en route to a vehicle you control. The only general civilian exception was the LTC. H.B. 1927 rewrote § 46.02 so that the general carry offense in subsection (a) reaches only a person who is younger than 21 or who has one of the listed recent convictions, creating a permitless-carry path for adults 21 and over. The result is that the same conduct (carrying a handgun concealed on your person in public) can now be lawful under either of two independent legal authorities:
Constitutional carry under § 46.02(a). A person 21 or older who is not prohibited under § 46.04 from possessing a firearm may carry a handgun on or about their person in a public place, so long as the handgun is not intentionally displayed in plain view of another person. There is an exception for handguns partially or wholly visible while carried in a holster.
LTC carry under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.171 et seq. A person who has been issued a license to carry a handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, may carry a handgun concealed or in a holster, with the additional rights and statutory defenses that flow from holding the license.
Constitutional carry did not repeal the LTC. It coexists with it. A constitutional carrier is treated under § 46.02 itself; an LTC holder carrying under license authority is also treated under § 46.035 (which now contains only the plain-view restriction discussed below) plus the § 46.03 LTC-specific defenses. The two paths produce different consequences when something goes wrong (more on this below).
Under § 46.02(a), a person commits an offense if they intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carry a handgun on or about their person, while at the time of the offense:
That is the base rule for under-21 carriers and for adults with the listed disqualifying convictions. § 46.02(a-1) separately addresses vehicle carry: an offense if a handgun in a vehicle you control is in plain view, unless you are 21 or older or LTC-licensed and the handgun is in a holster, or if you are engaged in non-traffic criminal activity, or prohibited from possessing a firearm.
§ 46.02(a-5) is the display offense that sets the outer limit on how an adult may carry. It says: a person commits an offense if they carry a handgun and intentionally display the handgun in plain view of another person in a public place. The exception within the exception: a partially or wholly visible handgun carried in a holster is not a § 46.02(a-5) violation. So the practical rule for an adult constitutional carrier is: holster, do not flash, and do not deliberately display.
§ 46.02(a-6) bars handgun carry while intoxicated, with carve-outs for the actor's own property, property where the actor has consent, and vehicles the actor owns or has consent to occupy. § 46.02(a-7) is the felon and prohibited-person trap: carrying a handgun off your own premises and not en route to a vehicle, while prohibited under § 46.04, is graded as a third-degree felony (or second-degree felony with a five-year minimum if the prohibition arises under § 46.04(a), the felon-in-possession rule). The base § 46.02 grade is a Class A misdemeanor under (b).
You will see § 46.02 cited as both the unlawful-carry statute and the source of the constitutional-carry exception. Both are correct. (a), (a-1), (a-5), (a-6), and (a-7) each define a separate offense, and (b)/(d)/(e) set grading.
Through 2020, Tex. Penal Code § 46.035 was the operational rulebook for LTC holders. It listed prohibited places specific to license holders, defined the 51%/55% alcohol-establishment rule, set the school-grounds and government-meeting prohibitions, and graded each offense. H.B. 1927 (2021) and H.B. 4595 (2023) each carry a repeal directed at the section. What remains in § 46.035 today is narrow:
That is the operative remainder, and subsection (a) is the only text the section still prints. Its history carries the note "Without reference to the amendment of this section, this section was repealed by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 809 (H.B. 1927), Sec. 26(10), eff. September 1, 2021," and closes with "Repealed by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 768 (H.B. 4595), Sec. 17.004, eff. September 1, 2023." Neither line breaks a repeal out subsection by subsection. The 51%-establishment ban, the schools ban, the government-meetings ban, and the hospital and amusement-park bans that students used to learn from § 46.035 are now in § 46.03 (places weapons prohibited), with § 46.15 providing the LTC-holder defenses. PROHIBITED_PLACES carries the full list. Two practical points belong here:
Texas does not require concealment. What Texas requires is that the handgun be in a holster if it is going to be carried at all, and that the carrier not intentionally display the handgun in plain view of another person. Both § 46.02(a-5) and § 46.035(a) are display offenses, not concealment requirements.
Operational rules for an instructor to drill into students:
A common student question: is printing (an outline of the handgun visible through clothing) plain view? Under either § 46.02(a-5) or § 46.035(a), the offense is intentional display. A holstered handgun whose outline shows through a shirt is not "intentionally displayed in plain view" within the meaning of those statutes. Telling a student "yes, but be discreet" is good practical advice; telling them "printing is illegal" is wrong on the statute.
Constitutional carry covers most everyday in-Texas handgun carry by adults. The LTC is still meaningfully different in five ways an instructor should be able to explain.
Reciprocity. § 46.02(a) is a Texas rule. It does nothing for a Texan crossing into Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, or any other state. Whether the Texas LTC is honored elsewhere is decided by each destination state's law, and Tex. Gov't Code § 411.173(b) directs the Department of Public Safety to publish and annually update the list of states in which a Texas LTC is recognized. RECIPROCITY covers the operational details. The DPS list shows Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, the four states bordering Texas, as reciprocal.
NICS-exempt purchases under federal law. A current Texas LTC issued after the federal qualification process is recognized by the ATF as a Brady alternative under 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(3). At a dealer, an LTC holder skips the NICS check on a 4473 purchase. A constitutional carrier does not.
Statutory defenses to § 46.03 prohibited-place prosecutions. This is the part the post-H.B. 1927 reorganization makes easy to miss. § 46.15(p) provides that § 46.03(a)(7) (51% bars), (a)(11) (hospitals and nursing homes), and (a)(13) (amusement parks) "do not apply" to a license holder who carries on those premises and was not given effective notice under § 30.06 (concealed) or § 30.07 (open) or § 411.204. § 46.15(q) provides the same kind of carve-out for § 46.03(a)(8) (collegiate sporting events). A constitutional carrier carrying into a hospital, a 51% bar, or an amusement park has no analogous defense and is exposed to § 46.03 prosecution as a third-degree felony (Class A for (a)(8), (a)(11), and (a)(13) under § 46.03(g-2)).
Airport-checkpoint defense (§ 46.03(e-1)). A LTC holder who arrives at a TSA screening checkpoint with a handgun, and who exits the checkpoint immediately upon being notified that the handgun is present, has a statutory defense to a § 46.03(a)(5) secured-area prosecution. § 46.03(e-2) further bars a peace officer from arresting an LTC-holding actor whose only conduct is § 46.03(a)(5) possession until the officer has advised the actor of the (e-1) defense and given the actor a chance to exit. Constitutional carriers do not have this defense.
Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act exemption. Federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), prohibits firearm possession within 1,000 feet of K-12 school grounds, but exempts persons "licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located" if the license-issuing process verified the licensee. A Texas LTC qualifies for that exemption. Constitutional carry under § 46.02(a) does not. This matters most for people who live or routinely drive within 1,000 feet of a school. Texas itself does not enforce § 922(q), but federal prosecutors can.
If a student carries only inside Texas, only outside the listed § 46.15(p)/(q) places, and never near a federal facility or K-12 school zone, the LTC is largely a convenience document. For everyone else, the LTC is still worth getting. APPLICATION_PROCESS, FEES_COSTS, and TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS cover how to get one.
Constitutional carry under § 46.02(a) requires:
LTC eligibility under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.172 is stricter than constitutional carry on several axes. The LTC requires six months of Texas residency (or qualification under § 411.173 for non-residents), no felony convictions ever, no Class A or Class B misdemeanor conviction in the prior five years, no chemical dependency, current child-support and tax compliance, no protective orders, and a passing handgun-proficiency course. PERMIT_BASICS and APPLICATION_PROCESS go through this in detail.
The single most important practical difference: a person disqualified from an LTC under § 411.172 may still be eligible for constitutional carry. A Texas resident with a Class B misdemeanor conviction in the last five years who is otherwise § 46.04-clean and § 922(g)-clean is barred from an LTC by § 411.172(a)(8) but is permitted to carry under § 46.02(a). Confirm § 46.04 eligibility with counsel before relying on this analysis.
| Offense | Citation | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Carrying a handgun by a person under 21 (or with a 5-year disqualifying-misdemeanor conviction), off own premises and not en route to own vehicle | Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a) | Class A misdemeanor |
| Carrying a handgun in vehicle in plain view, by person under 21 / not LTC, or while engaged in non-traffic criminal activity, or while a prohibited person | Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a-1) | Class A misdemeanor |
| Intentionally displaying handgun in plain view in a public place (constitutional carrier) | Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a-5) | Class A misdemeanor |
| Carrying handgun while intoxicated, off own property | Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a-6) | Class A misdemeanor |
| Carrying handgun off own premises, not en route to own vehicle, while prohibited under § 46.04(b) or (c) (non-felon protective-order or family-violence prohibition) | Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a-7), (e)(2) | Felony of the third degree |
| Carrying handgun off own premises while prohibited under § 46.04(a) (felon in possession) | Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a-7), (e)(1) | Felony of the second degree, 5-year minimum |
| Intentionally displaying handgun in plain view in a public place (LTC holder) | Tex. Penal Code § 46.035(a) | No grading subsection is printed under § 46.035; the general plain-view offense at § 46.02(a-5) is a Class A misdemeanor under § 46.02(b) |
| Possessing or going with a firearm in a § 46.03 prohibited place (general) | Tex. Penal Code § 46.03(a), (g) | Felony of the third degree |
| Possessing or going with a firearm in a § 46.03 prohibited place under (a)(8), (a)(10), (a)(11), (a)(13), (a-2), (a-3), or (a-4) | Tex. Penal Code § 46.03(g-2) | Class A misdemeanor |
The grading distinction students miss: a § 46.02(a-5) plain-view violation is a Class A misdemeanor. A § 46.03(a)(1) violation (carrying into a school) is a third-degree felony. The penalty for crossing onto a § 46.03 premises is dramatically higher than the penalty for clipping the constitutional-carry plain-view rule. PROHIBITED_PLACES walks through the prohibited-places statute in detail; treat the existence of § 46.03 felonies as the practical reason the LTC defenses in § 46.15(p)-(q) matter.
§ 46.15(a) and (b) list the personal exemptions that take an actor outside § 46.02 and § 46.03 entirely. The categories most relevant to a CCW student:
§ 46.15(b)(6) is the LTC-holder exception that makes constitutional-carry compliance look generous to license holders: an LTC holder is statutorily exempt from § 46.02 and § 46.03 baselines (subject to the (a-2) through (a-4) institution-of-higher-education rules and the prohibited-places limits in § 46.03 itself).
§ 46.02(a-2) defines "premises" for the unlawful-carry statute to include real property and a recreational vehicle being used as living quarters. § 46.03(c)(4) defines "premises" for the prohibited-places statute as a building or portion of a building, expressly excluding any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area. The distinction is not academic: the parking-lot exclusion in § 46.03(c)(4) is what allows a license holder (or an adult constitutional carrier) to keep a handgun in a vehicle parked on hospital, school, or polling-place grounds without exposure to § 46.03 prosecution. VEHICLE_CARRY covers the parking-lot rules in detail.
A Texas adult without an LTC can carry concealed in Texas under § 46.02(a). A non-resident adult without any license can also carry concealed in Texas under § 46.02(a), so long as they are 21 or older, not prohibited under § 46.04, and not prohibited under federal law. The constitutional-carry rule does not require Texas residency.
A non-resident carrying on an out-of-state license is recognized under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.173(b), which since September 1, 2025 recognizes "A valid license to carry a handgun issued by any other state" with no agreement, proclamation or qualification test. The practical takeaway: the license lets the holder carry without committing the § 46.02 offense, but it does not add the § 46.15(p) and (q) carve-outs or the § 46.03(e-1) airport-checkpoint defense, because each of those is written for an actor holding a license issued under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code.
§ 411.173(b) recognizes a valid out-of-state license without regard to where the holder lives, so a Texas resident holding one is recognized on the same terms as a visitor. What the out-of-state license does not do is stand in for a Texas LTC: the § 46.15(p) and (q) carve-outs and the § 46.03(e-1) defense each require a license issued under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and the federal NICS-exempt purchase at a Texas dealer runs on the Texas LTC.
Concealed carry intersects with USE_OF_FORCE the moment a carrier needs to draw. § 9.31 (self-defense), § 9.32 (deadly force), and § 9.33 (defense of third person) provide the affirmative justification for displaying or firing a handgun. § 9.04 separately provides that "the threat of force is justified when the use of force is justified by this chapter," and that "a threat to cause death or serious bodily injury by the production of a weapon or otherwise, as long as the actor's purpose is limited to creating an apprehension that he will use deadly force if necessary, does not constitute the use of deadly force." In other words, drawing or producing a handgun to create apprehension is treated as a threat of force (not deadly force) when the actor's purpose is so limited - but this is conditional on that limited purpose, and on the underlying use of force being justified under Chapter 9. None of this conflicts with § 46.02(a-5) or § 46.035(a), because those statutes target intentional display in a public place outside the defensive context. USE_OF_FORCE and CASTLE_DOCTRINE walk through the justification framework. The short version for an instructor: a clean defensive draw against an articulable threat is not a § 46.02(a-5) violation, even if the handgun becomes visible.
A constitutional carrier carries no document. There is no "constitutional-carry card." If a peace officer asks for ID during a lawful stop while you are armed, you produce your driver's license under the same rules that apply to any traffic or pedestrian stop.
An LTC holder should carry the LTC card. Tex. Gov't Code § 411.205 requires a license holder who is carrying a handgun on or about the person to display both the driver's license or DPS identification certificate and the handgun license when a magistrate or a peace officer demands identification, plus a copy of the applicable court order if the handgun license bears a protective order designation. That duty cannot be met without the card on you. No statute requires you to announce the handgun unprompted, and the rest of the practical advice is unchanged: cooperate, identify yourself with the driver's license, and answer truthfully if asked whether you are armed. DUTY_TO_INFORM covers the full framework.
<!-- federal-context-block:added-2026-05-20 -->N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen (2022). Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), eliminated "proper cause" / "good cause" discretionary CCW frameworks and required states to apply objective issuance criteria. The decision converted formerly may-issue states to shall-issue. States that were already shall-issue or permitless before Bruen experience the case primarily through its broader historical-tradition test for evaluating subsequent Second Amendment claims.
This page covers one part of our Texas concealed carry guide.
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