Texas Concealed Carry Permit Basics

Texas License to Carry (LTC) Permit Basics

Bottom Line

Texas has been a permitless-carry state since House Bill 1927 took effect September 1, 2021, but the License to Carry a handgun (LTC) remains a valuable credential. The LTC is issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.171 et seq. It costs $40 for an original or renewed license (waived under § 411.1951(b) for a current member of the armed forces and for a veteran honorably discharged within the preceding 365 days, set at $25 under § 411.1951(c)(1) for a veteran discharged more than 365 days before the application, and reduced by $5 at renewal for applicants 60+), expires under § 411.183(a) on the first birthday after the fourth anniversary of issuance, and requires a 4 to 6 hour classroom course plus a range qualification by a DPS-certified instructor. Even with constitutional carry, an LTC unlocks reciprocity in the states DPS lists under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.173(b), exempts the holder from the NICS check at handgun purchase under 18 U.S.C. § 922(t), and preserves carve-outs in Tex. Penal Code § 46.15(p) and (q) that limit where a licensed carrier can be charged. The application is built around § 411.172 (eligibility), § 411.174 (application), § 411.177 (60-day issuance), and § 411.188 (proficiency course).

Issuing Authority

Texas runs a single statewide licensing system. § 411.174(a) requires applicants to submit to the director's designee described in § 411.176. In practice, DPS runs the LTC program through its Regulatory Services Division. Applications, fingerprints, and supporting documents are submitted through the DPS LTC portal, with fingerprints captured by IdentoGO or another DPS-approved vendor. There is no county sheriff or municipal piece of the licensing decision.

Texas is shall-issue by statutory design. § 411.177(a) says it directly: "The department shall administer the licensing procedures in good faith so that any applicant who meets all the eligibility requirements and submits all the application materials shall receive a license," and "the department may not deny an application on the basis of a capricious or arbitrary decision by the department."

Eligibility

Tex. Gov't Code § 411.172(a) sets the eligibility test. To receive an LTC, you must satisfy all fourteen of the following:

• You are a legal resident of Texas for the six-month period preceding the date of application, or you qualify under the non-resident procedure in § 411.173(a).
• You are at least 21 years of age, with the military and protective-order carve-outs in § 411.172(g) and (i) discussed below.
• You have not been convicted of a felony. The lifetime felony bar is absolute under Texas law, with no time limit.
• You are not currently charged with a felony (under information or indictment), a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or a disorderly-conduct offense under Tex. Penal Code § 42.01.
• You are not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a Class A or Class B misdemeanor.
• You are not a chemically dependent person as defined by § 411.171(2). Two convictions within the preceding 10 years for a Class B misdemeanor or greater that has alcohol or a controlled substance as a statutory element conclusively establishes chemical dependency under § 411.172(c). Other evidence can also establish it.
• You are not incapable of exercising sound judgment with respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun. § 411.172(d) defines this in mental-health terms (qualifying psychiatric disorders that substantially impair judgment, mood, perception, impulse control, or intellectual ability; physician-determined incompetence; or a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity plea). § 411.172(e) treats certain events as evidence of a qualifying disorder, including involuntary commitment, inpatient psychiatric or substance-abuse treatment in the preceding five years, a physician diagnosis of dependence in the preceding five years, or any-time diagnosis of schizophrenia or delusional disorder, bipolar disorder, chronic dementia, dissociative identity disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, or antisocial personality disorder. § 411.172(f) provides a remission pathway: a psychiatrist's certificate stating the condition is in remission and not reasonably likely to redevelop restores eligibility.
• You have not, in the five years preceding the date of application, been convicted of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or an offense under Tex. Penal Code § 42.01. The five-year clock runs from the date of the conviction, not the offense date or release date.
• You are fully qualified under applicable federal and state law to purchase a handgun. This sweeps in the entire 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) federal prohibitor list (felony conviction, fugitive status, controlled-substance use, mental commitment, undocumented status, dishonorable discharge, renunciation of citizenship, qualifying domestic-violence misdemeanor, active protection order). A federal-law disqualifier alone disqualifies the applicant even if no state-law disqualifier would.
• You have not been finally determined to be delinquent in child support administered or collected by the Office of the Attorney General.
• You have not been finally determined to be delinquent in the payment of a tax or other money collected by the comptroller, a local tax collector, or any agency or subdivision of the state.
• You are not currently restricted under a court protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the spousal relationship (other than a property-only restraining order).
• You have not, in the 10 years preceding the date of application, been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony. This is the juvenile-adjudication bar.
• You have not made any material misrepresentation, or failed to disclose any material fact, in an application submitted under § 411.174.

The "convicted" definition in § 411.171(4) is broad: it includes a deferred adjudication unless the deferred adjudication has been expunged, pardoned, or otherwise vacated, set aside, annulled, invalidated, voided, or sealed.

18-to-20 carve-out for military and protective-order applicants

The default age floor in § 411.172(a)(2) is 21, and Texas opens two statutory doors for 18-to-20-year-olds. Separately, after Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc. v. McCraw, No. 4:21-cv-1245-P (N.D. Tex. Aug. 25, 2022), the Department of Public Safety states that "[a] federal district court has ruled the Department can no longer apply the License to Carry statutory eligibility criteria that prohibit otherwise eligible 18-to-20 year-olds from obtaining the license" and that "[t]he Department will therefore no longer deny applications solely on the basis that the applicants are 18-to-20 years old."

Active or veteran military. Under § 411.172(g), an applicant who is at least 18 but not yet 21 is eligible if the applicant is a member or veteran of the U.S. armed forces (including reserves and national guard) and, if discharged, was discharged under honorable conditions, and otherwise meets every other eligibility requirement. § 411.172(h) makes clear this Texas eligibility does not change the federal handgun-purchase floor at 21 under 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1); the LTC does not create a federal purchase right.

Protected-person applicants. Under § 411.172(i), an applicant who is at least 18 but not yet 21 is eligible if the applicant is protected under an active protective order issued under Title 4, Family Code, an active protective order issued under Subchapter A, Chapter 7B, Code of Criminal Procedure, or an active magistrate's order for emergency protection under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure. This was a 2021 addition driven by domestic-violence advocacy and gives a young adult under an active protective order the ability to obtain a Texas LTC for self-protection.

Non-Resident Licenses

Texas issues LTCs to out-of-state residents under § 411.173(a). Eligibility is identical to the resident track. The only difference is procedural: DPS adopts a separate application path and charges a fee sufficient to cover the criminal-history check on a non-resident applicant. A non-resident LTC expires under § 411.183 and renews under § 411.185 the same way a resident license does. The non-resident path also covers a person who has relocated to Texas with the intent to establish residency but has not yet completed the six-month residency window in § 411.172(a)(1). § 411.173(b) and (c) handle the reverse: the Governor negotiates reciprocity for other states' licenses, and the Texas Attorney General submits an annual report by January 1 listing recognized states. The full list lives in the RECIPROCITY section.

What the Application Asks For

§ 411.174 sets the contents of the application. Every applicant must submit to the DPS director's designee:

1. A completed application on the DPS form, which captures full name, place and date of birth, race, sex, residence and business addresses for the preceding five years, hair and eye color, height and weight, driver's-license or DPS-ID number, criminal-history information (arrests, charges, indictments, and dispositions), and any history of treatment, commitment, or residence in a licensed drug or alcohol treatment center in the preceding five years or in a psychiatric hospital at any time.
2. One or more photographs meeting DPS specifications.
3. A certified copy of the applicant's birth certificate or other certified proof of age.
4. Proof of residency (Texas residency for residents; out-of-state residency for non-resident applicants).
5. Two complete sets of legible and classifiable fingerprints, taken by an entity employed by or designated by a law-enforcement agency. In practice, this is IdentoGO.
6. A nonrefundable $40 application and license fee paid to DPS, subject to the fee waivers and reductions below.
7. Evidence of handgun proficiency in the form required by DPS, meaning the completion certificate from a qualified handgun instructor under § 411.188.
8. A signed affidavit that the applicant has read and understands every provision of the LTC subchapter that creates an offense and every provision of state law related to the use of deadly force (so the applicant cannot later claim ignorance of Tex. Penal Code Chapter 9 or Chapter 46), and that the applicant satisfies every eligibility requirement under § 411.172.
9. A records-authorization form allowing DPS to inquire into noncriminal-history records necessary to determine eligibility under § 411.172(a).

Two anti-overreach provisions: under § 411.174(d), DPS may not request or require the applicant's Social Security number, and under § 411.174(b-1), the application must reserve space for veteran-designation information under § 411.179(e).

The Proficiency Course

§ 411.188 is the training spine of the LTC. The course has two parts:

Classroom instruction. Under § 411.188(b), the classroom portion must run not less than four hours and not more than six hours, covering: (1) weapons and use-of-deadly-force law, (2) handgun use and safety (including restraint holsters and secure carry of openly carried handguns), (3) nonviolent dispute resolution, and (4) proper storage practices, with an emphasis on storage that prevents accidental injury to a child. § 411.188(c) authorizes an approved online course provider to administer the classroom portion online with the same four-to-six-hour duration.

Range instruction and proficiency demonstration. Under § 411.188(b) and (d), only a qualified handgun instructor (not an online provider) may administer the range instruction and the physical demonstration. For an applicant who took the classroom portion online, § 411.188(d-1) requires the instructor to put the applicant through one to two hours of in-person range instruction before the proficiency demonstration. Test results are sent to DPS and retained under § 411.188(f).

The course is not waivable by prior military, law-enforcement, or out-of-state training. § 411.188 contains no grandfather pathway. Detail on course content and qualified-instructor requirements lives in TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS.

Under § 411.188(k), a qualified handgun instructor may submit a written recommendation for disapproval, supported by affidavit. DPS may rely on it only if the recommendation is made in good faith and is supported by a preponderance of the evidence, and must rule within 45 days; the 60-day issuance clock is extended one day for each day the recommendation is pending.

Issuance Timeline

§ 411.177(b) sets a hard 60-day deadline. Within 60 days of receipt of a complete application, DPS must (1) issue the license, (2) notify the applicant in writing of denial citing § 411.172, an affidavit under § 411.176(c), or an instructor affidavit under § 411.188(k), or (3) notify the applicant in writing that DPS cannot make a determination within the 60-day window, with an explanation and an estimated additional period.

§ 411.177(b-1) carves out an expedited 10-day track for applicants who simultaneously apply for the qualifying-judge or qualifying-prosecutor designation under § 411.184. Most applicants do not qualify.

§ 411.177(c) is a backstop: if DPS fails to issue or deny for more than 30 days after the deadline in subsection (b), the inaction constitutes a denial the applicant can appeal. The statute does not auto-issue the license.

§ 411.177(d) confirms that a license is effective from the date of issuance, not the date of application.

Term and Validity

§ 411.183 pegs expiration to the holder's birthday rather than to a flat anniversary of issuance.

• Original license (§ 411.183(a)). Expires on the earlier of the holder's first birthday occurring after the fourth anniversary of issuance, or the expiration of lawful presence in the United States. If the holder has no definite lawful-presence expiration, the license expires on the first anniversary of issuance. In plain numbers, an original LTC runs roughly four to five years, depending on how close issuance is to the holder's birthday.
• Renewed license (§ 411.183(b)). Expires on the earlier of the holder's birthday five years after the expiration of the previous license, or the expiration of lawful presence. The practical result is a clean five-year renewal cycle keyed to the holder's birthday.
• Duplicate or modified license (§ 411.183(c) and (d)). Expires on the date the underlying license would have expired, with a narrow exception under § 411.181(a-1).

DPS states the two clocks separately: "Initial licenses are valid for four years. Renewal licenses are valid for five years." The strict statutory language is the birthday-anniversary formula in § 411.183(a) and (b).

Renewal

§ 411.185(a) lays out the renewal mechanics. To renew, the license holder must, on or before the date the license expires, submit:

1. A renewal application on the DPS form (which updates the original-application information under § 411.185(b)).
2. Payment of a nonrefundable renewal fee of $40, subject to the senior reduction in § 411.195 and the military and veteran waivers in § 411.1951.
3. The informational form prescribed by DPS describing state law on the use of deadly force and the places where carry by an LTC holder is unlawful, signed or electronically acknowledged by the applicant.

DPS administers renewal online or by mail under the procedure adopted under § 411.185(f). DPS is required by § 411.185(d) to mail the license holder a renewal notice, the renewal application, and the informational form at least 60 days before expiration; that mailing is a courtesy, not a substitute for the holder's own renewal obligation.

Decision deadline (§ 411.185(e)). DPS must issue the renewed license or deny the application within 45 days of receiving complete renewal materials. There is no proficiency-course retake on renewal; § 411.188 training is required for the original license only, and the renewal under § 411.185 does not require classroom or range repetition. The renewal cadence in Texas is therefore meaningfully cheaper and faster than the original application.

Social-security protection. As with the original application, § 411.185(g) prohibits DPS from requesting or requiring the license holder's Social Security number to renew.

Fee Structure

The headline application and renewal fee is $40. The structure has been reduced substantially since 2017, when the Legislature dropped the original-application fee from $140 to $40. The full schedule:

Notes on the schedule:

• § 411.195 reduces senior fees only for the renewal ($5 off) and for duplicates or modifications (50% off). It does not reduce the $40 original-license fee for applicants 60 or older. Some third-party guides publish a flat "$25 for seniors" figure; the statute does not provide that.
• § 411.1951(b) waives every fee (original, renewed, duplicate, modified) for active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces (including reserves, national guard, and state guard) and for veterans honorably discharged within the preceding 365 days.
• § 411.1951(c) sets a flat $25 fee for veterans more than a year past honorable discharge for original or renewed licenses, and reduces duplicate or modified license fees by 50%.
• The DPS fee under § 411.174(a)(6) covers the full DPS processing including the federal background check. Fingerprinting captured by an outside vendor (typically IdentoGO) is billed separately by the vendor.

Proficiency-course tuition is set by the qualified handgun instructor and is separate from the DPS fee. DPS does not regulate course tuition.

What the LTC Authorizes

The LTC authorizes the holder to carry a handgun (open or concealed) on or about the holder's person, subject to the prohibited-place rules in Tex. Penal Code § 46.03 (statewide-prohibited places), with the license-holder carve-outs in Tex. Penal Code § 46.15(p) and (q). Three benefits explain why the LTC is still worth getting after the 2021 permitless-carry change:

• § 46.15 carve-outs. Under § 46.15(p), § 46.03(a)(7), (11), and (13) do not apply to an actor who carries a handgun on the premises, holds an LTC, and was not given effective notice under § 30.06 or § 30.07 or Tex. Gov't Code § 411.204. Under § 46.15(q), § 46.03(a)(8) does not apply to an LTC holder carrying where a collegiate sporting event is taking place absent effective § 30.06 or § 30.07 notice. Without the license, those carve-outs do not apply and the underlying § 46.03 offense may attach. Detail lives in PROHIBITED_PLACES.
• NICS purchase exemption. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(3), a state-issued carry permit that requires a NICS-equivalent background check at issuance and is no more than five years old exempts the holder from the NICS check at handgun retail purchase. The Texas LTC qualifies. A permitless carrier does not.
• Reciprocity. A Texas LTC is recognized in the states listed on the DPS State Reciprocity Information page, published and annually updated under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.173(b); HB 1927 permitless carry is Texas-only.

The LTC does not override § 46.03 prohibited places, federal facilities under 18 U.S.C. § 930, the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act under 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), or the carry-while-intoxicated bar in Tex. Penal Code § 46.02(a-6). Detail on those limits lives in PROHIBITED_PLACES and UNDER_INFLUENCE.

Permitless Carry vs. LTC: Why the License Still Matters

HB 1927 (2021) rewrote § 46.02, letting an adult who is 21+, not federally prohibited, and not under specified Texas disqualifications carry a handgun in public without a license. The LTC was not displaced. It still provides:

• Reciprocity in the states listed on the DPS State Reciprocity Information page, published and annually updated under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.173(b). Permitless carry is Texas-only.
• NICS purchase exemption under 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(3) when buying a handgun from an FFL.
• § 46.15(p) and (q) carve-outs at certain prohibited-place situations not available to a permitless carrier.
• Faster traffic-stop interactions. The LTC is in DPS records and surfaces on a routine driver's-license check.

The trade-off: a permitless carrier saves the $40 fee, the proficiency-course tuition, and the four-to-six-hour course time. The Legislature deliberately left the choice with the carrier.

Denial, Appeal, and Revocation

If DPS denies an application, § 411.177(b)(2) requires written notice citing § 411.172 (eligibility), an affidavit by the director's designee under § 411.176(c), or an instructor affidavit under § 411.188(k). The applicant has a right to administrative review under § 411.180 and to judicial review in the district court where the applicant resides, in Travis County, or where the cause of action arose. Review is on the agency record.

Revocation is governed by § 411.186. DPS may revoke an LTC if the holder ceases to meet eligibility under § 411.172, was not eligible at the time of issuance, or made a material misrepresentation in the application. Revocation triggers the same review pathway as denial.

Key Texas Statutes Referenced in This Section