Places Weapons Prohibited is a Texas offense that prohibits a person from possessing weapons in certain places. To obtain a conviction, the state’s attorneys must prove that you intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possessed a weapon covered under the statute or went to a prohibited place with one of those weapons.

UPDATE: The Places Weapons Prohibited offense was updated in the 85th Texas Legislature. Learn more details about the amendments below.

The Places Weapons Prohibited offense contains some of the most hotly-debated law in Texas politics. The concealed carry and open carry rules have been frequently amended, especially with regard to educational institutions, and these laws all interact with the Places Weapons Prohibited offense.

What is the current Texas law regarding Places Weapons Prohibited?

The current Texas law is as follows:^[1]

(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, location-restricted knife, club, or prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a):

The law continues by listing several categories of places where these weapons are prohibited. The first subdivision, Texas Penal Code §46.03(a)(1) includes schools, events sponsored by schools and school vehicles, but there are two exceptions. Carrying a weapon is not prohibited on the school premises if the institution authorized the carrying of the weapon in writing or if you are carrying a licensed concealed weapon on a college campus or a place where the college is sponsoring an event:^[2]

(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, location-restricted knife, club, or prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a):

(1) on the physical premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution, whether the school or educational institution is public or private, unless:

(A) pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the institution; or

(B) the person possesses or goes with a concealed handgun that the person is licensed to carry under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and no other weapon to which this section applies, on the premises of an institution of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education, on any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by the institution is being conducted, or in a passenger transportation vehicle of the institution;

Texas Penal Code §46.03(a)(2) lists polling places, but only on election-day and during early-voting. Texas Penal Code §46.03(a)(3) lists courts and offices used by the courts, unless the weapon is allowed by written authorization of the court. The prohibited places in subdivisions (a)(4) and (a)(5) are racetracks and secured areas of airports.

The sixth subdivision, (a)(6), lists all places within 1,000 feet of a “place of execution” on the day a death sentence is scheduled to be carried out, provided that notice was given that “(A) going within 1,000 feet of the premises with a weapon listed under this subsection was prohibited; or(B) possessing a weapon listed under this subsection within 1,000 feet of the premises was prohibited,” and under subdivision (i), except for people who possess a firearm or club (1) while in a driving vehicle on a public road or (2) while at the person’s residence or employment location. This limitation protects people from committing an offense who are merely driving on a public road close to an execution location. The exception also protects people who live or work close to an execution location.

Subdivision (a)(7) includes all bars, specifically bars that derive 50% of their income from alcohol sales. Subdivision (a)(8) prohibits possession of these weapons at high school, college and professional sporting events, except for participants in the events if the events require the use of the weapon (like a rifle or drill team). Subdivisions (a)(9) and (a)(10) list correctional facilities and civil commitment facilities, respectively. Subdivision (11) lists hospitals and subdivision (12) lists mental health hospitals. Subdivision (13) includes amusement parks, and subdivision (14) lists government meeting rooms subject tot he open meeting laws and where notice is posted.

In 2017, the legislature added a subsection (a-1), which prohibits you from bringing location-restricted knives into certain places, but that subsection was repealed in 2021, and those locations were folded into the main Places Weapons Prohibited law in subsection (a).^[3]

What weapons are covered?

The weapons covered by the Places Weapons Prohibited statute are firearms, location-restricted knives, clubs, or a “prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a).”^[4] Illegal knives were removed from this list in 2017 and replaced with “location-restricted knives.”^[5]

The weapons listed in Section 46.05(a) are: explosive weapons, machine guns, short-barrel firearms, firearm silencers, knuckles, armor-piercing ammunition, chemical dispensing devices, zip guns, tire deflation devices and improvised explosive devices.^[6] Improvised explosive devices were only added to this list in 2017.^[7]

Firearm is defined in Subsection 46.01(3) as “any device designed, made, or adapted to expel a projectile through a barrel by using the energy generated by an explosion or burning substance or any device readily convertible to that use.”^[8] The new “location-restricted knives” definition is found in 46.01(6): a “knife with a blade over five and one-half inches.”^[9]

Club is defined in Subsection 46.01(1) as “an instrument that is specially designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting serious bodily injury or death by striking a person with the instrument.”^[10] This is a very broad definition that includes items like baseball bats and axes.

Who is not covered by the Places Weapons Prohibited offense?

The Places Weapons Prohibited offense does not apply to (1) peace officers or special investigators (under Article 2.122, Code of Criminal Procedure), (2) so long as they are licensed to carry a gun, active judicial officers (as defined by Section 411.201, Government Code), district, county and municipal attorneys and their assistants and (3) under many circumstances, parole officers, community supervision officers, corrections department officers, honorably retired peace officers and federal criminal investigators.^[11]

Does Places Weapons Prohibited apply to soldiers, officers of the court or penal institution guards?

If you are a member of the armed forces, a member of the national guard, a guard for a penal institution, or an officer of the court, acting in your official duty, then you cannot be found guilty of carrying a prohibited weapon in any of the first four categories of places.^[12]

What are the other statutory defenses to the Places Weapons Prohibited offense?

In addition to the nonapplicability section listed above and the active duty defense listed above, there are three statutory defenses.

People in the armed forces or national guard, penal institution guards, and certain security officers have a defense to (a)(5) prosecutions (secured parts of the airport) if they carried a firearm or club while (1) traveling to or from an assigned work place or (2) in the discharge of duty.^[13]

Another statutory defense to an (a)(5) prosecution is that the person checked all firearms as baggage before entering into a secured area of an airport.^[14] A person also has a defense to an (a)(5) prosecution if the person had a concealed handgun that the person was licensed to carry concealed and immediately exited the screening checkpoint in accordance with the statute.^[15]

The last statutory defense listed in the Places Weapons Prohibited statute applies to certain security officers who possess a firearm or club while going to or from a racetrack or while exercising duties as a security officer at a racetrack.^[16]

What if I had a concealed handgun license?

Other than the situation described above (regarding secured areas of airports), it is not a defense to prosecution of Places Weapons Prohibited that you had a concealed handgun license.^[17]

What is the penalty for a Places Weapons Prohibited conviction?

Places Weapons Prohibited is currently punished a Class C misdemeanor if the weapon was a location-restricted knife and the violation was a subdivision (a)(1) violation,^[18] a Class A misdemeanor if the conviction is under subsection (a)(8), (a)(10), (a)(11), (a)(13), (a-2), (a-3), or (a-4), and as a third degree felony for all other offenses.^[19]

Under the law in effect prior to September 1, 2017, Places Weapons Prohibited was simply punished a third degree felony.^[20]

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Legal References:

^1. Texas Penal Code §46.03(a), as amended by H.B. 1935, 85th Legislature, Section 5, effective September 1, 2017. The changes made by the legislature from the previous version of the law were as follows:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, location-restricted illegal knife, club, or prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a):

The bill created a new subsection (a-1) that prohibits carrying “location-restricted knives” in certain places, and it swapped out the “illegal knives” regulated in subsection (a) for “location-restricted knives.”

^2. Texas Penal Code §46.03(a)(1)(A)&(B)^3. H.B. 1927, 87th Texas Legislature, Sec. 26(9), eff. September 1, 2021^4. Texas Penal Code §46.03(a)^5. H.B. 1935, 85th Legislature, Section 5. The term “Illegal knives” was defined in Penal Code §46.01(6) and included the following: (1) a knife with a blade over five and one-half inches, (2) a throwing knife, (3) a dagger, (4) a bowie knife, (5) a sword or (6) a spear.^6. Texas Penal Code §46.05(a)^7. H.B. 913, 85th Legislature, Section 2. “Improvised explosive device” was defined in Section 1, and codified in Texas Penal Code §46.01(19)^8. Texas Penal Code §46.01(5)^9. H.B. 1927, 87th Texas Legislature, Sec. 26(9), eff. September 1, 2021^10. Texas Penal Code §46.01(1)^11. Texas Penal Code §46.05(a)(1)-(9)^12 Texas Penal Code §46.03(b)^13. Texas Penal Code §46.03(d)(1)-(4)^14. Texas Penal Code §46.03(e)^15. Texas Penal Code §46.03(e-1)^16. Texas Penal Code §46.03(h)^17. Texas Penal Code §46.03(f)^18. Texas Penal Code §46.03(g-1), created by H.B. 1935, 85th Legislature, Section 5, effective September 1,2017^19. Texas Penal Code §46.03(g) and (g-2), as amended and created by H.B. 1935, 85th Legislature, Section 5, effective September 1,2017 and H.B. No. 1927, 87th Legislature, Section 23, effective September 1, 2021^20. See H.B. 1935, 85th Legislature, Section 5