Strange Bedfellows in Texas Gun Debate
The Texas chapter of the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas have joined forces to support the rights of Texas citizens to carry guns in their cars.
A joint report by the groups says Texas district and county attorneys have instructed police officers to “unnecessarily” interrogate drivers and arrest them or take their weapons, “even if they are legally carrying the gun,” the New York Times reports.
Texans can cite “traveling” as a defense to possession of an unlicensed handgun in a motor vehicle. In 2005, the state’s Legislature said anyone in a private vehicle who was not engaged in criminal activity or otherwise barred from possessing a firearm was “presumed to be traveling.”
But the the Texas District and County Attorneys Association has urged its members to continue to prosecute citizens found with guns in their cars, and battle the law out in court.
