Can You Conceal Carry in Texas Without a License?

You can conceal carry in Texas without a license if you are at least 21 years old and not otherwise legally prohibited from possessing a firearm. House Bill 1927, the Firearm Carry Act of 2021, took effect September 1, 2021, and lets qualifying adults carry a handgun concealed or openly in a holster without applying for a License to Carry.¹ The right is real, but the rules around who, where, and how have not gone away. Missing any of them can turn a lawful carry into a criminal charge.

Who Can Carry Without a License

The floor is age 21.² Below that, don’t assume you can carry, regardless of anything you may have read about pending litigation.

Criminal history disqualifies many otherwise-eligible adults. A felony conviction bars firearm possession anywhere in Texas for the first five years after release from confinement or supervision, and after that window a convicted felon may possess a firearm only inside their own home.³

Certain misdemeanor convictions within the past five years also disqualify you from carrying: assault causing bodily injury, deadly conduct, terroristic threats, and disorderly conduct involving the discharge or display of a firearm in public.⁴ A family violence assault, even at the misdemeanor level, bars firearm possession for five years after release from confinement or community supervision.³

Federal law adds its own bars that Texas cannot override. If you’re subject to a qualifying protective order, possessing a firearm is a federal offense punishable by up to ten years in prison.⁵ Other federal categories include a dishonorable discharge, an adjudication of mental incompetence, a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction from any state, and unlawful use of controlled substances.

How You Must Carry

Concealed carry has no holster requirement under state law, though most people who carry regularly use one. If you carry openly, the handgun must be in a holster. Displaying an unholstered handgun in plain view in a public place is a separate offense under Section 46.02(a-5).⁴

Where You Still Cannot Carry

Section 46.03 of the Penal Code lists places where carrying a firearm is a crime regardless of whether you have a license. Most violations are third-degree felonies, punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.⁶⁷ Prohibited locations include:

K-12 schools, school-sponsored events, and school buses
Public university campuses (a narrow exception exists for LTC holders carrying concealed, but not for permitless carriers)
Court premises and offices used by a court, without written authorization from the court
Polling places on election day and during early voting
Secured areas of airports past TSA screening
Racetracks
Businesses that earn 51 percent or more of their revenue from on-premises alcohol sales and are required to post the corresponding sign
Within 1,000 feet of a designated execution facility on execution day, if you received notice
Premises of high school, college, or professional sporting events
Correctional and civil commitment facilities
Hospitals, nursing facilities, and mental health facilities

Some of these carry a reduced penalty. Sporting events and correctional facilities, for example, are Class A misdemeanors rather than felonies.⁶

Federal Property

Texas’s carry law stops at the door of any federal facility. Federal law separately prohibits firearms in any building or part of a building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work. Basic possession carries up to one year in prison; possession with intent to commit a crime raises it to five years.⁸ That covers post offices, Social Security offices, VA facilities, IRS offices, federal courthouses, and military installations. Post offices trip people up because the prohibition extends to the parking lot.

Private Property and the Sign That Actually Binds You

Property owners can prohibit firearms on their premises, but the sign that matters depends on whether you have a license.

For a permitless carrier, only the Section 30.05 sign creates a legal obligation. It reads, in English and Spanish, that entering the property with a firearm is prohibited under Section 30.05 of the Penal Code, and it must use contrasting colors, block letters at least one inch tall, and be posted conspicuously at each entrance.⁹

The other two signs you’ll see, Section 30.06 and Section 30.07, prohibit concealed and open carry respectively by License to Carry holders.¹⁰ If you’re carrying without a license, those two do not legally bind you. Many businesses post all three. Knowing which one applies to your situation matters if you’re ever charged.

Ignoring a 30.05 firearms sign is a Class C misdemeanor with a maximum $200 fine. If the owner or someone acting for the owner personally tells you to leave and you refuse, it becomes a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.⁹

Police Encounters

Texas does not require you to volunteer to a police officer that you’re armed. If an officer lawfully detains you, however, the officer can temporarily disarm you for the duration of the stop. When the detention ends and you’re otherwise legal to carry, the firearm should be returned.

If the officer discovers during the stop that you have a disqualifying conviction or an active protective order, the firearm will not come back, and the stop itself becomes evidence of a separate crime.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

Carrying while underage or with a disqualifying misdemeanor conviction within the past five years is a Class A misdemeanor: up to one year in jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both.⁴¹¹

A convicted felon in possession of any firearm faces a third-degree felony: two to ten years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.³⁷ Possessing a firearm while subject to a protective order or within five years of a family violence conviction is a Class A misdemeanor.

Carrying into most Section 46.03 locations is a third-degree felony, with the reduced Class A misdemeanor treatment for the specific locations noted above.

Where Permitless Carry Runs Out

Permitless carry is a Texas-only right. If you plan to carry on a public university campus, cross a state line, or buy handguns often, the license fills gaps that permitless carry does not.

Other States

A Texas License to Carry is recognized in dozens of other states through reciprocity agreements.¹² Cross into another state without a Texas LTC or a permit that state recognizes and you’re likely committing a crime by carrying. Federal “safe passage” under 18 U.S.C. § 926A only protects you while transporting an unloaded firearm locked and inaccessible during travel through a restrictive state; it does not cover carrying on your person.¹³

Public University Campuses

Section 46.03 prohibits firearms on university premises but carves out an exception for LTC holders carrying concealed on the campus of a public postsecondary institution.⁶ Permitless carriers get no such exception. Carrying on a public university campus without a license exposes you to a third-degree felony.

Firearm Purchases

Federal law requires a licensed dealer to run a National Instant Criminal Background Check System check before selling you a firearm. A qualifying state permit lets the dealer skip that check because the permit itself demonstrates you passed a background screening. The Texas LTC qualifies. Without one, every purchase starts a fresh NICS check, and occasional delays can hold up a sale for days.

1
Texas Legislature Online. Texas H.B. 1927 – Firearm Carry Act of 2021
2
Texas State Law Library. Carry of Firearms
3
State of Texas. Texas Code Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm
4
State of Texas. Texas Code Penal Code 46.02 – Unlawful Carrying Weapons
5
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Protection Orders and Federal Firearms Prohibitions
6
State of Texas. Texas Code Penal Code 46.03 – Places Weapons Prohibited
7
State of Texas. Texas Code Penal Code 12.34 – Third Degree Felony Punishment
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
9
State of Texas. Texas Code Penal Code 30.05 – Criminal Trespass
10
Texas State Law Library. Businesses and Private Property
11
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.21 – Class A Misdemeanor
12
Texas Department of Public Safety. LTC Benefits
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms