Concealed carry explained: where your Texas License to Carry is valid

Concealed carry means carrying a handgun out of sight. Texas allows adults aged 21 and over to do so without a license, but it still issues the License to Carry, and that is exactly what counts once you cross a state line. Before any of that comes a question no license answers: does your immigration status allow you to own a firearm at all?

Walk into a Texas gun store for the first time and you will pick up two terms faster than any others: concealed carry, carrying out of sight, and reciprocity, the mutual recognition of licenses between states. Both sound technical. Both decide whether you move around legally with a firearm or commit a crime at the next state line.

This guide explains what the Texas License to Carry allows, why it still exists alongside permitless carry, which states recognize it and how two other states, Florida and Arizona, answer the same questions. But it starts with federal law. For Europeans on a visa, that is the first and most important hurdle, and no state license removes it.

This page describes the law. It is not a recommendation to buy or carry a firearm. If you hold a visa, check your eligibility before every purchase.

1Federal law first: who may have a firearm at all

American gun law works on two levels. Federal law says who may own a firearm at all. State law governs how, where and with which license. For immigrants, the key rule is 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). It bars aliens who are in the country illegally, and aliens admitted on a nonimmigrant visa, from possessing firearms and ammunition. E-2, L-1, H-1B and E-1 are all such visas.

The exceptions are in § 922(y)(2). For private individuals, one matters most: the ban does not apply to visa holders admitted for hunting or sporting purposes, or who hold a valid hunting license issued in the US. If you have lived in the US continuously for at least 180 days, you can also apply to the Attorney General for a waiver under § 922(y)(3); this requires a statement from your embassy or consulate. How visa holders get a hunting license is covered in the guide Hunting License USA.

A green card holder is not a nonimmigrant. The visa holder ban does not apply to them, only the general disqualifications that also apply to citizens. Visitors entering visa-free on ESTA are also not covered, according to the Justice Department's interpretation, as set out in the ATF rule of 7 June 2012. But a tourist has no state of residence, as the regulations expressly state, and without a state of residence no dealer will sell them a handgun. Under § 922(b)(3), a dealer may sell handguns only to residents of the dealer's own state.

The consequences of a mistake go far beyond a fine. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C), any alien convicted of a firearms offense after admission can be deported, no matter which state passed the law. The details by status are in the guides Gun ownership for immigrants by status and Gun law and immigration status.

2The Texas License to Carry

The License to Carry, or LTC, is issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The requirements are in § 411,172 of the Texas Government Code. You must have lived legally in Texas for six months or qualify as a nonresident under § 411,173, be at least 21 years old and, among other things, have no felony conviction and no conviction for a Class A or B misdemeanor in the past five years. A DWI conviction counts, the DPS says. And one requirement is decisive for immigrants: you must be fully eligible to purchase a handgun under federal and state law.

The DPS expressly issues the license to non-citizens too: to resident aliens and to certain nonimmigrants lawfully in the country, subject to federal law. Besides a birth certificate and passport, the DPS accepts the green card and a valid I-94 as proof, among other documents. If you have not yet lived in Texas for six months, or live in another state, you can apply as a nonresident using form LTC-6, two passport photos and a copy of your state driver's license. The condition is that you live lawfully in another state or are moving to Texas to live there.

The application includes a course: four to six hours of classroom instruction on gun law, self-defense and safe handling, with a certified instructor or online, plus one to two hours at the range with a shooting proficiency test before a certified instructor. Then you apply online and submit fingerprints. The state fee for a first license is $40. The first license is valid until your first birthday after the fourth anniversary of issue, but never longer than your lawful stay. If your stay has no fixed end date, it is valid for one year. You only have the rights the license grants once you hold the card in your hand. Everything about applying as a new citizen or green card holder is in the guide Texas License to Carry.

3Why get a license when Texas allows carry without one

Since 1 September 2021, people in Texas aged 21 and over who may legally own a firearm can carry a handgun without a license. That is how the DPS describes the Firearm Carry Act, HB 1927. Reading that, you might wonder what the license is still good for. The DPS itself lists a whole range of reasons.

First, reciprocity: without a license your right to carry ends at the state line; with one, it continues in many other states. Second, buying firearms: at a dealer, the license replaces the check through the federal NICS system. Third, certain places: only license holders may carry on university campuses, and businesses can choose to allow carry by license holders only. And license holders may bring their handgun to public meetings of government bodies.

A fourth reason lies in federal law and is often overlooked. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), possessing a firearm in a school zone is prohibited, meaning on school grounds and within 1,000 feet of them. One exception covers people licensed by the state where the school zone is located, if that state checks eligibility before issuing the license. So your Texas license helps you in Texas school zones, but not in those of other states. Transport there is still allowed if the firearm is unloaded and in a locked container in your car.

4Reciprocity: how recognition works

Reciprocity means one state honors another state's license. The DPS distinguishes two forms. Reciprocal means both states recognize each other's license, by agreement or by statute. Unilateral means only one of the two does.

Texas has simplified its own side of the equation. Under § 411,173(b) of the Government Code, every valid license from another state is recognized in Texas. Whether the Texas license is valid elsewhere is up to each state. The law requires the governor to negotiate with states that demand an agreement, and the DPS to publish a list of the states where the Texas license is valid.

Two DPS reminders belong on every trip. An agreement does not automatically allow you everything; some agreements carry restrictions, for example to licenses issued to residents of the issuing state aged 21 and over. And when you carry in another state, you follow its laws, just as visitors to Texas follow Texas law. Most states publish their rules on a dedicated page. Read them before you set off, not at the rest stop.

5Two examples: Florida and Arizona

Florida shows how much status matters. There, the concealed weapon license is issued by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and under § 790.06 of the Florida Statutes only to citizens and permanent residents, meaning green card holders, aged 21 and over. It is valid for seven years. The same applies to permitless carry: under § 790.01, you may carry concealed without a license if you meet the license requirements, including citizenship or a green card. Nonresidents of Florida may carry concealed under § 790,015 if they live in the US, are at least 21 and carry a valid license from their home state, or if they meet the Florida license requirements. If you move to Florida, your old license stays valid for 90 days.

Arizona allows permitless concealed carry from age 21; under § 13-3102 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, it is an offense for anyone under 21. Under § 13-3112, Arizona issues its own license to anyone who lives in Arizona or is a US citizen, is at least 21 and is not in the country illegally. Arizona recognizes other states' licenses if they are valid in the issuing state and the holder is lawfully in Arizona and not prohibited from possessing firearms. More on both states in our profiles of Florida and Arizona.

6Where the license never applies

Even with a license, there are places where the gun stays outside. In Texas, Penal Code § 46.03 lists the main ones: schools and school events, polling places on election day and during early voting, courts, the secure area of an airport, bars and restaurants that make at least 51 percent of their revenue from alcohol consumed on the premises, and sporting events. Hospitals, nursing homes and amusement parks can prohibit carrying by posting a sign.

Private property owners have their own tool. A § 30.06 sign bars license holders from carrying concealed, a § 30.07 sign from carrying openly. The signs must meet strict requirements, down to letters at least one inch high. Ignoring such a sign is a Class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $200; staying after being personally told to leave is a Class A misdemeanor. Government entities may not post these signs on their own buildings, but the prohibited places in § 46.03, such as courts, still apply there.

Federal law sits above everything. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930, possessing a firearm is prohibited in federal facilities where federal employees regularly work, from the post office to the immigration office. That applies in every state, whatever its license allows.

7Traveling through several states

Drive from Texas to Florida and you pass through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. For trips like that there is a federal rule, 18 U.S.C. § 926A. If you may lawfully possess and carry a firearm both where you start and where you are going, you may transport it in between, as long as it is unloaded and neither the gun nor the ammunition is reachable from the passenger compartment. If the car has no separate trunk, it goes in a locked container, and the glove compartment does not count. This rule protects transport, not carrying along the way.

On a plane, the TSA rule applies: firearms only unloaded, in a locked hard-sided case, only in checked baggage and declared at the check-in counter. Ammunition needs its own packaging, and airlines set their own quantity limits. And once you land, the law of the state you arrived in applies again.

If you are moving to Texas, sort these questions in the right order: immigration status first, then federal law, then the license, then travel. The guide Arriving in the USA walks you through the move itself, and the overview Freedom in the USA paints the big picture of American freedom.

In short

• Before any license comes into play, federal law decides: if you are in the country on a nonimmigrant visa, you generally may not possess a firearm, unless you hold a valid US hunting license or a waiver; a violation can lead to deportation.
• Texas lets anyone age 21 and up who may legally own a gun carry without a license; the License to Carry requires six months' residency or a nonresident application, a course and a shooting test.
• Texas recognizes any valid license from another state. According to the DPS list, the Texas license is valid in 35 states, always under the law of the state you are in.
• Florida requires citizenship or a green card for both its license and permitless carry; Arizona recognizes other licenses with lawful presence.
• Schools, courts, polling places, airport secure areas and federal buildings stay off-limits, license or not.

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