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 barred from possessing a firearm. House Bill 1927, the Firearm Carry Act of 2021, created this permitless framework effective September 1, 2021, and it covers both concealed and open carry of a handgun.¹ The right is real, but narrow. The rules about who qualifies, where you can go, and how you must carry did not go away, and getting any of them wrong can turn a lawful carry into a criminal charge.

Who Qualifies to Carry Without a License

Age is the first line. You must be 21 or older.² A 2022 federal court challenge questioned whether the age floor violates the Second Amendment for 18-to-20-year-olds, but the practical effect remains uncertain while appeals continue. Anyone under 21 should not assume they can lawfully carry.

Criminal history can disqualify you even if you are old enough. If you have a felony conviction, you cannot legally possess a firearm anywhere in Texas for the first five years after you complete confinement, parole, or supervision. After that five-year window, possession is limited to your own home.³

Several misdemeanors also bar you from carrying for five years after the conviction. The statute targets 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 conviction, even a misdemeanor, prohibits any firearm possession for five years after you finish confinement or community supervision.³

Federal law adds its own disqualifiers that override Texas’s permissive stance. You cannot possess a firearm if you are subject to a qualifying protective order, and a violation carries up to ten years in federal prison.⁵ Federal bars also reach anyone dishonorably discharged from the military, anyone adjudicated as mentally incompetent, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in any state, and any unlawful user of controlled substances.

Where You Still Cannot Carry

Permitless carry does not open every door. Texas Penal Code Section 46.03 lists places where carrying a firearm is a crime for almost everyone, and most violations are third-degree felonies carrying two to ten years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.⁶⁷ The prohibited locations include:

Schools and school-sponsored events, school buses, and the premises of any K-12 or university campus. Public universities have an exception for LTC holders carrying concealed, but a permitless carrier gets no such exception.
Court premises and offices used by a court, unless the court authorizes you in writing.
Polling places during early voting or on election day.
Secured areas of airports past TSA screening.
Racetracks.
Businesses that get 51 percent or more of their revenue from on-premises alcohol sales and that post the required sign.
Within 1,000 feet of a designated execution site on the day of an execution, if you received notice.
The premises of high school, college, or professional sporting events.
Correctional facilities and civil commitment facilities.
Hospitals, nursing facilities, and mental health facilities.

Carrying at a sporting event or correctional facility is reduced to a Class A misdemeanor, but the rest sit at the felony level.⁶

Federal Property

Texas law has no reach onto federal property. Federal statute separately prohibits firearms in any federal facility, meaning any building or part of a building that federal employees regularly occupy. Simple possession there carries up to one year in prison, rising to five years if you possess the firearm with intent to commit a crime.⁸ That covers post offices, Social Security offices, VA facilities, IRS offices, federal courthouses, and military installations. The post office prohibition extends into the parking lot, which catches people off guard.

Private Property With a Sign

Private owners can shut their doors to firearms. The sign that binds a permitless carrier is the Section 30.05 sign. It must appear in both English and Spanish, state that entering with a firearm is prohibited under Section 30.05 of the Penal Code, use contrasting colors with block letters at least one inch tall, and be posted conspicuously at each entrance.⁹

You will often see two other signs, Section 30.06 (prohibiting concealed carry by LTC holders) and Section 30.07 (prohibiting open carry by LTC holders), posted alongside the 30.05 sign.¹⁰ If you carry without a license, only the 30.05 sign creates a legal obligation for you. The 30.06 and 30.07 signs do not.

Ignoring a 30.05 firearms sign is a Class C misdemeanor with a maximum $200 fine. The charge rises to a Class A misdemeanor, with up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, if you entered, were personally told by the owner or someone acting for the owner to leave, and refused.⁹

How the Handgun Must Be Carried

If you carry openly, the handgun has to be in a holster. Displaying a handgun in plain view in a public place without a holster is a separate offense under Section 46.02(a-5).⁴ For concealed carry, Texas law does not require a holster, though most people use one for safety.

You are not required to volunteer to a police officer that you are armed. If an officer lawfully detains you, though, they can disarm you for the length of the stop. The firearm comes back when the detention ends, provided you are still legally allowed to carry. If the stop reveals a disqualifying conviction or an active protective order, the firearm will not be returned, and the stop itself can become evidence in a new charge for carrying while prohibited.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

Carrying while underage, or with a disqualifying misdemeanor conviction in 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 felon in possession 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 under state law, with federal exposure stacked on top.

Bringing a firearm into most of the Section 46.03 locations is a third-degree felony at the same two-to-ten-year range. A few of the listed locations drop to a Class A misdemeanor.⁶

When a License to Carry Still Makes Sense

Permitless carry solves one problem: carrying lawfully in Texas without paperwork. It does not solve several others.

A Texas LTC is recognized in dozens of other states through reciprocity agreements.¹² Permitless carry is Texas-only. Cross a state line, and you need that state’s permission. Federal “safe passage” under 18 U.S.C. § 926A protects you only while transporting an unloaded firearm locked away and inaccessible, not while it is on your person.¹³

Public university campuses are the other sharp line. Section 46.03 carves out an exception for LTC holders carrying concealed on a public postsecondary campus. Permitless carriers get no such exception and face a third-degree felony if they bring a handgun onto campus.⁶

An LTC also speeds up firearm purchases from licensed dealers. Federal law requires a NICS background check before each sale, but a qualifying state permit lets the dealer skip it because the permit itself proves a prior check. Without a license, every purchase starts a new NICS check, and occasional delays can stall a sale for days.

Getting an LTC involves a training course, fingerprinting, and a state application fee, with most applicants spending between roughly $100 and $300. The license is valid for five years. If you carry regularly, travel out of state, or spend time near a university, that math usually favors the license even though Texas no longer requires one.

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