Texas: Attorney General Issues Opinion on Guns and Security Teams in Texas Churches

On Thursday, December 21, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued the following opinion in regards to guns and security teams in Texas churches:

“Licensed handgun owners can legally carry loaded weapons into Texas churches that do not have posted signs banning weapons, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a legal opinion released today. The opinion also clarified that a new law passed this year by the Legislature exempts churches from state fees for creating volunteer security teams.  

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick requested the opinion on December 1, and asked Attorney General Paxton to expedite his responses “so that churches may know what legal options they have to improve security” in the aftermath of the Sutherland Springs tragedy.  

“If a church decides to exclude the concealed or open carrying of handguns on the premises of church property, it may provide the requisite notice, thereby making it an offense for a license holder to carry a handgun on those premises,” Attorney General Paxton wrote in his opinion. “However, churches may instead decide not to provide notice and to allow the carrying of handguns on their premises. Unless a church provides effective oral or written notice prohibiting the carrying of handguns on its property, a license holder may carry a handgun onto the premises of church property as the law allows.”

Senate Bill 2065, which took effect September 1, exempts churches from state fees private institutions must pay to form their own security forces. The legislature ended the fees because they imposed a significant financial burden on smaller churches.  

“The regulations of the Private Security Act, including the fees required thereunder, do not apply to Texas churches when providing volunteer security services consistent with the requirements of section 1702.333 of the Occupations Code,” Attorney General Paxton concluded.

View Attorney General Paxton’s opinions here: http://bit.ly/2BM3UoD

View Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's letter to the attorney general here: http://bit.ly/2iTCJ6x”