While I do not plan to talk politics or law I do plan to post a link to the penal code at the end of this article.
At the beginning of February 2014 I rejoined my old gym out near where I live, to get back into better shape. My gym has a sign for “Texas Penal Code – Section 30.06. Trespass By Holder Of License To Carry Concealed Handgun” posted to tell people they cannot carry at the gym. That got me thinking about writing this article.
I spent the past four day weekend with a friend in the army. He had the weekend off from base and drove up for a visit. We are both big gym rats (someone who loves to spend time working out at the gym) so I brought him to my club to work out every night. I had to remind him not to conceal carry into the gym because of this penal code.
On our drive home one night we talked about our thoughts on the gym making their establishment a gun free zone. We both saw very serious reasons why it is a good idea and a bad idea.
The good side of the road
The thought we both came to was that when you are in the locker room you are no longer concealed and since you are not going to be able to keep the handgun on your person while working out you open the door to someone seeing you leave your firearm in the locker. They can watch you leave and then go in and steal your gun to commit another crime. Lets face it, nobody wants their gun in the hands of a criminal doing god knows what with it.
The dark side of the road
My gym is in a very affluent area and the police station is just across the road from the gym. This might lead you to always think you are safe, but the gym is open 24/7. It’s the night time when no one is around you, that you might not feel the safest. Things go wrong, conceal carry gives you peace of mind and a safe factor to everyone at the gym.
My thoughts
As a big gun rights supporter I do wish my state had open carry laws and better laws protecting gun owners from harassment. I do believe this is a good penal code for places like a gym where you are no longer in sight your firearm or have complete faith that somebody can’t get to your firearm.
Texas Penal code
Texas Statutes – Section 30.06: TRESPASS BY HOLDER OF LICENSE TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUN