Texas Court Says HOA President Can Carry Handgun on “Walk-thrus” of the Common Area

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision (September 17, 2014).

The president of a homeowners association in Texas carried a handgun in a holster strapped to his leg while conducting “walk-thrus” of the association’s common areas. He was arrested and convicted of unlawfully carrying a handgun. The statute does not prohibit a person from carrying a handgun on “their own premises” and the HOA president contended that, as the owner of a 1/180th interest in the association’s common area, he was an “owner of the property.”

The appellate court agreed with the HOA president and reversed the conviction concluding that, because appellant was a co-owner of the common area, the common area was his “own” premises under the literal text of the statute.

See case decision: Chiarini_v._State_442_S.W.3d_318_(Tex._Crim._App._2014)1