LAW SPECIFIC TO THIS CASE

The state accuses the defendant of having committed the offense of carrying a handgun in plain view.

Relevant Statutes

A person commits the offense of carrying a handgun in plain view if the person carries the handgun and intentionally displays the handgun in plain view of another person in a public place, and the handgun was not carried in a holster.

Definitions

Firearm

A “firearm” means any device designed, made, or adapted to expel a projectile through a barrel by using the energy generated by an explosion or burning substance or any device readily convertible to that use.

[Include the following if applicable.]

“Firearm” does not include a firearm that may have, as an integral part, a folding knife blade and that is:

1. an antique or curio firearm manufactured before 1899; or
2. a replica of an antique or curio firearm manufactured before 1899, but only if the replica does not use rim fire or center fire ammunition.

[Continue with the following.]

Handgun

A “handgun” means any firearm that is designed, made, or adapted to be fired with one hand.

Public Place

“Public place” means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and shops.

Intentionally Display a Handgun

A person intentionally displays a handgun if the person has the conscious objective or desire to display a handgun.

Application of Law to Facts

You must determine whether the state has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, four elements. The elements are that—

1. the defendant, in [county] County, Texas, on or about [date], carried a handgun;
2. the defendant intentionally displayed the handgun in plain view of [name of other person];
3. the defendant was in a public place when he displayed the handgun; and
4. at the time that the defendant displayed the handgun, the handgun was not in a holster.

You must all agree on the elements 1 through 4 listed above.

If you all agree that the state has failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, any one of elements 1 through 4 listed above, you must find the defendant “not guilty.”

If you all agree that the state has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, all four of the elements listed above, you must find the defendant “guilty.”

[Include the following if the evidence raises the defense.]

If you all agree that the state has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, each of the four elements listed above, you must next consider whether the defendant is not guilty because he carried a handgun license.

Handgun-License Defense

The offense of illegally carrying a handgun does not apply to a person who is carrying (1) a license to carry a handgun that was issued under chapter 411, subchapter H, of the Texas Government Code; and (2) a handgun that is concealed or in a holster.

Burden of Proof

The defendant is not required to prove the handgun-license defense. Rather, the state must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the handgun-license defense does not apply to the defendant’s conduct.

Application of Law to Facts

To decide whether the handgun-license defense applies, you must determine whether the state has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that either—

1. the defendant was not carrying a license to carry a handgun that was issued under chapter 411, subchapter H, of the Texas Government Code; or
2. the defendant was carrying a license to carry a handgun that was issued under chapter 411, subchapter H, of the Texas Government Code, but the handgun that the defendant was carrying was not concealed and was not in a holster.

You must all agree that the state has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, either element 1 or 2 listed above. You need not agree on which of these elements the state has proved.

If you find that the state has failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, elements 1 and 2 listed above, you must find the defendant “not guilty.”

If you all agree the state has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, each of the elements of the offense of carrying a handgun in plain view, and you all agree the state has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, either element 1 or 2 listed above, you must find the defendant “guilty.”

[Insert any other instructions raised by the evidence. Then continue with the verdict form found in CPJC 2.1, the general charge.]