James Harden probably did not expect to become a Second Amendment cautionary tale, but that is exactly what happened after his arrest in Houston.
The Cleveland Cavaliers guard was arrested June 13 on a misdemeanor charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon after police reportedly found a handgun inside a vehicle he owned or controlled. According to reports citing Harris County court records, Harden was stopped by Houston police around 3:41 a.m., booked just before 5 a.m., and later released on a $100 bond. He is scheduled to return to court June 22.
The reported issue: police allegedly saw a handgun in plain view inside the vehicle, and the gun was not in a holster.
Texas is a constitutional carry state. Texans generally do not need a government permission slip to carry a handgun if they are legally eligible to possess one. Open carry is lawful. Vehicle carry is lawful. Yet Texas still has a technical trap in its law: a handgun that is in plain view in a motor vehicle must be carried in a holster. The state does not even appear to define what kind of holster is required.
So, in a state where lawful carry is supposed to be normal, a man can still be arrested because the gun was allegedly visible and sitting loose.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said Harden’s arrest raises serious questions about why this charge was brought at all.
Andrew Gottlieb, CCRKBA’s executive director, noted that, “Harden had a gun, in Texas, which is a ‘Constitutional carry’ state where no carry license is required, open carry is legal and it was not in a holster. It was in his vehicle, allegedly in ‘plain view’ even though it probably wasn’t visible to any other motorist, but only to a police officer who approached the vehicle after it was stopped. We could argue all day long about the holster issue, but this seems like government trying to micromanage how someone travels from Point A to Point B with a legally-owned firearm in a state where gun ownership is as common as cowboy boots and sirloin steaks.”
Texas is a constitutional carry state where no carry license is required and where open carry is legal. If the gun was lawfully possessed, and if there are no hidden facts the public has not yet seen, why is the government treating a holster issue like a criminal matter?
That does not mean gun owners should ignore holsters. Quite the opposite. A good holster protects the trigger, secures the firearm, and keeps the gun under control. Responsible carry includes responsible gear. Harden, assuming the reports are accurate, would have been far better off with the handgun secured properly. But there is a difference between telling someone, “Buy a holster,” and putting him in handcuffs for not having one.
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Even in a supposedly pro-gun state like Texas, there are still plenty of hooks in the water to catch unaware gun owners.
The “plain view” issue also deserves scrutiny. Plain view to whom? Another driver? A passenger? An officer standing next to the vehicle during a traffic stop? CCRKBA pointed out that a firearm not visible to passing motorists might only become “plain view” after an officer approaches the stopped vehicle and looks inside.
Harden is famous, rich, and able to hire good lawyers. Most gun owners are not. For the average Texan, a similar arrest could mean missed work, attorney fees, court dates, and the possibility of losing firearm rights while the case crawls through the system.
Texas lawmakers should look hard at whether this law is serving public safety or simply creating another process crime for otherwise lawful gun owners. If the only allegation is an unholstered handgun in a vehicle, the sane answer is education, not prosecution.
Constitutional carry was supposed to mean the right to bear arms is not treated like a government-granted privilege. Harden’s arrest is a reminder that even in Texas, gun owners still have to watch the fine print.
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About Duncan Johnson:
Duncan Johnson is a lifelong firearms enthusiast and unwavering defender of the Second Amendment—where “shall not be infringed” means exactly what it says. A graduate of George Mason University, he enjoys competing in local USPSA and multi-gun competitions whenever he’s not covering the latest in gun rights and firearm policy. Duncan is a regular contributor to AmmoLand News and serves as part of the editorial team responsible for AmmoLand’s daily gun-rights reporting and industry coverage.
It was in a virtual holster.
Would this even be a story if the charged person was a regular Joe instead of this supposedly famous and rich James Harden? Why was he pulled over in the first place? What does the law say or at least where is link to the law? What State is his legal residence? There’s more to this story than what we see here.
My understanding is that Harden had a loaded pistol sitting loose on his passenger seat. I disagree with that practice – but answer should be education, not punishment.
In an emergency one is likely to drive hard – which will probably send pistol flying, possibly under a seat or otherwise out of reach.
Keep it secured on body or in a mounted holster so you can blindly reach it even after a rollover and confidently deploy if necessary.
Another wrinkle to worry about –
Shorty rifles -so called AR PISTOLS- are quite common. They fall under the PISTOL category. In Texas, you can keep one loaded in your car. (You can’t do that with a more conventional RIFLE.) How do you holster an AR pistol?
There have been court rulings that the inside of your motor vehicle is the same as inside your home. As long as you are not visibly brandishing your fire and it is setting on the seat or in a console tray, why should that be a legal infraction. What’s next? “If your gun is not in a lockbox or safe it has to be on your belt in a holster in your home?”.
When I am driving I am legally required to have my seatbelt connected. WHere is that belt positioned relative to me and my gun? It is right there, covering and restricting access to that gun. Stopped at a signal ligh, any clown can walk up to eiher windiw and begin an assault. Now I have he mandaed delay o moving about, releasing the seatbelt clip, bringing my gun hand into a very awkward position to access my gun. In this short amount o precious time I am required to waste to clear MY gun, dirtbag has HIS right in my… Read more »
Buy a holster already, the holster is probably the third item someone would buy after purchasing a handgun.
Washington State has a similar rule. A handgun in the vehicle, if it is not in the trunk/out of the cab area, must be on someone’s person, and not elsewhere in the cab, whether visible or invisible. There is no exemption for even those with a concealed carry permit. (I have often wondered how many times women have been charged with violation of this law. Many, if not most, women carry handguns in purses, and when driving a woman’s purse is usually on the passenger seat, or in the back seat. This would be a clear violation of the law… Read more »
Sounds like an overly zealous cop. This is a BS charge. Note that it happened in Houston, which is almost as liberal as Austin. If there is some information not public yet, such as Harden is not a convicted felon, then I’m sure the charge will be dismissed.
A good example of “know before you go”.