As of January 1, Texas residents with a concealed carry license will be able to open carry – except where prohibited by law. A business wishing to ban open carriers from their premises before they enter must post an official 30.07 sign at all entrances. The sign must be 18″ X 24″ with mandatory text in one-inch letters in both English and Spanish. That’s a huge win for gun rights (so to speak) because . . .
the sign’s size discourages its use. Especially when combined with the equally large concealed carry prohibition signs (as above). Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America of Texas aims to shrink the required signage in the next legislative session. Meanwhile, they have some advice for anti-open carry businesses [via their website]: use non-legal signage. As follows . . .
Beginning on January 1, 2016, it will be legal for people in Texas to carry openly displayed handguns in public. But as the owner or manager of private property, you still have the right to keep guns out of your business and provide your customers with a comfortable, safe environment.
If you post this sign in a conspicuous place at each entrance to your property, it will be illegal for people to bring openly carried handguns onto the property.
Instructions for Signage
- This sign, known as a “30.07 sign” after the section number of the law creating it, will legally prohibit people from carrying handguns openly at your establishment.
- Print this at poster size – at least 18 inches by 24 inches. It must be at least that large because the law requires the lettering to be one inch tall.
- Post the sign at each entrance to the business, in a place that is clearly visible to the public.
Note that this sign will only keep license holders from openly carrying handguns onto your property. If you wish to prohibit concealed carry of handguns, you must also post this sign in the same manner described above.
If you find that the prescribed sign is too large or burdensome to post, you have other options.
- You can post a smaller sign of your own design stating that openly carried guns (or, if you wish, guns in general) are prohibited.
- This sort of sign will not legally prohibit people from bringing handguns into your establishment—but it will convey your preferred policy to responsible gun owners.
- If someone ignores your sign and carries an openly displayed gun into your establishment, you can tell them that you do not allow guns in your establishment, at which point they will be legally obligated to leave.
You can read the text of the open carry law, 2015 HB 910, here.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
As big as a 5 yr old… maybe anti are planning to hide their 5 yr olds behind the sign if someone starts shooting..
No way 24×18 is as big as a 5 year old.
2 feet by a foot and a half..
Maybe if they’re curled up in a ball.
The one in the photo is at least 30×20…
Here’s a wacky idea… Post the sign in English only. If you can’t speak English, you obviously can’t get a CPL.
nah, keep it in both languages, ugly up the storefront as much as possible. There are some shops that wont even have enough room to put their own logo if the want a legal sign to ban OC and CC. In fact, there is a booming Indian population in Austin, wouldnt want to discriminate now would we?
Legalese is better read in your native language, even if you speak English. Plus, it helps me practice my Spanish as I walk away cursing after reading this sign. I think they should have to post it in Chinese and Arabic as well. Anything to get the antis more butt-blasted.
Don’t forget French, German, Japanese, Hebrew, and Somali!
And Tagalog. Can’t forget the Tagalog.
Don’t native americans have rights to? Shouldn’t they have the signs posted in their language? How many are there anyways?
Actually you can get a CWP speaking Spanish in Texas. The classes aren’t common, but they are out there.
Don’t you celebrate diversity? I think they need to add Mandarin, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, French, Dutch, Swahili, German, Hindi, Punjabi and Russian. All in 1 inch letters. That should cover most of the Earth’s population.
You forgot Ebonics, you nasty, nasty raaaaacist you.
Don’t forget Esperanto.
“If you can’t speak English, you obviously can’t get a CPL.”
Aaaaaannnnd, we just found the idiot in the room.
No. If it was up to me the letters would be at least 2″ and it would need to be posted in English, Spanish, French and Chinese at all entrances to the building . I ANY of the requirements of the sign are not met, the sign is invalid.
Actually, if it was up to me, businesses open to the public would not be able to prohibit CHL’s or Open CHL’s from carrying inside the business, just like they can’t ban people because their race, religion, looks, disability, etc. For those who will argue about private property rights, when you have a business that is OPEN to the public, you should not be able to claim private property rights regarding who enters your store. It is not like your house, where you can keep anyone you don’t want out, regardless of your reason (color, religion, looks, etc). Now, if you have a membership type store (Sam’s, Costco, etc) where only members are allowed in, then you should be able to make your own rules. Same would apply for an office building or business where only employee’s are allowed to enter. Just my $0.02
Their illustration is factually incorrect. The states doesn’t require them to post the sign, it just requires them to post the sign if they want to send a certain message to their customers.
Secondly, if guns are as terrible as they say, won’t patrons FEEL safer upon seeing the signs and flock to stores posting them knowing there aren’t any scary guns there? Their logic is so inconsistent!
“Secondly, if guns are as terrible as they say, won’t patrons FEEL safer upon seeing the signs and flock to stores posting them knowing there aren’t any scary guns there? Their logic is so inconsistent!”
Good one.
What kind of signs are required for other civil rights that make them “feel uncomfortable”?
http://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/FREE-SPEECH-ZONE.png
Thank goodness that ‘bad’ people comply with the law so that business owners can provide safe, comfortable areas for their customers.
“This sort of sign will not legally prohibit people from bringing handguns into your establishment—but it will convey your preferred policy to responsible gun owners.”
But what about the criminals?
I’m certain that even illiterate criminals will soon be able to recognize this sign so that they will know wich small businesses to put on their Christmas wish list.
It would certainly be unethical and immoral, considering the likely result, but how loud would these people scream if a website was created to maintain an easily accessible and up-to-date list of all the local businesses who posted either of the types of signs these folks are suggesting?
Not sure if that was sarcasm, but just in case that site already exists.
http://www.texas3006.com
30.07 = $00.00 dollars spent at this location.
Not a big fan of that portion of the law.
If it’s private property, the property owner should be able to post a sign prohibiting the carry of firearms. It has to be large enough and placed in such a way that there is no excuse for missing it on the way in the door, but requiring such dimensions is ridiculous.
I think the point is to make it virtually impossible for someone charged under the statute to claim ignorance as a defense. If you let the sign be 6″ high, someone could reasonably claim they didn’t see it. A big-ass sign in ALL CAPS right by the door is almost impossible to miss.
You must have some requirements – If you have a 1×1″ no guns sign and that is legally binding, it would be easy to not notice and then get slapped with a class A misdemeanor. 1″ tall letters are pretty easy to spot.
Also, walking past a proper 30.06/30.07 at most businesses while carrying will become a class C misdemeanor come January 1st, 2016, unless you refuse to leave if asked. After that, it’s a class A again.
I agree the signs are ridiculous… the 30.06 and 30.07 signage portions of the laws are total BS; no such sign should have force of law whatsoever; if the business owner wishes to ask someone to leave, they should go ahead and do so; until they are trespassing there should be no force of law involved at all.
But, if there MUST be such a sign with force of law, then it should be standardized, large, and readily comprehensible… just like the 30.06/30.07 signs are.
So if the owner posts the smaller sign then asks someone to leave isn’t the owner violating the law and opening the business up to a lawsuit?
No. You don’t have to post any sign at all. You can simply tell people verbally you do not allow handguns and it has the force of law.
Yes and no. If asked verbally to leave, and the patron refuses, it is trespassing. One would not be arrested for a firearm in a prohibited place as if there were a legal PC 30.06 or 30.07 sign, but rather for trespassing. This is just my understanding, I don’t claim to be an expert.
If you are caring a firearm and asked to leave, and you refuse it becomes CRIMINAL trespass, which is a very serious offense. It’s not just simple trespass.
Jay, “criminal trespass’ is the one that is in the penal code, it is generally a Class B misdemeanor unless you are trespassing in someone’s home, when it becomes a Class A. It apparently is not the same as disregarding a proper “no firearms here” sign, which is apparently a fine-only Class C.
I’m still trying to figure out how someone who is afraid of law-abiding people who wish to carry pistols, open or concealed, with a valid, unconstitutional government permission slip, summons up the balls to approach a patron they know is armed an ask them to leave. Are they actually afraid of the firearm or not?
I guess so. They seem to think it’s only a matter of time before the firearm jumps out of the holster and into the carrier’s hand unbidden, where it curls the owner’s finger around the trigger and starts spraying bullets indiscriminately. They are hoping to “beat the clock” and get you and your gun out of there before it happens.
I prefer the businesses that post a signs like this: http://wisconsingunowners.org/pro-ccw-signs/
I prefer the sign that says lawful carry welcome here. Please keep weapons in holster unless need arises and in such a case judicious marksmanship is appreciated.
OK, this is kind of an odd comment and I may catch some heat for it–but if the “moms” would confine themselves to this sort of above-board not-hysterical legally and factually correct (well, aside from the implication that barring licensed gun-toters makes your place “safe”) information-sharing, I would have a lot less contempt for them. But then, if they did that, they wouldn’t have a whole lot to say, would they?
Get creative and respond to the “guns banned here” campaign with your own notice of civill liability Please consider giving or sending the following notice to each and every business that posts a “guns banned here: sign.
Business hate civil lawsuits. Most business are protected by third party criminal actions unless they are on notice of a potential dangerous situation. SO PUT THEM ON NOTICE. And then see hoe long the “guns are banned here” signs remain um. And send a NOTICE OF CIVIL LIABILITY email to [email protected]. The aiding and abetting nature of moms demand action with the “guns banned here” sign campaign may make them liable as co-insures.
NOTICE OF CIVIL LIABILITY
You have the legal right to keep guns out of your business. By doing so you are preventing me from taking reasonable measures to protect my life and safety should an unprovoked assault, attack or robbery occur in your place business. Because you’ve legally prevented me from carrying my legal self defense firearm, you are acting as a fiduciary to guarantee and legal insure my and my family’s safety. Should you fail in your fiduciary duty to insure and guarantee my safety, I or my estate will civilly prosecute to the maximum extent permitted by law for any and all resulting claims, damages and losses.
10 Meter Shooter.
Shooting up close and personal
Would that actually work?
Can you actually do that?
That would be great.
What about ones place of employment that prohibits weapons?
Getting a few letters like that won’t bother anyone, even if there’s a law establishing a duty to protect. It would only have an impact of they got thousands of them.
I love the Texas law on 30.06 / 30.07 signs. They make perfect sense. Yes, the signs are big and ugly, but if you are going to make it a felony to walk through your business door, then you owe it to the poor law abiding schmuck to make it 100% clear that it is illegal by placing a big a$$ sign, worded clearly at all points of entry.
The small signs that say no guns allowed are great too. If I miss the sign, you ask me to leave, I walk out, probably never to return, but no harm, no foul. Its a (somewhat) free country, you can choose who to serve (as long as you don’t discriminate against a protected class) and I am free to do business with you (or not).
Now if only the Feds would do the same. If I ever break the gun laws, it will probably be something like parking in the local PO lot with a gun in my car or some other insane federal law.
Not a felony. I believe it is a Class C misdemeanor to ignore the sign, Class A if you fail to leave.
What makes it tough is figuring out how long you have to leave. If a cop is at the store and you are asked to leave, can he ticket you for trespassing immediately or do you need to be given a reasonable amount of time to take off?
You have to give them time to shoot your dog.
Texas residents…pay very close attention to this. Two gun rights issues are going to play in the 85th Legislature in 2017. The fist is going to be a renewed battle over Campus Carry. There will be a move on both sides to tighten the language of the law, in order to better define the discretion a University has in policy-making. The other is battle right here. MDA is lobbying the Texas Association of Business, Chambers of Commerce and trade groups hard to change the 30.06/30.07 requirements. These organizations are pushing it under the guise of property rights and reducing the burdens on small business. It has some traction in the business community, but their involvement is very low key. It is also becoming more of a talking point among many of the pro-gun control state Dems.
Thanks for the heads up.
Texas residents…pay very close attention to this. Two gun rights issues are going to play in the 85th Legislature in 2017. The fist is going to be a renewed battle over Campus Carry. There will be a move on both sides to tighten the language of the law, in order to better define the discretion a University has in policy-making. The other is battle right here. MDA is lobbying the Texas Association of Business, Chambers of Commerce and trade groups hard to change the 30.06/30.07 requirements. These organizations are pushing it under the guise of property rights and reducing the burdens on small business. It has some traction in the business community, but their involvement is very low key. It is also becoming more of a talking point among many of the pro-gun control state Dems.
Not sure why this posted twice. When i tried to delete dup, it said I timed out then went to error 505.
I’ve been copying all my messages that post via wordpress.com; the last two days I get the error message over half the time. It’s not this site; it’s a wordpress issue.
The Moms are making an assumption that a majority of small business owners are on their side. The primary reason that any business posts is liability and not an intrinsic objection to firearms. Here in Wisconsin the posting of a legally binding sign prohibiting firearms makes the business liable for your protection. You don’t see a lot of legally binding signs on Wisconsin businesses. You still have to leave if the ask but they won’t post.
Here in TX, TAB had it in their legislative priorities last session. You had to dig down to find it. They didn’t mention it in their post session release. It will be back though. The Dems are playing to the private property/small business theme to appeal to the majority.
Why would you advertise this for MDA? In any way how did you think this was a good idea?
The corporation I work for has already posted a 30.07 sign. It is branded in its very well associated colors and while keeping in the guidelines of the law they have made it look like it fits. No 30.06 though, thankfully.
To me it is reasonable given our business. We regularly see large groups of international and domestic visitors from all over who frankly would be freaked out by open carry and it would hurt our business. Keeping concealed allowed is a good compromise I think to strike a balance.
Now the flaming can begin 🙂
This got me to thinking. I work in hospitals. All of them that I have been too have 30.06 signs. I wonder, if they don’t post 30.07 right away, how many strange looks/interactions with security/police I would get if I simply uncovered my concealed weapon and walked on in?
“…Requires Signs as Big as a Five Year Old and That Hurts Small Businesses”
How?
How, exactly, does posting a legal notice hurt small businesses?
It can’t be cost, something that size won’t be more than about $100, maybe less because someone has it in stock somewhere.
What does size have to do with it? Its a legal notice so municipalities can’t count the area towards your signage limits if your local code is as wacky as my local code that limits the total square footage of signage allowed.
If your business is so small that a $100 sign puts your business in jeopardy then you probably shouldn’t be in business. And if your window area is so small that a legal notice takes up most of the window, again you should probably consider why you are putting up the sign in the first place.
So….. how exactly does this hurt small businesses?
Not to give the antis any ammunition, so to speak, but what in the law prevents them from simply stenciling the information on the inside of their entry door or nearest window in highly visible/contrasting colors? Does the law require that it be an actual sign on white paper with black lettering?
The verbiage stenciled on a glass entry door would be very obvious and yet not obstruct the view through the glass.
May I mention that once again, the reality and the imagery don’t match up? That girl is far more than 24″ tall- 24″ is about the width of three splayed hands or two sheets of printer paper long.
But then again, when did anyone go to an MDA press release for facts?
Well from the photo, at least MDA recognizes that they came in Second Place.
… just wondering which sign keeps out the illegally carried guns? and criminals in general?
No sign does that.
I think any sign that declares “we think our customers deserve to die” is bad for business of any size…
Duh.
Of all the “mass shootings” that have occurred in the last 66 years, only 2 occurred outside of a place with a sign like this.
I hope, for children of parents as stupid as these anti-gunners, they’re meant to be worn as sandwich boards made of kevlar…
If a business is forced to bake a cake for a fag wedding why isn’t a business forced to allow open carry on their premises,isn’t denial of both civil rights violations?
It’s possible to disagree with gay marriage, or the entire concept of homosexuality without being a jackass.
Its important to keep in mind that none of these signs will keep guns out of your business. What they will do tho….is keep law abiding good citizens who opt to take advantage of their 2nd amendment right to bear arms. The signs will have NO effect on creeps crooks and criminals, or keep them from carrying a gun into your business.
So basically, in other words, by banning the legal carry of guns into your business by licensed law abiding citizens, you are saying “WE ONLY WANT CRIMINALS TO CARRY GUNS INTO MY BUSINESS”
If it were me and my business, I would roll out the red carpet and welcome with open arms, all legally licensed law abiding citizens carrying a gun. Why any business desires otherwise is beyond me.
If you do a little searching online regarding the demographics of those who commit felonies….you will plainly see that legally licensed citizens who carry are absolutely the category of people least likely to commit a crime. They are even less likely to commit a felony than a police officer. So yeah….ban the best hearted law abiding citizens from your business. Hopefully, if you get robbed, the crook will spare your life. Most likely, if you allowed law abiding citizens to carry in your business, its highly doubtful that one of these good people will simply stand by and allow the criminal to murder you or one of your family, friends, or customers.
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