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.
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