Court Opinion

ID: 9858283
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 16:19:33.671951+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:53:48.256138
License: Public Domain

MANSFIELD, Judge,
dissenting.
The facts in this matter are undisputed. Appellant is the night manager of a convenience store in north Houston. Because he often carries the store’s receipts and is concerned about robberies, he keeps a handgun at the store and in his car while driving between the store and his home in Baytown, a distance of approximately thirty miles.
On April 6, 1992, appellant was followed into the parking lot at his convenience store by a police officer, who observed a traffic violation apparently committed by appellant. As the officer approached the car, he observed a handgun inside. Appellant was immediately taken into custody for carrying a weapon in violation of Texas Penal Code § 46.02. He was tried and convicted, with punishment of 180 days in the county jail, probated for one year, and a fine of $100. The Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed. Moosani v. State, 866 S.W.2d 736 (Tex. App.— Houston [14th Dist.] 1993).
Texas Penal Code § 46.02(a) (1992) provides that a person commits an offense if he intentionally, knowingly or recklessly carries on or about his person a handgun, club or illegal knife. An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, unless committed on premises licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, in which case the offense is a third degree felony. However, it is a defense to prosecution under § 46.02(a) if the individual, at the time of the offense, is at home or on premises under his control. See Tex.Penal Code § 46.03(a)(2) (1992).
Clearly, appellant has a right to possess a handgun at his home. As night manager of the convenience store, he also has a right to possess a handgun there since he has the premises under his control. If he were merely an employee, he would not have the right to possess a weapon at the convenience store, lacking control over same as a non-manager.
This Court has issued a series of rulings concerning § 46.03(a)(3), which states that “traveling” is a defense to prosecution under § 46.02(a). See, e.g., Cortemeglia v. State, 505 S.W.2d 296 (Tex.Crim.App.1974); Evers v. State, 576 S.W.2d 46 (Tex.Crim.App.1978); Kites v. State, 398 S.W.2d 568 (Tex.Crim. App.1966). Relying on Cortemeglia, the Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in this case, claiming that appellant’s driving back and forth to work is habitual and therefore not “traveling.” If, in fact, appellant had been going to a friend’s home, shopping, or just driving around, I would agree that the conviction should be upheld. Alternatively, it is clear that had he been stopped on his way to Dallas, he would have been “traveling” as that term is defined in Cortemeglia.
However, this is not a traveling case. It is undisputed that appellant was merely transporting his handgun from one place where it was legal for him to possess it to another such place. The only practical means by which he could do so was by car. This Court held in Boykin v. State, 818 S.W.2d 782 (Tex.CrApp.1991), that it would, when interpreting a statute, focus on the statutory language itself and would strive to discern its fair and objective meaning as of the time of enactment. The Court held that “... where application of a statute’s plain meaning would lead to absurd consequences that the Legislature could not possibly have intended, we should not apply the language literally.” Boykin, at 785.
Consistent with the Court’s reasoning in Boykin, I believe it was the intent of the Legislature, when it enacted § 46.03(a)(2), that it is a defense to prosecution under § 46.02(a) that, at the time of the carrying of the weapon, the individual was on his way *579from his home to his place of business provided he is either an owner or manager of the business. Thus, on the undisputed facts of this case, no rational jury could have found that the § 46.03(a)(2) defense was inapplicable to appellant’s conduct.
Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand this case to that court for rendition of a judgment of acquittal.1

. Although the question is not raised in appellant's petition for discretionary review, it is my opinion that appellant may have had a right to carry a weapon, given the facts presented, under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and/or Article I, § 23, of the Texas Constitution.