## Facts

- Around 1:00 a.m. on April 2, 1975, Houston police officers on patrol observed John Dean Roy driving a pickup truck leaving a lounge parking lot in a high-crime area.
- Officers stopped the truck after observing it moving slowly and noticing a passenger slumped in the cab; Roy did not immediately stop despite emergency lights and stopped only after the patrol car pulled in front.
- During the stop, Roy claimed he was a deputy constable and displayed an identification card and badge; a supervisor arrived and determined Roy was not a law enforcement officer.
- Roy was arrested, and an inventory of the pickup immediately after arrest revealed a loaded .38-caliber revolver in the left door compartment.
- Roy was charged and convicted of unlawfully carrying a handgun under V.T.C.A. Penal Code § 46.02; the jury assessed 120 days in jail and a $300 fine.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court erred by refusing a jury instruction that “premises under his control” (under the statutory exception) could include Roy’s moving pickup truck used in his business.
2. Whether § 46.02 is unconstitutional as violating the right to keep and bear arms.
3. Whether evidence and argument about prior burglaries, prior threats, and the dangerousness of the area could create a defense or otherwise excuse carrying the handgun in the vehicle.

## Decision

- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction.
- The court held the statutory “premises” exception does not extend to a moving vehicle on public streets; the requested instruction was properly refused.
- The court rejected the constitutional challenge, holding § 46.02 is a valid regulation of carrying weapons and does not violate the right to keep and bear arms.
- The court treated Roy’s safety-based claims as insufficient to supply a statutory defense or expand the premises exception.

## Legal Principles

- Statutory exceptions to the offense of unlawfully carrying a handgun are construed according to the statutory text; “premises” refers to real property and does not include a moving vehicle.
- The Legislature may regulate the manner and place of carrying arms under the police power; a prohibition on carrying a handgun in public absent an exception is constitutionally permissible.
- General claims of danger, prior victimization, or fear for personal safety do not create an extra-statutory defense to unlawfully carrying a handgun and do not convert a vehicle into “premises under his control.”

## Conclusion

The court affirmed Roy’s conviction, holding that a pickup truck used in business is not “premises” for purposes of the weapons-law exception and that Texas’s prohibition on unlawfully carrying a handgun is a constitutional regulation of public carry.


Roy v. State, 552 S.W.2d 827 (Tex. Crim. App. 1977)