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Texas Regional Carry Guide

Crossing into New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana as an informed carrier — whose licenses count where, what changes at each line, what to do if you're stopped, the hard stop at the Mexican border, and the best roads for the trip.

Sample cut from the edition whose sources were last read 2026-10-03

Read this first. This guide is information, education and entertainment. It is not legal advice. You are responsible for getting advice from a licensed attorney about your own situation. Sources are listed in the last section of this sample, each with the date we read it.

Short words used here. Reciprocity — One state honoring another state's carry license. It runs in two directions, and the two can differ. FAQ — a page of frequently asked questions. DPS — the state Department of Public Safety.

This sample gives you every chapter's short version, one chapter's full text (its stories stay in the book), and two of the book's 22 real-world examples. It's about 13% of the book.

Before you cross — the short list Full chapter text

The short version

Each neighbor treats your Texas License to Carry on its own terms. New Mexico honors it from 21 if you don't live in New Mexico; at 19 or 20, treat it as not honored. Oklahoma and Arkansas honor any state's license, though that's unconfirmed under 21. Louisiana honors it from 21, if you don't live there. All four let an adult carry with no license: Oklahoma from 21 (18 for service members and veterans), Arkansas (on its Attorney General's reading) and Louisiana from 18, and New Mexico from 19, but only openly or in the car. Coming the other way, Texas law recognizes every state's valid license. Near schools across the line, don't count on your Texas license under federal law. And no gun, and no stray round, goes into Mexico.

🔑 Remember this one

At every state line, the law you carry under changes. Your Texas license may come with you. Texas's rules don't.

⚖ Where this falls short

This is a summary of five states' laws, federal law, and Mexico's, as we read them on September 29, 2026, with a few pages rechecked October 3. It's information, education and entertainment, not legal advice, and you're responsible for getting your own legal counsel. Laws change, and courts read them in ways no book can predict. Talk to an attorney licensed in the state you're visiting about your own situation.

Which Texas rights travel, and which do not In the full guide

The short version

Only one thing you carry in Texas is built to travel: the License to Carry card, and each neighbor decides what it's worth. Everything else is Texas law, and it stops at the line. That includes no-license carry, the loaded pistol in the console, the 51 percent bar rule, and the rule that keeps Texas's intoxication offense off license holders. By car, you're under the new state's law the moment you cross. By bus, Greyhound bans guns. By air or rail, you check the gun unloaded and locked, then follow the law where you land.

Your license at each border — both directions In the full guide

The short version

Going out: New Mexico honors your Texas license from 21 if you don't live there (at 19 or 20, treat it as not honored); Oklahoma and Arkansas honor any state's license, though that's unconfirmed under 21; Louisiana honors it from 21, if you don't live there. Oklahoma needs no license from 21, or 18 for service members and veterans, and Arkansas (on its Attorney General's reading) and Louisiana none from 18. Coming in: Texas law recognizes a valid license from all four neighbors, and any other state, and a visitor 21 or older needs none. A recognized license doesn't bring home rules with it, and it may not earn the exceptions written for Texas licenses.

Across the line: what is different in New Mexico In the full guide

The short version

New Mexico honors your Texas license for concealed carry of a handgun from 21, as long as you don't live in New Mexico. At 19 or 20, treat it as not honored, and under 19 you may not have a handgun there at all, outside narrow cases like hunting. Without a license, an adult 19 or older may carry a loaded handgun openly and keep one concealed in the car, but not concealed on foot. The big differences are places. A gun on public school premises is a felony, and one in the car there is allowed only for someone over 19, and federally only unloaded and locked. A gun in a place licensed to sell alcohol is a felony too, with narrow exceptions. Courts and tribal land don't honor licenses without permission. And New Mexico's 7-day waiting period still stands for most buyers.

Across the line: what is different in Oklahoma In the full guide

The short version

Oklahoma honors your Texas license, though no official page confirms that for one held under 21. From 21 you don't need one, or from 18 if you've served in the military; an 18-to-20-year-old civilian may carry only an unloaded gun in a vehicle. Licensed or not, you must tell an officer about the gun when you first come in contact. Government buildings open to the public, courthouses, jails, schools, pro-game arenas and gambling places are off limits, but parking lots, parks and wildlife areas are open, concealed only in city zoos and public-trust parks. Bars whose main business is drinks are closed to guns, and you may not drink while carrying. And a handgun loaded with ammunition larger than .45 caliber counts as a prohibited weapon.

Across the line: what is different in Arkansas In the full guide

The short version

Arkansas honors your Texas license like its own basic license, with no age written in. Its Attorney General says anyone who may legally have a handgun, 18 or older there, may carry it without a license, openly or concealed. But Arkansas's banned-places list binds concealed carriers with or without a license, and a loaded gun is banned in every publicly owned building for everyone. K-12 school property, school buses and designated bus stops are a felony. Churches need the church's permission. Bars, airport terminals and state offices stay closed to Texans carrying concealed, because only Arkansas's own enhanced license opens them.

Across the line: what is different in Louisiana In the full guide

The short version

Louisiana honors your Texas license if you're 21 or older and don't live in Louisiana. From 18, you don't need one: since July 4, 2024, an adult who isn't barred may carry concealed without a permit. Either way, you must tell an officer who approaches you officially that you're armed. Louisiana's banned-places list binds permit holders and no-permit carriers alike, and churches need permission. Every school, college included, sits inside a 1,000-foot firearm-free zone. Louisiana excepts concealed carry there, and a gun kept in the car even on a campus lot, but not on foot on campus. Federal law doesn't count your Texas license, so near a school, unload and lock up. And carrying at .05 alcohol counts as under the influence.

Driving on through — the federal rules for crossing state lines In the full guide

The short version

Federal law follows you across every line. The federal school zone needs the most planning: outside Texas, don't count on your Texas license near a school. Then come places: federal buildings, post offices and their lots, Army Corps of Engineers lakes like Lake Texoma, and military bases. National parks and forests follow state law outside their buildings; wildlife refuges follow state law, open or concealed. Safe passage covers a trip only with the gun unloaded and out of reach. Using marijuana still bars gun possession under federal law. And Mexico is a hard stop.

If you are stopped across the line In the full guide

The short version

Two neighbors make you speak up first. Oklahoma does, license or not, on first contact. Louisiana does for everyone carrying concealed, permit or not, when an officer approaches officially. Arkansas makes a licensee tell the officer when asked for ID. New Mexico makes a licensee show the license on demand. Oklahoma makes everyone say they're armed when an officer asks during a stop. Texas asks only that a license holder show both cards when asked for ID.

Common travel routes In the full guide

The short version

Seven ways across. The easiest is I-10 from El Paso to Las Cruces. The best for a lake day is US-75 past Lake Texoma. The best for a family is I-30 to Crater of Diamonds. Food lovers head down I-10 to Lake Charles, and Route 66 fans take I-40 to Tucumcari.

Authorities for every state in the region In the full guide

The short version

In Texas, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) runs the License to Carry. New Mexico's DPS, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Arkansas State Police and the Louisiana State Police do the same next door. For Mexico, the U.S. Embassy's travel pages speak for the State Department. Everything here was checked September 29, 2026, and a few pages again on October 3. This is information, not legal advice: when a page and the law disagree, ask the office, or a lawyer.

Two stories from the book

From the examples at the end of Across the line: what is different in Oklahoma

Game day in Norman

Jason, 33, drives up from Dallas for a football game in Norman. He holds a Texas license, and Oklahoma honors it.

Oklahoma closes college property to carriers, licensed or not. In the parking lot, the gun may stay in the vehicle but may not be "removed from the motor vehicle without the prior consent of the college or university president." Jason's pistol rides unloaded in a locked case from his last stop in Texas, since he can't rule out schools through Norman. On campus, the locked case stays out of sight in his truck through the tailgate, the game and the drive back to his hotel.

From the examples at the end of Common travel routes

Dunes and a detour

The Ortiz family drives from El Paso to White Sands for sledding on the dunes. Marisol, 39, holds a Texas license, which New Mexico honors.

They pass the Bridge of the Americas on the way out of town, and Marisol keeps to I-10, well clear of the bridge lanes. Near schools in Las Cruces, the pistol rides unloaded and locked. At the park entrance station and the visitor center, federal law bans guns, so the locked case stays in the car. On US-70 past the missile range it stays unloaded and locked. Out on the dunes, miles from the nearest school and far outside any 1,000-foot school zone, New Mexico law governs, and she loads up and carries. Before they drive back through Las Cruces, she unloads the pistol and it goes back into its locked case.

What the full guide adds

Sources for this sample

The complete Texas Regional Carry Guide, in Pete's Library
Get the full guide

www.sneakypeteholsters.com/texas-regional-carry-guide/
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