Can Texas landlords evict tenants for having a gun in the house? Here’s what the law says

David Montesino
·1 min read
359

A south Fort Worth woman is being evicted for having a gun in her apartment after fatally shooting a 14-year-old boy she said was trying to open a bedroom window.

She fired the weapon to protect her daughters, she told police.

Now, Aleah Wallace has 30 days to move out of her apartment, which will make it harder for her to find housing, she told KDFW-TV in an exclusive interview.

⚡ More trending stories:

→Are Texas speed traps legal? Here's what the law says.

→What to know about Fort Worth garbage collection during the holidays.

→Here's how Chicago-style hot dogs have taken over Fort Worth.

Officers were dispatched to the Peppertree Acres Apartments in the 5200 block of Southcrest Court early on the morning of Dec. 14 after Wallace reported a prowler.

When officers arrived, she told them the person had left the area, police have said. Wallace called again shortly before 3 a.m. to report the person had come back and was attempting to enter her home. When they returned to the scene, officers found the teenager on the ground in the front yard with at least one gunshot wound to his torso, according to police.

Can tenants in Texas be evicted for having a gun?

No. As long as state or federal laws does not prohibit guns on the landlord’s property, the landlord cannot stop a tenant from owning and carrying a legally licensed firearm. Here’s what the law says:

Section 94.257 of the Texas Property Code states:

Unless possession of a firearm or firearm ammunition on a landlord’s property is prohibited by state or federal law, a landlord may not prohibit a tenant or a tenant’s guest from lawfully possessing, carrying, transporting, or storing a firearm, any part of a firearm, or firearm ammunition:

(1) in the tenant’s manufactured home;

(2) in a vehicle located in a parking area provided for tenants or tenants’ guests by the landlord of the leased premises; or

(3) in other locations controlled by the landlord as necessary to:

  • enter or exit the tenant’s manufactured home;

  • enter or exit the leased premises; or

  • enter or exit a vehicle on the leased premises or located in a parking area provided by the landlord for tenants or tenants’ guests.