Dallas Weapons Charge Lawyer

Deandra Grant Law is a Dallas weapons charge law firm defending gun and weapons cases in Dallas and throughout Dallas County. Since September 2021, most adults 21 and over can carry a handgun in Texas without a license, so the cases that remain are the exceptions: carrying under 21, carrying while intoxicated, carrying with a felony or family violence conviction on your record, carrying in a vehicle while another crime is alleged, and carrying into a place the law closes to guns. Those places include schools, polling places, courthouses, the secured area of an airport, sporting events, and bars that earn most of their income from alcohol, where a lawful carry becomes a felony at the door.

Two Dallas County fact patterns fill the docket. The first is the airport checkpoint: a handgun forgotten in a carry-on at Dallas Love Field or DFW Airport, found by TSA, and charged as a weapons offense, with DFW straddling the Dallas and Tarrant county line and a federal referral possible in either. Our guide to a gun found at DFW Airport covers that case. The second is the prohibited person: a felon in possession charge under Penal Code §46.04, a third-degree felony in state court that the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas can also take federally, where the mandatory minimums live.

The defense starts with the stop and the search. Whether the officer had a reason to stop the car, whether the search of it was lawful, whether the gun was on or about your person, and whether you fit an exception under §46.02 or §46.15 decide most of these cases before a jury is ever seated. In a deadly conduct or discharge case, the firearm and the ballistics are examined at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, and we read the underlying records rather than the summary. Managing partner Deandra Grant is a former Dallas County prosecutor with more than 30 years of trial experience, partner Douglas Huff is an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, and the Dallas weapons lawyer on your case works eight minutes from Frank Crowley at our Oak Lawn office. Our Texas gun and weapon crimes guide covers the statutes; this page covers how they play out in Dallas.

We defend weapons cases from every corner of Dallas County: Dallas itself plus Garland, Irving, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Carrollton, Richardson, Rowlett, DeSoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, and Lancaster. A weapons arrest at an airport checkpoint, a bar door, or a traffic stop anywhere in the county books at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center and lands at the Frank Crowley Courts Building, and that is a building we work in every week.

Every charge we defend here has its own walkthrough: Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer, Dallas DWI Lawyer, Dallas Domestic Violence Lawyer, Dallas Assault Lawyer, Dallas Drug Crimes Lawyer, Dallas Sex Crimes Lawyer, Dallas Theft Defense Lawyer, and Dallas Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer. The courthouse, the jail, and the bond process are covered in our Dallas County court guide.

Dallas Love Field

Love Field sits inside the city of Dallas, so a handgun found at its TSA checkpoint is a Dallas Police case filed with the Dallas County DA. Most are charged as carrying a weapon in a prohibited place, and the question of a federal referral is decided in the first weeks. Our office is about 10 minutes from the airport.

DFW Airport and Irving

DFW Airport straddles the Dallas and Tarrant county line, so a checkpoint case can be filed in Dallas County or in Fort Worth depending on the terminal. Irving PD works SH-114, SH-183, and Loop 12, and an Irving arrest is a Dallas County case. Our Irving page covers the city, and our Fort Worth page covers the Tarrant side.

Deep Ellum, Uptown, and the bar districts

A bar that earns most of its income from alcohol is a prohibited place under Texas law, and a handgun carried through the door is charged as a felony, not a misdemeanor. Deep Ellum, Uptown, and Lower Greenville produce a steady share of those cases, all of them Dallas County cases at Frank Crowley.

North Dallas and the Park Cities

Traffic stops on the Dallas North Tollway, LBJ Freeway, and Preston Road produce most of the county’s carry cases: a gun in the console during a stop for something else. Highland Park and University Park file with the Dallas County DA. Our Highland Park page covers the enforcement posture there.

Oak Cliff and South Dallas

Southwest and South Central Division arrests carry a large share of the county’s deadly conduct and felon in possession cases, and the discharge cases go to the SWIFS firearms section. Those cases follow the same path through Lew Sterrett and Frank Crowley, about 15 minutes from our office.

Garland and Mesquite

Garland and Mesquite police work I-30, I-635, and LBJ, and a weapons charge out of a traffic stop there books at the city jail before it is filed with the Dallas County DA. Every one of those cases is heard at Frank Crowley.

Richardson, Carrollton, and Grand Prairie

All three straddle county lines. The address on the offense report decides whether a carry case is filed in Dallas, Collin, Denton, or Tarrant County, and the exceptions are the same in each. Our Richardson and Carrollton pages cover the lines.

Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Lancaster

The southern suburbs each run their own police department, and every one of them files with the Dallas County DA. The Dallas County court guide covers the building, the bond process, and what to expect at the first setting.