“If you have a handgun in your car, it cannot be “in plain sight.”
What about traveling to and from the shooting range?
Needs to be in a case, or could probably be stored in the trunk, console glove box, etc. Doesn’t have to be locked.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R/billtext/html/HB01815F.htm
A friend of mine in Garland, TX parked his Suburban on Sunday afternoon at a bowling alley. When he returned to the parking lot, the Burb was gone (not too unusual with that model back then). When the police arrived, he advised them that he had left a loaded .357 magnum under the seat, therefore they should be extra cautious if they stopped the truck. He was careful to add that he had been planning to go on to the shooting range next. That was believed to be legal at that time. Turned out that the Burb was found, empty and abandoned a few blocks away, with the piece still hidden under the seat.