Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star James Harden was arrested early Saturday morning in Houston during a routine traffic stop, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from gun rights advocates. Harden was hit with a misdemeanor charge after an officer allegedly spotted an unholstered handgun inside his vehicle. Following the incident, the NBA player was released on a $100 bond.
According to details from charging documents cited in media reports, the firearm was visible to the officer who approached the vehicle. However, the arrest has raised immediate questions because Texas is a “constitutional carry” state, where eligible citizens can legally carry handguns openly or concealed without a permit.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) quickly stepped forward to challenge the justification for the charge. Andrew Gottlieb, the executive director of the CCRKBA, expressed confusion over the state’s handling of the situation.
“Let me see if we have this straight,” Gottlieb said. “Harden had a gun, in Texas, which is a ‘Constitutional carry’ state where no carry license is required, open carry is legal and it was not in a holster. It was in his vehicle, allegedly in ‘plain view’ even though it probably wasn’t visible to any other motorist, but only to a police officer who approached the vehicle after it was stopped. We could argue all day long about the holster issue, but this seems like government trying to micromanage how someone travels from Point A to Point B with a legally-owned firearm in a state where gun ownership is as common as cowboy boots and sirloin steaks.”
Because the weapon was not in a holster, Harden is currently facing up to 364 days in jail alongside thousands of dollars in potential fines.
Mark Walters, a CCRKBA director and the host of Armed American Radio, called the situation “nonsense,” arguing that a lawful gun owner shouldn’t face jail time over a missing holster in a pro-gun state.
“If I asked you under what circumstances a man who owns his gun lawfully, in a state that recognizes constitutional carry and doesn’t require a permit, where open carry is lawful, and who isn’t a prohibited person, would possibly be facing charges for ‘unlawfully carrying a gun,’ you’d probably look at me cross eyed and ask me if I was kidding,” Walters stated. “Something’s broken and this story is proof we can never let our guard down no matter what ‘color’ state we live in!”
Harden is currently scheduled to appear back in court on June 22 to face the misdemeanor charge. Representatives from the gun rights group argue that the penalties being discussed do not fit the alleged infraction.
“We understand Harden is scheduled to be back in court on June 22,” Gottlieb noted. “Barring any unreported extenuating circumstances, a proper course of action might be to gently slap his wrist, encourage him to buy a holster and send Harden on his way.”
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