Email, Mike Hashimoto, editorial writer, Dallas Morning News, June 4, 2014

Section 46.02 of the Texas Penal Code lays out the illegal/prohibited weapons as "a handgun, illegal knife, or club," not mentioning long rifles or shotguns.

From discussing this over the years with law enforcement officials, my understanding is that rifles and shotguns, therefore, were legal for open carry in Texas. I've not questioned that understanding recently, as open carry demonstrations have become more common, yet demonstrators, generally, have not been arrested for unlawfully carrying weapons.