Tiered licensing is one of those proposals that sounds measured until you think about what it actually means. A candidate running for Senate in Texas just had a 2020 recording surface where he laid out the full wishlist — and the tiered system piece is the one that deserves the most scrutiny.

"Representative Talarico's proposal would turn a constitutional right into a government permission slip. The Constitution does not create first-class and second-class citizens, and GOA will oppose any attempt to treat law-abiding gun owners that way."

That framing is accurate. A tiered system doesn't ban anything outright — it just creates a bureaucratic layer between you and access, where the government decides which tier you qualify for and what that tier allows. We've seen how that plays out in states with "may issue" carry permit structures. The answer is usually "no" unless you know someone.

"He also backed a 'tiered certification system for gun licensure' — though he gave no specifics on how firearms or owners would be sorted into tiers."

The vagueness is the tell. When a politician wants to sell a restriction, they keep it abstract until after they have the votes. "Tiered" could mean anything from a clean background check upgrade to a licensing board deciding whether your AR has a legitimate sporting purpose — and once that infrastructure exists, the criteria can be tightened without passing new law.

This isn't a Texas-only issue. One Senate seat is one vote on federal legislation, and there's been no shortage of federal gun bills waiting for a closer margin.

If a tiered federal licensing system passed — whatever that ended up looking like in practice — what would it actually change about how you currently buy, own, or carry?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett