Texas 2026 Gun Law Changes: What Actually Changed and What It Means for You

The 2025 Texas legislative session produced several gun-related bills that Governor Greg Abbott signed into law, with most taking effect September 1, 2025. The changes span NFA item access, civil protection orders, local government authority, and the LTC program itself. None of the major gun control proposals — including raising the purchase age for rifles — advanced out of committee.

What changed is straightforward: effective September 1, 2025, Senate Bill 1596 repealed all state-level criminal prohibitions on short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and short-barreled shotguns (SBSs). Under prior Texas law, these were listed as prohibited weapons. They're not anymore.

Texas statute defines short-barreled rifles as rifles with barrels shorter than 16 inches, and short-barreled shotguns as shotguns with barrels shorter than 18 inches. Both were previously listed under Texas Penal Code § 46.05 as prohibited weapons. SB 1596 removed them from that list.

What didn't change is the part that matters most. Federal law is untouched. SBRs and SBSs remain National Firearms Act (NFA)-regulated items under federal law, requiring ATF registration, a $200 tax stamp, a NICS check, and an approved Form 4 before you take possession. Possessing an unregistered SBR or SBS is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison.

Texas eliminating its state charge gives you zero protection from federal prosecution. The only thing SB 1596 actually did is remove the possibility of a state charge stacking on top of a federal charge.

For people who went through the full federal NFA process and have an approved Form 4 in hand, this is genuinely good news — you no longer have to worry about a separate state-level legal exposure. For anyone thinking SB 1596 means they can cut a rifle barrel down to 12 inches without paperwork, that's a federal felony.

It's also worth noting that in 2023, the ATF reclassified pistols with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles, making firearms already owned by some people illegal without registration. SB 1596 removes the state-law problem for those owners, but the federal problem remains whatever the current ATF guidance says at the time you're reading this — check ATF directly for current brace rules.

Texas already didn't have a red flag law going into 2025. Senate Bill 1362 is the legislature making sure that doesn't change, and adding teeth to that position.

The bill targets extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) in civil cases — the mechanism 21 other states use to temporarily bar someone from owning or purchasing firearms based on a finding that they pose an immediate danger. Texas civil judges cannot issue such orders under SB 1362, and it makes it a felony for any official to attempt to enforce one. That prohibition extends to Texas law enforcement attempting to enforce out-of-state ERPOs.

SB 1362 also addresses federal funding: the bill prevents any federal funding from being used for enforcement of protection orders of this type, though according to The Texas Tribune, Texas has used grant money from the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act for mental health programs and mass violence preparation rather than for red flag enforcement.

The bill further states that any protection order from federal judges in Texas will "have no effect" if deemed unconstitutional — a clause that sets up potential future litigation over scope and enforceability.

Key Point: Texas courts can still issue protection orders in cases with criminal charges. What SB 1362 eliminates is the civil-court ERPO mechanism — orders sought outside the criminal process. If someone is subject to a qualifying protective order tied to a criminal proceeding, the firearm possession prohibition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) — upheld by the Supreme Court in United States v. Rahimi (2024) — still applies federally.

Senate Bill 3053 is a complete ban on municipal gun buyback programs. Cities and counties in Texas can no longer operate programs where residents sell unwanted firearms to local law enforcement or participate in any program aimed at reducing the number of firearms owned by civilians.

This falls squarely in the preemption category — the legislature asserting that decisions about how many guns are in civilian hands aren't a local government call. Texas already had strong preemption preventing local governments from enacting firearms regulations that conflict with state law. SB 3053 extends that preemption specifically to buyback initiatives.

Three bills targeted the License to Carry (LTC) program specifically, all effective September 1, 2025.

Senate Bill 706 expands reciprocity — Texas will now recognize handgun licenses from other states, building on agreements that were already in place. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas already had some form of agreement with all but four states and several American territories before this bill passed. SB 706 adds to that framework.

House Bill 668 gives LTC holders a longer window to renew after their license expires. Previously, you had until the expiration date. HB 668 extends that deadline to the first anniversary of the expiration date — so if your license expired in March, you now have until the following March to renew without going through the full application process again.

House Bill 1234 creates a formal appeal process for LTC applicants who are denied on medical grounds. Before this bill, a medical denial didn't have a clear statutory path to challenge. Now it does.

None of these changes affect the core LTC eligibility requirements or the training and testing process. If you couldn't get an LTC before, these bills don't change that.

A few bills worth knowing about that went nowhere:

House Bill 1794 would have permitted concealed carry of handguns into polling places during election season. It passed the House 83-50 but was not enacted into law.

House Bill 2470 would have lowered the minimum age for an LTC from 21 to 18. It didn't advance — though as a practical matter, the 2023 federal court injunction in Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc. v. McCraw already bars the Texas DPS from denying LTC applications solely because the applicant is 18-20 years old, so the urgency of that bill was somewhat reduced.

House Bill 1556, filed by Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), would have raised the age to purchase a rifle from 18 to 21. It never received a committee hearing. Gun control bills generally received little to no attention during the 2025 session, according to the Texas Tribune — a contrast to 2023, when mass shootings in Allen and Uvalde briefly focused legislative attention on gun regulations.

These 2025 changes layer on top of Texas's existing framework, which is worth understanding in full if you're carrying or purchasing in 2026.

Constitutional Carry

House Bill 1927, effective September 1, 2021, established permitless carry in Texas. Most eligible Texans can carry a handgun openly or concealed without a license. The LTC program still exists and still carries concrete benefits — but for day-to-day carry in most public places, it's optional.

To carry under permitless carry, you need to clear all of these simultaneously:

Texas Penal Code § 46.02 is the statute that defines unlawful carrying. If you meet everything on that list, you're legal. If you don't, you're not — and no license fixes the underlying disqualifier.

Prohibited Places

Constitutional carry didn't eliminate gun-free zones. The list under Texas Penal Code § 46.03 is long and the penalties are serious.

College campuses are a special case — permitless carry does not apply there. Only LTC holders can carry concealed on public university and community college campuses, under the campus carry law (Senate Bill 11, effective 2016-2017). Open carry is prohibited on all college campuses regardless of LTC status.

NFA Items in Texas

With SB 1596 now in effect, here's where Texas stands on NFA items heading into 2026:

Machine guns remain prohibited under Texas Penal Code § 46.05 unless possessed in compliance with federal law — meaning a properly registered pre-1986 machine gun with an approved ATF Form 4. That has not changed.

Texas also passed the Lone Star State Suppressor Act in 2021, attempting to exempt Texas-made, Texas-sold suppressors from federal NFA regulation. Per the Boise Gun Club legal guide, federal courts have not validated that theory. Treat suppressors as federally regulated items regardless.

Red Flag Law Status

Texas does not have an ERPO statute, and SB 1362 effectively closes the door on any civil-court pathway to one. The closest analog in Texas law is the prohibition on firearm possession while subject to a protective order in a criminal proceeding — but that requires a court proceeding with due process, not an ex parte order based on predicted future behavior.

Preemption

Texas has full state preemption of local firearms regulations. Cities and counties cannot enact ordinances regulating the transfer, possession, carrying, storage, or discharge of firearms or ammunition in ways that conflict with or exceed state law. SB 3053 adds buyback programs to the list of things local governments can't do. Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio operate under the same Chapter 46 rules as everywhere else in the state.

Purchasing

No waiting period in Texas. All dealer purchases require a NICS background check per federal law — Texas doesn't run a separate state check. Private party sales between Texas residents don't require a background check under state law, provided neither party has reason to believe the other is a prohibited person. Selling to someone you know is prohibited is a federal crime.

Federal age minimums apply at dealers: 18 for long guns, 21 for handguns. Texas has no firearm registration requirement.

Self-Defense

Texas has both Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground protections codified in Texas Penal Code §§ 9.31 and 9.32. You have no duty to retreat from your habitation, vehicle, or workplace — and no duty to retreat from any location where you have a legal right to be, as long as you weren't the initial aggressor and weren't engaged in criminal activity at the time.

Deadly force is justified when you reasonably believe it's immediately necessary to protect against deadly force, or to prevent aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery. Texas also permits deadly force to protect property in limited circumstances under § 9.42 — specifically to prevent arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime, when lesser force would expose you to substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Civil immunity for justified use of deadly force is codified in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 83.001.

LTC Reciprocity

After SB 706, Texas has reciprocity with a substantial number of states. The DPS maintains the current list — check it before you travel, because it changes. According to the DPS, Texas had agreements with all but four states and several territories before SB 706 expanded the framework further.

States that do not honor Texas LTCs include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington, per the Boise Gun Club legal guide. If you're traveling with a firearm and intend to carry, verify current reciprocity on the DPS website before you go — and read the destination state's laws, because some states that honor Texas LTCs still have restrictions on carry locations or methods.

The bottom line: The 2025 Texas legislative session removed the state-level risk for SBR and SBS possession, made civil-court disarmament orders illegal, stripped local governments of buyback authority, and made the LTC somewhat more useful for travel. The federal layer — NFA requirements, prohibited person rules, age minimums at dealers — didn't move an inch. Know the difference between what Texas changed and what the feds still require, because the penalties for confusing the two run up to federal felony territory.

• Texas Penal Code Chapter 46 (Weapons): https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.46.htm
• Texas Government Code Chapter 411, Subchapter H (LTC Program): https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.411.htm
• Texas DPS Handgun Licensing Program: https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/handgun-licensing
• Texas DPS LTC Reciprocity Agreements: https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/handgun-licensing/license-carry-ltc-information-and-links
• SB 1596 (SBR/SBS repeal, effective September 1, 2025): https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB1596
• Texas Tribune — Texas again lowers restrictions on certain firearms: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/texas-legislature-gun-restrictions/
• NBC DFW — 835 new laws go into effect September 1, 2025: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/new-texas-laws-sept-1/3911795/
• Boise Gun Club — Texas Gun Laws Complete Guide 2026: https://boisegunclub.com/handbook/laws/texas-gun-laws
• Varghese Summersett — Gun Rights in Texas 2026: https://versustexas.com/gun-rights-in-texas/
• ATF NFA Information: https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/national-firearms-act
• 18 U.S.C. § 922 (Federal firearms prohibitions): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section922
• Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc. v. McCraw (N.D. Tex. 2023): https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14482896/firearms-policy-coalition-inc-v-mccraw/
• United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. ___ (2024): https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-915_9p6b.pdf

Last Updated: April 03, 2026