Bill Roundup: Gun Policy In Texas

Who’s fighting for safety and who’s fueling the fire?

Note: This article is a little longer than usual, but reading through the bills took a long time, and I wanted to give you the full picture.

As America reeled from the news of two terrorist attacks on the first day of the New Year, a third tragedy broke the airwaves—a mass shooting at a nightclub in Queens, NY. Ten people were injured, thankfully no fatalities. But this shocking incident adds to the list of mass shootings in America that occur daily.

There were 488 mass shootings in America in 2024. More than one per day.

It happens so often in America that most of these mass shootings never even make headlines anymore. It’s such a common occurrence in American culture that the media has deemed some mass shootings as newsworthy and others as not.

This is a choice that Americans make with our leaders and at the voting booths, and largely because of the firearms industry and the NRA. There was another mass shooting on January 1 outside of America that’s getting an entirely different reaction.

In the small town of Cetinje in Montenegro, a mass shooting occurred. Twelve people are dead, including two children. By the next day, Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said, “The government would be looking into a total ban on weapons.”

We’ll see what changes they make in the coming days and weeks, but mass shootings rarely occur in Montenegro or many other countries. America, we have that on lock.

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It’s the guns. It’s always been the guns, easy access, unlimited access to nearly any type of firearm a criminal or mentally ill person could ever want.

The gun-humpers will say, “Democrats want to take our guns away.” But that isn’t true.

Gun sense legislation doesn’t involve taking guns away from responsible, law-abiding citizens. It’s about implementing safeguards to prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands. Policies like universal background checks, red-flag laws, and limits on high-capacity magazines are meant to reduce gun violence, not disarm the public.

Unfortunately, the propaganda that the NRA has pushed over the last several decades has stoked paranoia and convinced many Republicans that any regulation is somehow a slippery slope toward complete confiscation. But if you look at the actual legislation proposed, it’s clear that the focus is on accountability, safety, and ensuring guns aren’t easily accessible to those who pose a danger to themselves or others—not on banning all firearms.

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There are two paths the Texas Legislature can take:

1. Enabling more mass shootings to happen.

2. Preventing more tragedies.

With Republicans in the majority of the Legislature, it’s unlikely that any gun-sense bills will pass this session. The Texas GOP is profoundly corrupt and has shown zero interest in stopping the slaughter of innocent people in our state. It’s unlikely that any gun-sense legislation will even be heard in committees.

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Then, why discuss the legislation at all?

There are viable solutions to the gun violence crisis in America, and they are being proposed in every state Legislature, in Congress, and even in Texas. However, these viable solutions, almost always introduced by Democrats, are blocked by Republicans.

In Texas, it’s the GOP that refuses to act on commonsense legislation and, in many cases, intentionally tries to make gun violence worse. Take HB162 by Briscoe Cain (R-HD128), for example. This bill would prevent enforcement of extreme risk protective orders, also known as “red flag laws,” within Texas.

Every month, an average of 76 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. Instead of trying to save their lives with “red flag laws,” Republican Briscoe Cain would instead continue the trend of women being killed with guns in domestic violence situations because…freedom?

• Today, TikToker Jennifer Sheffield was found dead in a murder-suicide committed by her husband.

On the other hand, you have Ann Johnson (D-HD134), who filed for HB234. This bill outlines the procedures and regulations for implementing Extreme Risk Protective Orders in Texas, allowing courts to remove firearms from individuals temporarily deemed a danger to themselves or others due to severe mental illness or recent violent behavior.

Democratic Representative Ann Johnson filed a viable solution in Texas that could pass this year if it had the votes. This is why these issues must be discussed. 7.2 million Texas voters stayed home in November, maybe because of their unhappiness with Congress or the choices for president, but not voting in state elections hurts the people of Texas most of all.

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If Texans want to see a better, safer state, then voting Republicans out of Austin needs to be their number one priority. Until Democrats can get off their butts and show up to the polls, we’ll continue to see the onslaught of gun violence in our state.

The bills filed so far.

Legislators have until March 14 to file bills. Only a fraction of the bills filed will make it to a committee, and only a fraction of those will become law.

Acronyms:

• HB/SB = House/Senate Bill (prerequisite to the bill numbers).

• HD/SD = House/Senate District (where the bill author is located).

Not sure what district you’re in? Find out here.

Gun Policy from Republicans.

• HB259 by Richard Hayes (R-HD57) would make sawed-off shotguns legal.

• HB644 by Cecil Bell (R-HD03) and SB82 by Bob Hall (R-SD02) would protect business owners from liability if they allowed firearms at their place of business and someone was injured or killed as a result.

• HB658 by Carl Tepper (R-HD84) and SB298 by Charles Perry (R-SD28) would expand the rights of community supervision and corrections department officers, juvenile probation officers, and certain retired law enforcement officers to carry firearms in public places.

• HB915 by Briscoe Cain (R-HD128) repeals the authority of the state militia to prohibit the sale or exchange of arms, ammunition, or explosives during emergencies or while the militia is active. (This bill is actually bat-shit crazy.)

• HB920 by Ben Bumgarner (R-HD63) exempts firearms, ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm safety equipment from state sales and use taxes.

• HB958 by Steve Toth (R-HD15) prohibits district and county attorneys from participating as legal counsel in federal court cases that involve enforcing federal laws, orders, or regulations related to firearms.

• HB1128 by Carrie Isaac (R-HD73) exempts election judges, early voting clerks, and deputy early voting clerks from the prohibition on carrying a concealed handgun at polling places.

• HB1234 by Ryan Guillen (R-HD31) establishes additional procedural requirements that must be followed when denying an application for a handgun license.

• HB1487 by AJ Louderback (R-HD30) would remove all fees associated with the application, renewal, modification, or issuance of a license to carry in Texas, making the process free.

• HB1506 by Trent Ashby (R-HD09) would allow a retired county judge to carry a firearm in court.

• HB1617 by Valoree Swanson (R-HD150) and SB130 by Bob Hall (R-SD02) would exempt firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition manufactured and kept within Texas from federal regulations.

• HB1715 by Briscoe Cain (R-HD128) would require contracts for government-owned or leased property, including a provision prohibiting the contractor from banning licensed handgun holders from entering or remaining on the property.

• SB83 by Bob Hall (R-SD02) would allow licensed handgun holders to carry concealed handguns on public school and open-enrollment charter school campuses, including school employees.

• SB394 by Kevin Sparks (R-SD31) allows for the erasure of arrest records and files for individuals convicted of unlawfully carrying a handgun.

Gun Policy from Democrats.

• HB224 by Jon Rosenthal (D-HD135) aims to repeal the prohibitions against state contracts with companies that boycott or discriminate against certain entities, such as Israel or firearm-related businesses.

• HB226 by Terry Meza (D-HD105) would create a criminal offense for manufacturing a firearm without a federal license.

• HB260 by Suleman Lalani (D-HD76) proposes a prohibition on firearm purchases for individuals required to register as sex offenders. HB770 by Suleman Lalani (D-HD76) would establish requirements to inform offenders of this restriction upon release.

• HB286 by Christina Morales (D-HD145) mandates that DPS study the use of stolen firearms in crimes since 1980.

• HB306 by Suleman Lalani (D-HD76) creates restrictions on purchasing and possessing firearms for individuals under 21.

• HB313 by Ann Johnson (D-HD134), HB1556 by Joe Moody (D-HD78), and HB384 by Vikki Goodwin (D-HD47) would prohibit the transfer of certain semiautomatic rifles to individuals under the age of 21.

• HB352 by Suleman Lalani (D-HD76) would restrict the transfer of firearms to individuals under the age of 21.

• HB396 by Terry Meza (D-HD105) and HB711 by Vikki Goodwin (D-HD47) would expand the prohibition on firearm possession by individuals convicted of certain family violence charges.

• HB397 by Suleman Lalani (D-HD76), HB432 by Vikki Goodwin (D-HD47), HB461 by Terry Meza (D-HD105), and SB353 by Sarah Eckhardt (D-SD14) creates requirements for private firearm transfers by mandating background checks through licensed firearms dealers. (Closes the gun show loophole.) HB682 by Ron Reynolds (D-HD27), HB808 by Vikki Goodwin (D-HD47), and HB828 by Diego Bernal (D-HD123) are similar.

• HB435 by Jon Rosenthal (D-HD135) establishes a criminal offense for carrying a firearm in a public place while intoxicated.

• HB443 by Terry Meza (D-HD105) creates a criminal offense for the unlawful possession or transfer of assault weapons. HB623 by Ron Reynolds (D-HD27) is similar. Instead, it says the unlawful transfer of semiautomatic rifles.

• HB478 by Vikki Goodwin (D-HD47) and HB655 by Ron Reynolds (D-HD27) establish a legal framework for extreme-risk protective orders.

• HB479 by Diego Bernal (D-HD123) mandates licensed firearms dealers to report the sale or transfer of multiple rifles to the same buyer quickly to law enforcement.

• HB481 by Terry Meza (D-HD105) would regulate the possession and transfer of large-capacity magazines.

• HB498 by Terry Meza (D-HD105) would establish procedures for the surrender of firearms by individuals convicted of offenses involving family violence.

• HB547 by Christina Morales (D-HD145) mandates the reporting of lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement.

• HB579 by Ron Reynolds (D-HD27) seeks to raise the legal age for purchasing semiautomatic rifles to 21.

• HB601 by Suleman Lalani (D-HD76) increases the criminal penalty for making a firearm accessible to a child.

• HB639 by Vikki Goodwin (D-HD47) mandates the inclusion of firearm safety devices or secure firearm storage devices by licensed firearms dealers during the sale of firearms.

• HB834 by Diego Bernal (D-HD123) seeks to limit the public carrying of firearms other than handguns in large counties and border counties.

There are still roughly 50 more Democratic bills related to firearms and gun policy I haven’t read through yet, and I’m curious…would you be interested in part two? Let me know if you want to dive into what’s still on the table.

As you can see, the Republican Party of Texas is laser-focused on enabling carnage.

Their bills make it easier for mass shootings, school shootings, and murder-suicides to happen. Instead of addressing the root causes of gun violence, they’re creating loopholes, deregulating firearms further, and prioritizing gun lobby interests over innocent lives.

Meanwhile, Texas Democrats, despite being in the minority and facing slim odds, continue to file a mountain of bills aimed at making our communities safer. These legislators are committed to passing commonsense reforms that could save lives, even if the odds are stacked against them. They are doing the hard work because they believe Texas can be better than this.

The choice is more violence or real safety. It’s up to us to demand action, hold leaders accountable, and vote for those who put people before profits and safety over senseless tragedy.

• January 7: Joint Legislative Committee - Effects of Media on Minors

• January 14: The 89th Legislative Session begins.

• March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

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