Texas has some of the most classically liberal — meaning free of government interference — gun laws anywhere. Take this page of law from TexasGunLaws.org.
The Basics
Q: How long is the waiting period to buy a Handgun / Shotgun / Rifle in Texas?A: There is no waiting period for purchasing a firearm in the state of Texas.
Q: I just moved to Texas, do I have to register my firearms?
A: No, there is no state registration of firearms.
Q: I just inherited / bought a gun from someone in Texas, do I need to transfer the gun to my name?
A: No, there is no state registration of firearms, thus there is no requirement transfer the firearm in your name.
Q: What is required to purchase a firearm in the state of Texas?
A: You will need a valid state-issued ID. Many FFLs will not sell to out-of-state residents. This is due to the FFL’s requirement to uphold your resident state’s gun laws, and the inherient complexity associated with many states.
Q: Can I carry a firearm on my person?
A: Yes, with proper licensing (Concealed Handgun License) you may carry a pistol or revolver on your person so long as it remains concealed. Long guns (rifles / shotguns) do not have to be concealed, but must be carried in a manner not calculated to cause alarm, and do not require a license.
Q: Can I strap a gun on my hip in Texas?
A: No, with some exceptions. Open carry is not legal in Texas, but you may open carry on your own property, in the commission of a sporting activity (competition, shooting ranges, etc.), and while engaged in hunting.
Q: Can I carry a firearm in my vehicle?
A: Yes. With the passage of the Motorist Protection Act you may now readibly carry handguns, loaded and within reach, so long as you conceal the firearm. Long guns (rifles / shotguns) do not have to be concealed and may be loaded and within reach.
Q: Are machine guns / suppressors / short-barreled firearms, etc. legal in the state of Texas?
A: Yes. All NFA rules apply. See this FAQ for more info regarding Class III / Title II items.
Q: Are “assault weapons” banned in Texas?
A: No. Texas abides by Federal law which at this time has no restrictions on so-called “assault weapons” such as semi-auto AR15, FAL, G3 / HK91 rifles.
Q: Is there a limit on the number of rounds a magazine may hold?
A: No. The only limit on magazines in Texas is the number of rounds you are physically able to cram into the thing and/or carry and/or afford.
No waiting, no worries. Not coincidentally, the lone mass shooting that has occurred in Texas since the Luby’s massacre in October of 1991 was a terrorist attack on Ft. Hood, ironically a gun-free zone. The Obama administration does not classify the Ft. Hood massacre as a terrorist attack, though, but an incident of “workplace violence.” That label is one of the current government’s more heartless lies.
Texas’ classically liberal gun laws came about in part after that Luby’s massacre in 1991. Suzanna Hupp lost her parents in that killing. She became the face, not of gun control, but of the right to bear arms and legalizing concealed carry. She became one of the most effective Second Amendment advocates anywhere, and later served in the Texas House of Representatives. One person can make a huge difference for good, and Suzanna has. She even makes a case for the personal possession and use of so-called “assault weapons” in this clip. The line she delivers directly to the legislators at the 5:20 mark is absolutely priceless.
Just about every house in this state is likely to have a firearm somewhere in it. It’s likely that someone in every crowd is carrying a concealed weapon. Most of us grew up around firearms when we were young and appreciate the right to own them now. Our governor has a gun named after him. Many have been the times I have been surprised at meetings around this state, when a woman proudly reveals that she is following Suzanna’s example and is carrying a licensed and concealed firearm.
Quick aside: Texas women tend to be awesome.
The Obama government says it is coming after guns “quickly.” We’ll see about that.
Texas rules!
All those points apply in Colorado, too. Plus:
Colorado has a constitution that specifically acknowledges an individual right exists for all persons to be armed.
Colorado is a “shall issue” state for CCW and open carry is legal in Colorado.
GK, keep an eye on your state reps. I’ve read they are looking to pass some really awful anti-gun legislation.
except for Denver.
GK, with the exception of Aurora, Co.
Bryan, can you link to Academy ads? They’ve got pink guns right next to pink tee-shirts. It’s really cute.
I honestly did not know that other states had other laws. It’s in the Constitution, right? Bear arms, all that…..
I live in Georgia, where “CCW” holders are permitted to carry both openly and concealed, as they choose. A background check is part of the process both initially and for renewal, so a valid CCW legally exempts a holder from needing a NICS check to purchase a gun.
With the NICS backlog these days, that could come in handy — though I haven’t tested it personally.
a valid CCW legally exempts a holder from needing a NICS check to purchase a gun.
Same in Texas, as I was reminded when I acquired my new carry pistol yesterday.
Georgia also has about 10% of adults with carry licenses. No state mandated training is required (waste of money for most people anyway). I got my license in 1 week.
Bonus awesome: Chuck Schumer’s Oscar winning “pretending to care” expression.
Not in the new suburbs that are full of recent immigrants. I imagine that the standard MSM line that vilifies guns and scares people is what shapes the psychology of the people that have recently come here.
In my neighborhood about 35% of the people are Chinese, Pakistani or Indian. Unlikley they share the TX gun culture. On the other hand the Latin immigrants do like guns.
“a terrorist attack on Ft. Hood, ironically a gun-free zone”
Merriam-Websters online definition for irony.
“(1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result”
The Ft. Hood shooting was not ironic in any way. It was a military target that was made more soft by its status as a gun-free zone. We should expect that evil men dedicated to destruction and death will target places with fewer defenses.
I hate to be “that guy” about the definition of irony, but we need to ring the message that gun-free zones create easy targets.
Um, I don’t think he’s saying the shooting is ironic. The fact a military post was a gun-free zone — that’s what’s ironic. Which reading comprehensuion would make apparent.
For some reason “that guy” never wants to be “that guy.”
Texan’s like to brag about everything. While everything you say is correct open carry and that includes inadvertant exposure or printing of a handgun is against the law.
Here in Virginia we have everything you have except prohibitions on open carry. The SCOVA has ruled that the “keep and bear” arms clause of Article I Section 13, the Virginia Bill of Rights, grants open carry as a constitutional right. I might add that James Madison also wrote the “Virginia Second Amendment” and it give the full basis for right to bear arms.
Here in AZ we don’t even need a permit for concealed carry anymore. Having one does allow us to skip the background checl at each purchase.
Only uncontrolled immigration can jeopardize Texas freedom……..
FROM CALIFORNIA!!!!!
Personally I think the “right to bear arms” isn’t good enough anymore. I think we need to bump it up to the “responsibility to bear arms.”
Look at Switzerland where every house has an assault rifle and people trained in it’s use, and a homicide by gun rate 85% lower than the United States.
In NC we have everything TX lists – but we also have open carry.
We also have a Castle doctrine in effect.
We do have some imperfections though. We still need to get the following corrected:
- State law allows businesses to prohibit concealed carry on their property. As such we need safe storage laws for vehicles so an employer can’t restrict an employee fro storing their weapon in their vehicle during the day while they are in their place of employment. This strikes a decent compromise between private property rights and gun owner rights.
- State law also prohibits concealed carry into any establishment that is serving alcohol. This applies even though the concealed carry permit holder is not allowed to drink alcohol while carrying a weapon.
We definitely need to get those issues corrected, but we are more than happy for TX to play catchup…lol.
MOLON LABE, Liberal gun grabbers.
If federal firearms laws actually do become more restrictive, one way to address this is to education the jury pool on their rights as jurors to vote to acquit someone who stands accused of violating a law that clearly infringes on the Second Amendment. The pejorative term the press uses for this is “jury nullification”.
However the jury is all that stands between all the government employees and a guilty verdict. Government’s legislature can pass a law that the government’s chief executive can sign that the government’s courts will not object to, but that the average citizen could not escape from. What if government outlawed breathing, to pick an exteeme example? If any juror, in their private deliberations could not decline to convict the accused in good conscience, then the role of the jury is reduced to simply finding that the defendant was indeed observed to be breathing. He would automatically be guilty of a crime.
What can we do if government makes insulting Islam a “hate crime”? Or when government infringes on the Amendment that “shall not be infringed”? If only a few jurors in the pool refuse to vote to convict, the law cannot be enforced.
Much is made of the O.J. Simpson verdict. I cannot know what went on in that jury room. But the role of every jury and the duty of every juror is justice, which decidedly is not to rubber stamp the government case against any defendant. Much rather that all jurors know they can vote their conscience and from time to time a guilty person is not convicted than for any person who is truly innocent of any real crime to be convicted.
Thus, the obligation of the juror is to think about the totality of the case presented to them and to ask themselves if justice is best served by voting to acquit or voting to convict. And sometimes that means that in the totality of the case, the defendant many have violated the letter of the law but the law itself of the punishment the defendant faces for a conviction, is just so out of proportion to the magnitude of the crime actually committed that the juror must vote to acquit.
I would suggest visiting the web site of the Fully Informed Jury Association (www.fija.org). I am not in any way affiliated with them. I just find so much injustice and think that an informed jury pool is one small way to thwart a government that is becoming a self-funding Leviathan State.