⚠️IMPORTANT: This is commentary based on public filings and the official introduced text of bills filed for the 90th Texas Legislature. It is not legal advice, not a prediction about whether any bill passes, and not an endorsement of or opposition to any bill, author, or party. Filed bills often change, or die, before any vote. Readers should check current bill text and status directly at Texas Legislature Online.⚠️
Today, on November 9, 2026, pre-filing opened for the 90th Texas Legislature. A keyword sweep of the official filed lists found 38 bills whose captions dealt with firearms. That’s just my own key word search for the 1,261 bills filed today. All remain at “Filed” status. None have been referred to committee. The session convenes January 12, 2027.
Below are twelve that I thought stand out on the face of the introduced text. Six create new restrictions. Six expand or protect existing rights or practices. Executive summary provided for each bill. The list is not comprehensive of all firearms related bills filed today, but just a snapshot. Each one has a hyperlink. As always, we encourage you to do your own research and make informed decisions.
Proposed New Restrictions:
- HB 218 (Johnson): Creates a Texas extreme-risk protective order. A temporary order can be issued with no notice and no hearing. It requires firearms surrendered within 24 hours, suspends the LTC, and reports to NICS. A final order lasts one year. The bill also repeals the entire 2025 red-flag preemption law (Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 7C / SB 1362).
- HB 606 (Lalani): Raises the age to buy, receive, or possess any firearm to 21. Eliminates the parental-consent defense. Adds a Class A misdemeanor for anyone under 21 who buys or possesses a firearm. The text contains no exceptions for home, hunting, ranch work, or military service.
- HB 806 (Reynolds): Makes it a state-jail felony to sell, rent, lease, give, or offer any semiautomatic rifle to a person under 21. No caliber limit, no magazine qualifier, and no exceptions in the text. Penal Code Chapter 46 does not define “semiautomatic rifle.”
- HB 613 (Lalani): Requires a dealer-run NICS check before any private sale or “transfer.” “Transfer” is undefined. The text contains no exceptions for family gifts, inheritance, or range loans. Violation is a Class A misdemeanor.
- HB 776 (Sethi): Expands the school-premises firearm ban into a 1,000-foot zone around public and private K-12 schools. Violation is a third-degree felony. The readable text contains no LTC exception. (Scanned PDF; a few lines were unreadable by OCR. Check the official file.)
- HB 960 (Lopez-Resendez): Makes visible carry of a handgun on public library premises an offense, holstered or not, LTC or not. Concealed carry is not covered. The bill sets no penalty grade; the default third-degree felony in Penal Code 46.03(g) appears to apply. Filed text still carries an old 89th-session header.
Proposed Expansions or Protections:
- HB 533 (Tepper): Allows an LTC holder to carry a concealed handgun at a polling place unless state law already bars concealed carry at that specific location (schools and courts remain off-limits). Permitless carriers remain barred.
- HB 367 (Isaac): Limits liability of shooting-range sponsors and paid instructors for injuries arising from inherent risks (ricochets, flying objects, lead, other participants’ negligence). Protection applies only if the statutory warning is posted and appears in every written contract. Does not cover recklessness or intentional injury.
- HB 377 / HB 422 (Holt / Leach): Identical bills. An LTC remains valid for 90 days past expiration if the holder submitted a renewal at least 10 days early and carries both the DPS receipt and the expired license.
- HB 567 (Tepper): Allows adult and juvenile probation officers to carry off duty. Businesses open to the public may not exclude them or qualified retired officers.
- HB 672 (Moody): Grants civil immunity to licensed dealers and chartered veterans organizations that temporarily hold a firearm at the owner’s request and later return it.
- HB 896 (Canales): Creates an optional LTC designation on a driver’s license or commercial driver’s license that satisfies the identification requirement on its own.
Every bill above is still at Filed. Text and status can change. Check the current version on Texas Legislature Online before relying on any detail.
Democrats now control the Texas Governor’s mansion and the Texas House 76-74, so they decide what reaches House committees.¹⁰ Republicans still hold the Texas Senate 19-12.¹⁰ That is a real procedural check at the state level. Most bills filed in Austin die in committee.
“Probably won’t happen” is not the same as “can’t happen.” The people who get caught flat-footed are the ones who assumed it couldn’t. Virginia was a lot of people’s “it can’t happen here” until it did.
Check the file. Don’t test the door.
References:
- Texas Legislature Online. Bill search and history pages. https://capitol.texas.gov
- Texas Legislature Online. (2026, November 9). Bills filed: House, 90th Legislature, Regular Session. House filed report
- Texas Legislature Online. (2026, November 9). Bills filed: Senate, 90th Legislature, Regular Session. Senate filed report
- Texas Legislative Council. Texas Constitution and Statutes (current statute text used for comparison). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov
- Individual bill history pages: HB 218, HB 606, HB 806, HB 613, HB 776, HB 960, HB 533, HB 367, HB 377, HB 422, HB 567, HB 672, HB 896. All accessible via Texas Legislature Online with LegSess=90R.
