Texas Gun Laws 2027: Red Flag and Under-21 Rifle Bills Filed

HB 218 would give Texas a red flag law. Filed by Rep. Ann Johnson (D-Houston), it lets a family or household member, the parent or guardian of a minor in the household, or a peace officer apply for an extreme risk protective order against someone they swear poses an immediate and present danger to themselves or others "as a result of the respondent's serious mental illness and access to firearms." The mental illness requirement is narrower than most state red flag laws, but the process is the standard one.

On the application alone, a judge can issue a temporary ex parte order with no notice to the gun owner and no hearing. That order can require the person to hand every firearm they own or control to law enforcement within 24 hours, surrender a handgun license, and submit to a mental health examination. The court must hold a hearing within 14 days. If the judge finds danger by clear and convincing evidence, the order runs one year and can be renewed for up to another year after a second hearing. The person can ask the court to lift it starting on day 91.

Possessing a gun in violation of the order would be a Class A misdemeanor, and knowingly lying to a peace officer to get an order filed would be a Class B misdemeanor. Surrendered guns cannot be destroyed: after the order ends, the agency runs a background check and returns them, or has a licensed dealer sell them and pays the owner. Section 8 of the bill repeals Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 7C, the Anti-Red Flag Act (SB 1362) that Gov. Abbott signed in June 2025 and that took effect September 1, 2025.

An 18-year-old can buy an AR-15 from a Texas dealer today, and at least seven filed bills would stop that, at very different breadths. The narrowest, HB 173 from Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), makes it a state jail felony to transfer a semiautomatic rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and is larger than .22 caliber to anyone under 21, with exceptions for law enforcement, the military, veterans, and some hunting and recreational use. A .22 LR rifle stays legal to sell to an 18-year-old under that definition.

HB 857 uses the same rifle definition and spells out the exceptions: peace officers, current service members and honorably discharged veterans, and temporary loans in the owner's presence, on the owner's property, at a shooting range, for hunting, or at a competition. HB 806 drops both the caliber floor and the exceptions, covering every semiautomatic rifle. HB 610 extends the transfer ban to every firearm, and HB 606 goes further still, making it a Class A misdemeanor for anyone under 21 to buy or simply possess any gun. If you are 18 to 20 and shopping for a first rifle, our best first AR-15 guide covers the field none of these bills touch until September 1, 2027 at the earliest.

SB 80 from Sen. Judith Zaffirini is an under-21 bill, not a general ban. It makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person younger than 21 to purchase or possess an "assault weapon" and a state jail felony to sell or give one to them. Adults 21 and older are not restricted by the filed text. Peace officers and service members have defenses, and an under-21 owner who lawfully possessed the gun on August 31, 2027 can keep it.

The definition is the part that matters for the next fight. A semiautomatic centerfire rifle with a detachable magazine counts if it has any one of a protruding pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a thumbhole stock, a second handgrip, a flash suppressor, or a grenade or flare launcher. Fixed magazines over 10 rounds and rifles under 30 inches overall also qualify. That covers essentially every AR-15 sold. On the pistol side, a detachable-magazine semiauto with a threaded barrel or a barrel shroud counts, which sweeps in a threaded-barrel Glock. Texas has no assault weapon feature law today.

HB 613 from Rep. Lalani would end private gun sales without a background check in Texas. A non-dealer could transfer a firearm only to a licensed dealer, or after having a dealer run a NICS check on the buyer and confirming the buyer can legally own a gun. Violations are a Class A misdemeanor, and the dealer can charge a reasonable fee. The introduced text has no exemption for gifts between family members or short-term loans, so handing a rifle to a brother would require a dealer visit.

HB 659 from Rep. Moody requires a dealer to report to the Department of Public Safety whenever one buyer takes two or more firearms, or four or more detachable magazines, within five consecutive business days. Magazines that ship in the box with a gun do not count. DPS must forward each report to the sheriff where the sale happened and the sheriff where the buyer lives within 24 hours. The bill bars using the reports for a firearm registry, but allows them in NICS and state and national crime databases. A dealer who violates the reporting requirement with criminal negligence commits a Class B misdemeanor. Anyone stocking up on AR-15 magazines in quantity would land in a sheriff's inbox.

The storage bills raise the penalty for leaving a loaded gun where a child can reach it under Penal Code 46.13. HB 609 makes every violation a Class A misdemeanor instead of the current Class C baseline. HB 658 defines a child as anyone under 18, makes the offense a third-degree felony when the child shoots and kills or seriously injures someone outside the household, and turns the supervised-hunting defense into an exception that requires a parent's authorization. A gun safe or a quick-access handgun safe answers either version.

HB 859 raises unlawfully discharging a firearm in certain municipalities from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony. HB 712 from Rep. Gámez carves into Texas's firearm preemption law by letting a city or county regulate or prohibit carrying a firearm in a library it operates, with carve-outs for peace officers and commissioned security officers. That preemption statute, Local Government Code 229.001, is what bars Texas cities from writing their own firearm ordinances today.

None of these bills can become law without a majority in the Republican-controlled Senate, which every bill must clear before it reaches Gov.-elect Hinojosa. The House is different: Democrats will elect the speaker on the first day of the session, and Rep. Senfronia Thompson announced November 6 that she has the votes. The speaker controls committee assignments, so House passage of a red flag or under-21 bill is realistic for the first time. Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin, a Democrat, presides over the Senate, but its Republican majority decides what passes.

Volume is not a predictor either. In the 2025 session Texas lawmakers filed 8,719 bills, and fewer than one in seven passed both chambers. The bills worth watching are the ones that get a committee hearing in the spring. Texas Gun Rights has already said it will fight HB 218, and the Republican-led Senate passed the Anti-Red Flag Act that HB 218 would repeal in 2025. For how the same election reshaped gun bills in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Nevada, see which states are now at risk for gun control.