HOUSTON, Texas – Bills filed in the Texas Senate and House would remove short-barrel firearms from the state’s list of prohibited weapons, which also includes tire deflation devices and armor-piercing ammunition.
Senate Bill 1596 was voted out of the State Affairs committee in March and is awaiting a full vote in the upper chamber.
House Bill 259 is an identical twin bill that is scheduled for a public hearing in the Homeland Security committee on Monday.
Texas law defines short barrel firearms as a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches, a shotgun with a barrel less than 18 inches and a shotgun or rifle shorter than 26 inches in total length.
In Texas it is a felony to possess one of these weapons unless properly registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or if the weapon is designated a curio or relic.
State Sen. Brent Hagenbuch/R-Dist. 30 filed the measure. He argues the law, which came into effect during Prohibition, is outdated.
“The simple truth is short rifles are never a problem and continue not to be a problem,” said Hagenbuch during a March 13 hearing.
The impetus for the proposed law stems from the increasing use of stabilizing braces and the ATF’s back-and-forth stance on these devices. Stabilizing braces allow a person to fire a handgun with one hand. A brace can be used against a forearm to fire the weapon with an extended arm or pressed into a person’s shoulder.
In 2023, the ATF came out with a final rule stating braces can turn a pistol into a short-barrel firearm since the devices allow for firing from a shoulder position. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals then blocked the rule, calling it “overly broad.”
In a statement to KPRC 2, ATF officials wrote, “ATF and the Department of Justice will be reviewing Final Rule, 2021R-085 relating to stabilizing braces.”
“This act by the ATF criminalizes approximately 360,000 firearms under Texas law,” said Hagenbuch.
Stabilizing braces were initially created to help those with disabilities fire a weapon. Those arguing in support of Texas’ proposed law state braces provide a safer shooting position and can be an aid to those who struggle with the weight and length of full-sized rifles and shotguns.
“If you’re in a self-defense situation, you are more apt to have that pistol taken from you than you are the short-barreled rifle,” said Kyle Carruth with Gun Owners of America during the Senate hearing.
Carruth further testified stabilizing braces help make firing a weapon “more manageable; making it accurate in your firing, making it safe as well.”
Pearland resident Ken Moore echoed Carruth’s comments during his testimony.
“You want it to hit a bad guy, you do not want it whiz past the bad guy and go through the bedroom window of your neighbor across the street. The brace helps you do just that,” said Moore.
Attorney CJ Grisham helped pass Texas’ open carry laws and is a civil rights activist with Texas Gun Rights. He also testified in support of the bill.
“This is a very arbitrary law, to begin with, Texas shouldn’t be really engaged in that,” said Grisham.
Carruth also anticipates the ATF eventually removing short-barrel firearms from the National Firearms Act.
“If the ATF does remove those short barrel rifles from the NFA, then Texas law would be more restrictive than even federal law, and so this is in preparation of what might occur," Carruth testified.
Victims’ rights advocates testified against the measure. Flo Rice was critically wounded during the 2018 mass shooting at Santa Fe High School. She told the committee the gunman used a sawed-off shotgun in the attack.
“They were easy targets for the wide blast of this sawed-off shotgun. He didn’t even have to aim," said Rice. “The current process, as I understand it for registering a short barrel firearm, requires responsible gun owners commitment to an extensive background check. I fear without this commitment, sawed-off shotguns would become more readily available to minors.”
To legally own a short-barrel firearm a person has to submit to a federal background check and pay a $200 tax.
“Essentially the purpose of a short-barreled rifle is to make the firearm easily concealable and maneuverable, significantly enhancing its lethality," said Nicole Golden with Texas Gun Sense. “This vital law ensures that the purchasers of particularly lethal firearms and components receive heightened scrutiny including fingerprinting and photo identification before accessing these weapons.”
Christina Delgado with Communthe ty Justice Action Fund also testified against the bill. Delgado also lives in Santa Fe.
“If we continue to allow these types of weapons to be accessible, especially to our youth who are in troubled times in crisis, that we’re gonna see so many more of these types actions taken by our youth," said Delgado, who also told the committee she supports the 2nd Amendment.
“How would you respond to a critic who would say, ‘How can you call yourself a Second Amendment supporter and be opposed to legislation like this?‘” asked State Sen. Judith Zaffirini/D-Dist. 21.
“Because this is not removing my ability to go and purchase a firearm. This is not removing my ability to go to the range or engage in clay shooting or anything like that,” said Delgado.
