SB1596

Before this act, section 46.05 generally made intentionally or knowingly possessing, manufacturing, transporting, repairing or selling a short-barrel firearm a third-degree felony, subject to the registration, exemption, curio/relic and other defenses in the statute. The repealed Texas definition covered rifles with barrels under 16 inches, shotguns with barrels under 18 inches, and altered weapons made from either with overall length under 26 inches. SB1596 removes that category rather than merely changing its length thresholds. Other prohibited-weapon categories in 46.05 remain. Final law; Prior Texas definition; Prior offense and defenses.

The change applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025. An offense remains under prior law if any element occurred before that date. The act does not itself erase old convictions or create a general exemption from other state or federal offenses. Federal law separately defines covered firearms and prohibits specified unregistered possession and unlawful making or transfer; those federal provisions are not amended by this Texas act. The linked 2024 federal-code edition supplies the separate statutory background, not a claim that every later federal development has been reviewed. Final law; Federal definitions, 2024 edition; Federal prohibited acts, 2024 edition.

All five indexed versions have identical operative provisions. Two proposed amendments did not become law. Gutierrez’s Senate amendment failed April 14; Goodwin’s House amendment was tabled May 27. Both would have retained the short-barrel definition and added a transfer restriction: the seller or recipient would need to be a licensed firearms dealer, or the firearm would have to go through a dealer that retained it while conducting the specified national instant background check and verifying the recipient’s lawful eligibility. Neither proposal is part of the final act. Gutierrez proposal; Goodwin proposal; Amendment dispositions; Introduced; Senate committee; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law; Version index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

People dealing with these firearms face less exposure under this particular Texas offense for post-effective-date conduct. State and local justice agencies could see fewer cases within that category, but the act does not establish a public-safety outcome, eliminate other legal restrictions or guarantee a reduction in a particular person’s legal costs. Final law.

The March 12 fiscal note anticipates no significant state fiscal impact and assumes no significant effect on state correctional resources or local enforcement, prosecution, supervision and confinement costs. The criminal-justice statement reports fiscal-year 2024 totals for the broader prohibited-weapons offense: 732 arrests, 42 referrals, 118 adult community-supervision placements and 94 adult state-correctional admissions, with no juvenile state-correctional admissions. It expressly says the number involving short-barrel firearms is unknown. These are different measures of the broader offense—not 732 short-barrel cases or a forecast of people freed by this act. No dollar savings estimate or appropriation is supplied. Fiscal note; Criminal-justice impact statement; Final law.