Texas House lawmakers heard testimony on Monday on several bills that could loosen firearm regulations. Flo Rice is a survivor of the 2018 school shooting at Santa Fe High School near Houston, in which eight students and two teachers were killed. As The Texas Newsroom reports, Rice testified against House Bill 259 that would effectively remove short-barrel firearms from the updated list of restricted weapons in the state.
The gunman in the Sante Fe shooting used a short-barrel firearm. Rice survived, despite being shot six times. “This bill doesn’t limit the short barrel size. So potentially a student could have a sawed off shotgun small enough to fit in his backpack. I am a second amendment supporter, but I believe it should be followed in a responsible way that prioritizes the safety of our children.”
While the House heard testimony on HB 259, the bill’s Senate counterpart, Senate Bill 1596 was being debated on the Senate floor. Bill sponsor Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R-Denton, said “It’s currently legal in Texas to own a short-barrel firearm,” said Hagenbuch. “You just have to register with the ATF and pay a $200 fee.”
Those requirements will stay in place. The legislation came about after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, changed which guns qualify as a short-barreled firearm, making several currently legal guns illegal under state law.
Another measure, House Bill 1794, would allow those with a conceal carry license to take their firearm into a voting precinct. A separate bill would lower the age to legally possess a handgun to 18 instead of 21. In all, the Texas House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans’ Affairs Committee heard testimony on more than a dozen proposals.
According to the nonprofit organization Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, its annual rankings, in 2024, Texas ranked #32 in the country on gun law strength.
