Guns in Texas

What Texas does not require

There is no state permit to purchase a firearm, no state registration, no waiting period, no magazine capacity limit and no approved-handgun roster. A purchase from a dealer is the federal process and nothing more: photo ID, ATF Form 4473, and a NICS check that usually clears in minutes. State law also preempts most local firearm regulation, so the rules do not change between Houston and the county line.

Carry: permitless, but the licence still earns its keep

Since 1 September 2021 under HB 1927, a Texan who is 21 or older and legally allowed to possess a firearm may carry a handgun — concealed or openly in a holster — with no licence at all.

The License to Carry did not become pointless, and three of its benefits are practical rather than symbolic. It is recognised by roughly 37 other states through reciprocity, and a physical licence card is the only thing an out-of-state officer can actually verify. It is a federally recognised alternative to the NICS check, so purchases at the counter are quicker. And it permits carry in places permitless carry does not, including public university campuses.

Suppressors, and why Texas is different

Suppressors are lawful to own in Texas and lawful to hunt with — which is not true in eight other states, where possession is prohibited outright regardless of federal approval. Combined with the ATF tax stamp dropping to $0 on 1 January 2026, the cost of getting into NFA ownership here is now the can and the paperwork.

We hold a Class 2 SOT through June 2027 and take FD-258 fingerprint cards on site, with Form 4s filed electronically through our 10Scan partnership. Most Texans deal with two businesses to buy a suppressor — one that sells it and somewhere else that takes the prints. Here the purchase, the paperwork and the prints happen in one appointment. 311 NFA items in stock.

Private sales between Texans

Texas permits private party transfers between residents without a dealer or a background check. Two cautions worth taking seriously: it remains a federal offence to transfer a firearm to someone you know or reasonably should know is prohibited from possessing one, and a private sale gives you no record of the transaction. Many people run a private sale through a dealer for exactly that reason, and we handle those as incoming transfers.

Buying from out of state

A Texas resident buying online has the firearm shipped to a Texas dealer and collects it there. If that dealer is us and you bought the gun from us, there is no transfer fee. Long guns may generally be purchased in person from a dealer in another state provided the sale complies with both states' laws; handguns must transfer through a dealer in your own state of residence.