Mark Twain famously said, “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session”

With the Texas Legislature convening for the 89th legislative session tomorrow, we have our work cut out for us.

The fact is, just as Twain quipped, our rights are never secure when the legislature is in session, even here in Texas.

After all, several times in the last few years Republican lawmakers have flirted with passing major gun control and we even saw them cave in 2023 by voting to send even more records to a federal gun control database (and it was even signed by Governor Abbott!).

But with a new legislative session brings new opportunities to push our legislative agenda to continue to restore and expand our Second Amendment rights, including: 

• Ban “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation (HB 162, Cain)
• Eliminating “Gun Free” Zones (SB 83, Hall; HB 925, Cain; HB 1128, Isaac; HB 1715, Cain)
• Civil Liability Protection for Gun Owners (HB 170, Guillen; HB 644, C. Bell)
• Removing Short-Barrel Firearms from the State Prohibited Weapons List (HB 259, Hayes)
• Eliminating sales tax for firearms, ammunition & firearms accessories (HB 920, Bumgarner)
• Second Amendment Preservation Act (…coming soon!)

Of course, there are even MORE pro-gun bills we are fighting for, but these are just our main priorities.

With disgraced Speaker Dade Phelan stepping out of the race for Speaker of the Texas House, the first matter of business for the Texas House of Representatives is to elect a new Speaker.

The House Republican Caucus has already selected State Representative David Cook (House District 96) to be the next Speaker, but Dade Phelan & Dennis Bonnen acolyte Dustin Burrows (House District 83) is working with Democrats in a Joe Straus style takeover of House Leadership.

On the gun issue, BOTH Cook and Burrows voted for Senate Bill 728 in 2023 – which sent even more private records to the federal gun control database known as NICS.

Cook is promising conservative Republicans that he won’t appoint Democrats as Committee Chairs, a practice that Republicans Speakers have ridiculously continued for years, while it’s pretty clear that Burrows would likely continue to have Democrat Committee Chairs.

Regardless of who wins the Speaker’s race, our work remains the same in the 2025 legislative session.

Nothing in politics moves unless it is pushed, and politicians are not going to restore our gun rights out of the goodness of their hearts.

So we’re not taking anything for granted and are prepared to launch our aggressive grassroots mobilization program no matter the result of the Speaker’s race, starting with 5 Gun Owner Lobby Days throughout the legislative session, where we are chartering activists in FREE buses to the capitol with departures from all over the state (thanks in part to our generous partners at Patriot Mobile).

After the Speaker vote, Texas Gun Rights will be sure to let you know the result and what it means for our gun rights.