Texas Senate Bill 1596 aims to decriminalize short-barreled rifles and shotguns, currently illegal in the state without a federal permit. This move directly contradicts federal law, similar to how some states have legalized marijuana despite its federal illegality.
Critics argue that easy access to such weapons, known for their lethality and concealability, could lead to increased violence. The bill's passage follows a series of mass shootings in Texas, including the Uvalde school shooting, raising public safety concerns.
A 2024 report by Giffords found that gun deaths in Texas have increased by 63 percent since Governor Greg Abbott took office in 2014. This statistic highlights the ongoing debate surrounding gun control and its impact on public safety in the state.
The bill was sent to Governor Greg Abbott on June 1st and is expected to be signed into law before June 22nd, further relaxing gun restrictions in the state. This decision comes after Texas has already taken steps such as allowing permitless carry of concealed handguns and declaring itself a "Second Amendment Sanctuary State."
Groups like Moms Demand Action have expressed strong opposition, arguing that the bill will lead to more violence and loss of life. The ongoing debate underscores the complex and often contentious nature of gun control legislation in the United States.
Texas is poised to make it easier for residents in the state to own short-barreled shotguns and rifles, rolling back yet another firearm regulation in a state that has experienced some of the deadliest mass shootings in the country in the last decade.
Texas Senate Bill 1596 would decriminalize short-barreled long guns, including sawed-off shotguns. Texas defines these weapons, which are currently illegal in the state, absent a federal permit, as “a rifle with a barrel length of less than 16 inches or a shotgun with a barrel length of less than 18 inches, or any weapon made from a shotgun or rifle if, as altered, it has an overall length of less than 26 inches.”
Access to such weapons is typically restricted because shortened rifles and shotguns remain incredibly lethal, but are more concealable. Sawed-off shotguns, in particular, create a wide spray pattern, allowing a single shot to potentially maim or kill a crowd of victims. In 2018, the 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis used a short-barreled shotgun owned by his father to kill eight students and two teachers at Santa Fe High School.
Such weapons are designated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as Title II weapons Gun Control Act of 1968 — or weapons that require a federal registration in order to purchase and own. SB 1596 doesn’t impact that national statute, rather, it creates an open conflict. It makes owning short-barreled weapons legal under state law, and leaves any enforcement of federal law to federal agents. (Progressive states have used a similar strategy to legalize marijuana, while the drug remains technically illegal under federal law.) SB 1956 was sent to Governor Greg Abbott (R) on June 1, and he is expected to sign it before June 22.
Despite a string of major mass shootings in the state — including the 2022 murder of 21 teachers and students a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde; the 2018 murder of 23 people by a mass shooter at a Walmart in El Paso; and the murder of 23 people attending church in Sutherland Springs in 2017 — Abbott and the Texas legislature have eagerly rolled back restrictions on deadly firearms. Editor’s picks
The state has allowed residents to carry concealed firearms without a permit; decriminalized silencers; removed restrictions on the sale of guns and ammunition during a declared disaster or emergency; and proclaimed Texas a “Second Amendment Sanctuary State” blocking state and local enforcement of federal level gun-control laws. Trending Stories
The effect is noticeable. A 2024 report by Giffords, a gun-safety group founded by former representative and assassination attempt survivor Gabby Giffords, found that gun deaths in Texas have increased by 63 percent since Abbott assumed office in 2014.
In April, after a slew of bills rolling back gun-control laws were introduced by the Texas legislature, Molly Bursey, of the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action said in a statement that “putting more guns into dangerous hands, and in more sensitive places will only lead to one thing: more violence, more fear, more loss, and more mourning.”
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