The Texas Legislature passed three NRA-supported measures during the 2023 Regular Session and Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed them all into law. The following pro-Second Amendment bills take effect on Friday, September 1:
House Bill 2837, by Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) & Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), prevents financial institutions and their agents from requiring licensed gun dealers to use a firearms-specific merchant category code (MCC) to identify retail gun purchases, rather than using a general merchandise retailer code or a sporting goods retailer code. It protects the privacy of lawful gun buyers by preventing payment card processing systems from collecting and misusing this data to surveil, report or disclose these legal transactions.
House Bill 1760, by Rep. Cole Hefner (R-Mount Pleasant) & Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), limits restrictions on firearm possession under Penal Code Section 46.03 to actual premises owned by, and under control of, a school, or locations where high school, collegiate, and UIL activities are taking place. Without this important clarification, roving “gun-free” zones could be created anytime students are present or educational activities are taking place off-campus in public buildings or at private venues.
House Bill 3137, by Rep. Carrie Isaac (R-Wimberley) & Sen. Drew Springer (R-Muenster), expands the state firearms preemption law to prohibit municipalities and counties from requiring gun owners to obtain liability insurance, preventing such California-style regulations from being imposed on Texans in the future.
Thank you for all of your calls and emails into lawmakers’ offices during the legislative session; they were critical to ensuring that these important measures became law!
Sincerely,
NRA Institute for Legislative Action
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