Texas Law Shield wants to point out to our members that in addition to the heavily-covered Open Carry and Campus Carry legislation signed by Gov. Abbott, another bill that protects legal gun owners in the State was passed and will go into effect in September.
SB 473, by Rep. John Frullo and Charles Perry, amended Texas Penal Code section 46.05, which dealt with Prohibited Weapons. Formerly, it was a “defense to prosecution” if a person was charged with possession of NFA items such as a silencer or machine gun, and the item was properly registered pursuant to the National Firearms Act.
Unfortunately owners of such weapons could be forced deeply into the legal process before establishing legal ownership of certain items under Texas law.
The amended language of the statute makes clear that possession of these devices is legal if the class 3 device is registered with BATFE, and removes the “defense to prosecution” language. It will take effect on Sept. 1, 2015.
Specifically, Sections 46.05(a) and (e), are amended to read that: A person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs, or sells those items listed above “unless the item is registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or classified as a curio or relic by the United States Department of Justice.”
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