Pending decision notice: The Supreme Court heard oral argument in United States v. Hemani on March 2, 2026. A decision is expected by late June or early July 2026. This blog reflects the law and the state of the argument as of May 2026. We will update it when the decision issues. If you have […]
Category Archives: Gun Crimes
DFW International Airport intercepted 378 firearms at its security checkpoints in 2024 which is the second highest total of any airport in the United States (behind only Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson). Texas is the number one state in the country for airport gun seizures. Of the firearms detected at DFW, the overwhelming majority were loaded. Almost none […]
Texas is a permitless carry state. Since September 1, 2021, eligible adults can carry a handgun without a license. But constitutional carry does not mean carry anywhere. Texas Penal Code §46.03 establishes a list of locations where firearms are prohibited and carrying into any of them is not a Class C citation. In most cases, […]
Few areas of firearms law have changed as rapidly as the rules governing homemade firearms and NFA-regulated weapons. A Supreme Court decision in March 2025 settled one major dispute about ghost gun regulations. A new federal law in July 2025 eliminated the $200 NFA tax stamp fee that had been in place since 1934. Texas’s […]
Most people facing a family violence assault charge assume the gun rights question only applies to felonies. It does not. A misdemeanor family violence conviction in Texas can cost you your right to possess a firearm under both Texas and federal law and the two legal systems impose different restrictions, different timelines, and different definitions […]
By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist A gun crime that begins as a state case in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton, or McLennan County can become a federal case overnight. When it does, everything changes: the courthouse, the prosecutor, the judge, the sentencing rules, and the consequences. Federal gun crime convictions carry […]
By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist On September 1, 2021, House Bill 1927 went into effect, making Texas a “permitless carry” or “constitutional carry” state. The law fundamentally changed the landscape of gun rights and gun crime prosecution in Texas. Before HB 1927, carrying a handgun, openly or concealed, without a […]
By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist On March 2, 2026, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Hemani which is a case that could fundamentally reshape how the federal government prosecutes gun crimes against people who use marijuana. A majority of the justices, conservative and liberal alike, expressed […]
By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Texas has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country including constitutional carry, open carry, campus carry, and now LTC eligibility for 18 to 20-year-olds following a federal court ruling. But permissive does not mean unrestricted. Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon (UCW) charges […]
By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist The vast majority of gun crime cases in Texas begin the same way: law enforcement finds a firearm during a search. The search might happen during a traffic stop, at a residence, in a vehicle, or on the defendant’s person. The officer writes in the […]