Texas Senate bill by Sen. Schwertner mandates reciprocal recognition of handgun licenses

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Charles Schwertner seeks to establish reciprocal recognition of valid handgun licenses issued by other states and mandates the governor to negotiate related agreements, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, six Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while five Democrats opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the House, eight Democrats and 81 Republicans voted in favor, while 49 Democrats and two Republicans voted against it.

Charles Schwertner introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Monday, Jan. 6, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Schwertner graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS.

Schwertner, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2013 to represent the state’s 5th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Steve Ogden.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the recognition of a handgun license issued by another state’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Government Code to recognize a valid handgun license issued by any other state in Texas. It mandates the governor to negotiate agreements with other states for reciprocal recognition when such agreements are a prerequisite for those states to acknowledge Texas-issued handgun licenses. The bill also requires the publication and annual update of a list on the department’s website detailing states that recognize Texas handgun licenses. It repeals certain existing sections of the code and stipulates that the act takes effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds majority vote in each house. If this threshold is not met, the effective date will be Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton (Republican – District 4), Sen. Bob Hall (Republican – District 2), and Sen. Brent Hagenbuch (Republican – District 30).

The bill received its final legislative approval on Wednesday, May 21, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.