Texas Gun Storage Laws and Safe Storage Rules

Texas Firearm Storage Requirements

The Bottom Line

Texas does not impose a general firearm-storage requirement on adults. The state's only operative storage statute is Tex. Penal Code § 46.13, "Making a Firearm Accessible to a Child," which makes it a crime to fail to secure a readily-dischargeable firearm where a child under 17 gains access to it.

The base offense is a Class C misdemeanor (fine up to $500). It escalates to a Class A misdemeanor (up to $4,000 fine and up to one year in jail) if the child discharges the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury. Three affirmative defenses are available: supervised access for hunting, sporting, or other lawful purposes; the child's lawful self-defense or defense of property; access gained by the child entering property in violation of the Penal Code; and access during the actor's agricultural-enterprise activity.

If you live in Texas, your home storage practices are not directly regulated by state law except in the child-access context. There is no Texas statute requiring a safe, a trigger lock, separate ammunition storage, or any particular method of keeping a firearm at home. There is no Texas LTC condition that touches storage. The Department of Public Safety does not inspect, audit, or revoke an LTC based on how the holder stores firearms.

For Texas dealers, § 46.13(g) imposes a posted-warning requirement at the point of sale. Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(z)) layers on a separate point-of-sale device requirement that applies in every state.

Tex. Penal Code § 46.13 in Detail

Section 46.13 is the only Texas statute that imposes a storage duty on a firearm owner. Read carefully, it operates in two places: the conduct rule (subsections (a) and (b)) and the affirmative defenses (subsection (c)). Subsections (d) and (e) set the punishment grade. Subsection (f) provides a seven-day arrest delay for family members in death-or-serious-injury cases. Subsection (g) imposes the dealer notice.

Definitions That Drive the Statute

Three statutory definitions in § 46.13(a) control the analysis:

• Child means "a person younger than 17 years of age." Note this is 17, not 18. A 17-year-old in your home does not trigger § 46.13. Other Texas statutes use 18 as the age of majority; § 46.13 does not.
• Readily dischargeable firearm means "a firearm that is loaded with ammunition, whether or not a round is in the chamber." A firearm with a loaded magazine inserted is "readily dischargeable" even if the chamber is empty. An unloaded firearm with the magazine removed and stored separately is not.
• Secure means "to take steps that a reasonable person would take to prevent the access to a readily dischargeable firearm by a child, including but not limited to placing a firearm in a locked container or temporarily rendering the firearm inoperable by a trigger lock or other means." The statute lists locked container and trigger lock as examples, not as the exclusive methods. The reasonableness standard governs.

The Conduct Rule (§ 46.13(b))

A person commits the offense if a child gains access to a readily-dischargeable firearm and the person, with criminal negligence:

1. Failed to secure the firearm; or
2. Left the firearm in a place to which the person knew or should have known the child would gain access.

Two elements must align before the offense attaches: (1) the firearm was readily dischargeable (loaded), and (2) the child actually gained access to it. An unloaded firearm left within a child's reach is not a § 46.13 offense even if the child finds it. A loaded firearm safely stored where no child gains access is also not a § 46.13 offense.

The mental state is criminal negligence, the lowest culpable mental state in Texas. A prosecutor must prove the actor "ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur" (Penal Code § 6.03(d)). Pure accident, with no risk a reasonable person would have appreciated, is not enough.

Affirmative Defenses (§ 46.13(c))

Four affirmative defenses are written into the statute. If raised by the defendant and found by the factfinder, each is a complete defense:

1. Supervised lawful use. The child's access was "supervised by a person older than 18 years of age and was for hunting, sporting, or other lawful purposes." A parent or guardian taking a 16-year-old to the range, or supervising hunting with the family rifle, is squarely covered.
2. Lawful defense. The child's access was "by lawful defense by the child of people or property." A child who reaches the family handgun in response to a home invasion, and uses it in lawful self-defense, does not generate liability for the storing adult.
3. Unlawful entry. The child gained access "by entering property in violation of this code." Burglary or criminal trespass by the child cuts off the storer's liability. A child who breaks into a locked safe, breaks into the home, or otherwise commits a Penal Code offense to reach the firearm is not within the storer's risk.
4. Agricultural enterprise. Access "occurred during a time when the actor was engaged in an agricultural enterprise." Texas farm and ranch operations frequently involve loaded firearms staged for predator or pest control. The agricultural-enterprise defense recognizes the practical realities of working land.

Penalty Grades (§§ 46.13(d), (e))

Note the structure: the statute does not aggravate based on what the child does (e.g., mere brandishing or accidental discharge with no injury). The aggravator is a discharge that causes death or serious bodily injury. "Serious bodily injury" is defined elsewhere in the Penal Code (§ 1.07(a)(46)) as injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment.

Family Member Arrest Delay (§ 46.13(f))

Subsection (f) is unusual and worth flagging. If the child who discharged the firearm is a member of the actor's family (as defined by Tex. Fam. Code § 71.003) and the discharge caused the child's own death or serious injury, no peace officer or other person may arrest the actor before the seventh day after the offense. The statute recognizes that a parent who has just lost a child to a self-inflicted gunshot is in acute crisis. The delay does not preclude prosecution; it prevents the additional trauma of immediate arrest while the family deals with the death or hospitalization.

Dealer Notice Requirement (§ 46.13(g))

Texas firearm dealers must post a sign in a conspicuous position on the business premises, in block letters not less than one inch in height, containing this exact warning:

"IT IS UNLAWFUL TO STORE, TRANSPORT, OR ABANDON AN UNSECURED FIREARM IN A PLACE WHERE CHILDREN ARE LIKELY TO BE AND CAN OBTAIN ACCESS TO THE FIREARM."

This is a notice obligation on the dealer, not a separate storage rule on the buyer. The buyer's obligation is set by § 46.13(b). The sign restates the gist of (b) for public notice. There is no statutory requirement that the buyer sign an acknowledgment, take a brochure, or receive a counseling pamphlet at the point of sale. Texas dealers are not required to distribute safe-storage literature, lethal-means counseling materials, or signed acknowledgment statements; the § 46.13(g) sign is the entire dealer-side obligation under Texas law.

Federal Storage-Related Requirements That Apply in Texas

Trigger or Locking Device at the Point of Sale (18 U.S.C. § 922(z))

Federal law requires every FFL dealer to provide a "secure gun storage or safety device" with each handgun transferred to a non-licensed individual. This is a one-time event at sale. Every new handgun bought at a Texas FFL ships with a cable lock, trigger lock, or comparable device. The federal regulation (27 C.F.R. Part 478) requires FFL applicants to certify availability of compatible devices. None of this reaches the buyer's home use of the device after leaving the store.

The federal rule applies in Texas exactly as it applies in every other state. Texas has not added a state-law buyer-side trigger-lock obligation on top of the federal point-of-sale device.

Federal Firearms Licensee Recordkeeping

FFL recordkeeping under 27 C.F.R. Part 478 covers acquisitions and dispositions, not storage at the buyer's home. There is no federal counterpart of "registration" for stored firearms.

What Texas Does Not Have

A complete picture of Texas storage law is largely a list of regulations Texas does not impose:

• No general adult safe-storage law. Texas does not require any particular method of storage when only adults reside in or visit the home.
• No standalone child-access prevention law beyond § 46.13. Some states impose civil penalties or strict-liability storage rules even where no child actually gains access. Texas requires actual access plus criminal negligence.
• No mandatory locked-container or trigger-lock requirement. § 46.13's "secure" term lists these as examples of compliant methods, not as the exclusive methods. A reasonable storage step that is not a locked container or trigger lock can satisfy the statute.
• No FFL counseling-literature requirement. Texas dealers post the § 46.13(g) sign. They are not required to distribute lethal-means counseling brochures, safety pamphlets, or signed-statement acknowledgments at the point of sale.
• No firearm-safety-device sales-tax exemption. Texas applies regular sales tax to gun safes and locks.
• No state lost-or-stolen reporting duty for private owners. Federal law requires FFLs to report theft of FFL-inventory firearms (18 U.S.C. § 923(g)(6)). Texas private owners have no statutory mandate to report stolen firearms. Reporting is recommended for civil-liability and recovery reasons but is not legally required.
• No registration of stored firearms. Texas does not maintain a registry of privately owned firearms.
• No LTC storage condition. Holding a Texas LTC does not change your home storage obligations. The Department of Public Safety does not inspect storage practices and does not revoke a license based on home storage.

Storage-Adjacent Texas Offenses to Be Aware Of

Although § 46.13 is the only direct storage rule, several other Texas statutes can become relevant when poorly stored firearms contribute to a separate harm:

The practical point: Texas does not make "unsafe storage" by itself a crime outside the § 46.13 child-access framework. Liability arises, if at all, downstream from a separate harm or from the prohibited-person possession of someone in the household.

Practical Storage Guidance for Texas LTC Holders and Adult Owners

The following recommendations are not Texas law. They reflect general firearm-safety best practice taught by NRA-certified, USCCA-certified, and Texas Department of Public Safety LTC instructors. A Texas owner who ignores all of these recommendations violates no statute, provided no child under 17 gains access under § 46.13.

In a home with children under 17, regular child visitors, or anyone prohibited from possession under § 46.04:

1. Store firearms in a locked container (handgun safe, gun safe, or lockbox) when not on your person or under your direct control. This satisfies § 46.13's "secure" definition and is the cleanest defense to a child-access charge.
2. Use a trigger lock, cable lock, or similar device on long-term-storage firearms as a second layer.
3. Store loaded magazines and ammunition separately from firearms not designated for home defense. If the firearm is not "readily dischargeable" (loaded), § 46.13 does not apply.
4. For a designated home-defense firearm, use a quick-access biometric or push-button safe at the bedside if children, teenagers, or any prohibited person resides in or visits the home.
5. Re-evaluate the storage plan whenever household composition changes: a new child, a new roommate, a family member's prohibited status (felony conviction, family-violence misdemeanor, or active protective order), or court-ordered firearm relinquishment.

For an adults-only home with no child visitors and no prohibited persons: Texas law does not require any particular storage method. A nightstand pistol is lawful. Practical risk management still suggests locked storage when the home is unattended (theft is the leading cause of stolen guns) and a quick-access option for the home-defense firearm.

For roommate or family situations involving a prohibited person: § 46.04 puts the criminal exposure on the prohibited person, not on you. As a practical matter, a felon-convicted spouse, family-violence-misdemeanor partner, or person subject to an active protective order under Tex. Fam. Code who has "access" to your firearm can be charged with § 46.04 possession. Locked storage to which only you have the key or combination is the cleanest separation.

LTC and Storage During Prohibited-Places Transit

A Texas LTC holder who carries lawfully under § 46.15 may still encounter prohibited locations under § 46.03 (schools, polling places, courts, secured airport areas, certain government meetings) and may need to leave the firearm in a vehicle while inside. Texas does not impose a specific in-vehicle storage method when the carrier briefly steps away, but as a practical matter:

1. Lock the vehicle. An unlocked car with a visible firearm is the leading source of stolen guns nationally.
2. Keep the firearm out of plain view. § 46.02(a-2) requires concealment of a non-holstered handgun in a vehicle for unlicensed carriers; LTC holders carrying with a holster have more latitude but should still avoid display.
3. Use a lockbox cabled to a seat frame or trunk anchor for any extended absence (workday-long parking at a courthouse or airport).
4. If a child is present in the vehicle when you return, § 46.13 attaches to vehicle storage as well as to home storage. The "secure" requirement is location-agnostic.

See VEHICLE_CARRY for the in-vehicle carry rules generally and TRANSPORT for cross-state and air-travel rules.

Stolen Firearms and Reporting

Texas does not require private firearm owners to report stolen firearms. There is no statutory penalty for failing to report. Reporting is strongly recommended for two reasons: it creates a record that the firearm left your control before any subsequent criminal use (defending against accomplice or transfer-liability inquiries), and it allows law-enforcement entry into the NCIC stolen-gun file for recovery. File the report with the local police department or sheriff's office where the theft occurred.

If you operate as a federal firearms licensee, separate federal reporting rules apply to inventory theft under 18 U.S.C. § 923(g)(6). Those rules do not reach private collections.

Pending or Recent Legislation

As of the 2025 (89th) Texas Legislature regular session, no enacted change has expanded or contracted § 46.13. Bills proposing broader storage requirements have been introduced in recent Texas sessions and have not advanced. The constitutional-carry framework adopted by HB 1927 (87th Legislature, 2021) deliberately moved Texas toward fewer, not more, storage and carry restrictions. A general adult safe-storage law is not on the legislative horizon under current political conditions.

Key Statutes Referenced

Texas law as of the 2025-2026 legislative session imposes no general storage duty on adult firearm owners. Section 46.13's child-access framework, the dealer warning sign under § 46.13(g), and the federal point-of-sale device under 18 U.S.C. § 922(z) are the only storage-touching rules with operative force.