Texas does NOT have an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) or "red flag" law. Multiple bills have been introduced in successive legislative sessions...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Texas does NOT have an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) or "red flag" law. Multiple bills have been introduced in successive legislative sessions but none has become law. The closest existing pathways for involuntary disarmament are mental-health commitment under Tex. Health & Safety Code Ch. 573-574 (which can trigger federal § 922(g)(4) prohibition) and protective orders under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ch. 7B, art. 17.292, and Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 85 (which trigger Tex. Penal Code § 46.04(c) and federal § 922(g)(8)).
Unlike Florida, California, Indiana, Michigan, and the 17 other ERPO states, Texas has no civil mechanism allowing a family member, household member, or law enforcement officer to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from a person believed dangerous to self or others. Bills creating such a mechanism - including HB 88 ("Jaime's Law," filed after the Santa Fe High School shooting), HB 196, and successor measures across the 86th-89th Legislatures - have been referred to committee without floor consideration. Texas Republican legislative leadership has consistently opposed ERPO frameworks on Second Amendment and procedural-due-process grounds.
That does not mean Texas has no involuntary-disarmament tool. The available tools are narrower, slower, and tied to specific predicates: mental illness plus dangerousness, or a domestic-violence-or-stalking predicate plus a court-ordered protective order.
Texas has been a permitless-carry state for handguns at age 21+ since September 1, 2021 (HB 1927, Tex. Penal Code § 46.02). The DPS LTC issued under Subchapter H, Chapter 411 of the Government Code remains useful for reciprocity, NICS-bypass at purchase, and the LTC-only carve-outs in § 46.03 / § 46.035. None of that immunizes an LTC holder - or a permitless carrier - from federal prohibitor status.
The moment a Texan becomes a federal prohibited person under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g): (1) firearm possession becomes a federal felony; (2) Tex. Penal Code § 46.04 makes possession a state offense through the routes § 46.04 recognizes (felony conviction under (a), Class A family-violence misdemeanor under (b), or active protective order under (c)); and (3) the DPS LTC is subject to revocation under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.172(a), which requires a license-holder to remain not "ineligible to purchase a handgun under state or federal law." A post-issuance federal prohibitor triggers revocation under § 411.180. There is no Texas analog to a "red flag adjudication" that triggers § 411.172(a) on its own - disqualification flows through the predicates the statute already lists.
Texas has a two-track mental-health pathway: the fast track (Ch. 573) is an officer-initiated emergency apprehension producing a short detention; the slower track (Ch. 574) is a judicial proceeding producing a court-ordered commitment.
Tex. Health & Safety Code § 573.001(a) authorizes a peace officer, without a warrant, to take a person into custody if the officer reasonably believes (i) the person has mental illness, (ii) because of that illness there is a substantial risk of serious harm to self or others unless immediately restrained, and (iii) there is not sufficient time to obtain a warrant. The "substantial risk" can be shown by behavior or by evidence of severe emotional distress and deterioration. § 573.001(b). The officer may rely on a credible person's representation or on observed conduct. § 573.001(c). The officer must transport the person to the nearest appropriate inpatient mental health facility (or transfer to EMS under § 573.005). § 573.001(d).
Critically for firearm law, § 573.001(h) authorizes the officer to immediately seize any firearm found in possession of the apprehended person, and to follow the disposition procedure in Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 18.191. This is the closest Texas comes to a "scene-of-crisis" firearm seizure. It is not an ERPO; it is incident to a custodial mental-health apprehension.
A § 573.001 apprehension, standing alone, is NOT a federal § 922(g)(4) prohibitor. § 922(g)(4) reaches a person "who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution." A short-term emergency hold for evaluation, without a subsequent court commitment order, does not satisfy 27 C.F.R. § 478.11's definition of "committed."
Chapter 574 governs judicial commitment. Under § 574.034(a), a judge or jury may order temporary inpatient mental health services only on clear and convincing evidence that the person (i) has mental illness AND (ii) as a result is likely to cause serious harm to self or others, OR is suffering severe distress and substantial deterioration of independent functioning and is unable to make a rational decision about treatment. The evidence must include expert testimony and, unless waived, evidence of a recent overt act or continuing pattern of behavior. § 574.034(d). § 574.034(g) authorizes inpatient treatment up to 45 days (90 if the judge finds the longer period necessary). § 574.035 separately authorizes EXTENDED commitment on more demanding findings, typically up to 12 months and renewable.
A § 574.034 order - and a § 574.035 order - IS a "commitment to a mental institution" for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4). Once the court signs the order:
Section 574.088 provides a state-court mechanism for a Ch. 574 committee to petition for relief from federal firearm prohibitions arising from the commitment. The petitioner must show by a preponderance of the evidence that (i) the person will not act in a manner dangerous to public safety, and (ii) granting relief is not contrary to the public interest. A successful order is reported to NICS through Texas's NIAA implementation, lifting the federal § 922(g)(4) bar. § 574.088 relief is granted at meaningful rates in some Texas counties and almost never in others.
The mental-health pathway is a clinical-and-judicial determination that produces a firearm prohibition as a consequence. It is not a civil dangerousness order:
Protective orders are Texas's most-used civil firearm-removal tool. They are not red-flag orders - each requires a domestic-violence, stalking, sexual-assault, or trafficking predicate - but they produce ERPO-like firearm consequences when entered.
Magistrate's Order for Emergency Protection (MOEP), Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.292. Issued by a magistrate at arraignment after arrest for family violence, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or trafficking. Effective 31-91 days (61-91 days with a deadly weapon). Art. 17.292(c)(4) authorizes the magistrate to prohibit firearm possession (except for actively serving sworn law enforcement). The court must include this prohibition for family-violence cases involving a deadly weapon.
Family-violence protective order, Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 85. Issued after a hearing on a sworn application alleging family violence under § 71.004. A temporary ex parte order may issue same-day under § 83.001. A final order under § 85.001 issues after a hearing where both parties may appear. § 85.022(b)(6) authorizes a firearm-possession prohibition (except for active sworn officers).
Protective order under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ch. 7B (formerly art. 7A). Available to victims of sexual assault, stalking, indecent assault, or trafficking - a domestic relationship is NOT required. This is Texas's closest analog to a non-domestic civil protective order, and may include the same firearm prohibition.
Out-of-jurisdiction order recognized under Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 88. Texas affords full faith and credit to qualifying foreign protective orders.
Tex. Penal Code § 46.04(c) makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a non-peace-officer to possess a firearm after receiving notice of, and before the expiration of, an order issued under Tex. Fam. Code § 6.504 (family-violence orders entered in divorce), Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 85 (family-violence orders), Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.292 (MOEP), Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ch. 7B (sexual-assault, stalking, trafficking), or another jurisdiction's order recognized under Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 88. The prohibition is automatic upon notice and continues until expiration. There is no statutory grace period; possession after notice is the offense.
A protective order also triggers federal § 922(g)(8) if it satisfies three elements: (1) the order issued after a hearing of which the respondent received actual notice and at which the respondent had an opportunity to participate (an ex parte temporary order generally does NOT satisfy this element); (2) it restrains the respondent from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child, or restrains conduct placing them in reasonable fear of bodily injury; AND (3) it either includes a finding of credible threat OR explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.
The federal prohibition is independent of the state one. It was upheld against a Bruen-era Second Amendment challenge in United States v. Rahimi, 144 S. Ct. 1889 (2024).
If the underlying conduct results in conviction for a Class A misdemeanor family-violence assault under § 22.01(a)(1), Tex. Penal Code § 46.04(b) imposes a five-year state possession bar, and 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) imposes a federal lifetime prohibition. Those survive the protective order's expiration.
Texas protective orders can produce same-day, ex parte, in-court firearm prohibitions. That makes them functionally similar to an ERPO temporary order. But each route requires its statutory predicate. Family Code Ch. 85 and art. 17.292 require family violence under Tex. Fam. Code § 71.004 - bodily injury, threats, or assault between family or household members. Ch. 7B requires sexual assault, stalking, indecent assault, or trafficking. A neighbor, classmate, coworker, or unrelated friend who is alarmed by a person's behavior cannot, without one of these predicates, obtain a Texas civil order that removes firearms. Generalized "danger to self" - including credible suicide risk - is not within the protective-order statutes. A spouse worried her husband will use a firearm to kill himself, with no act of family violence against her, has no Texas civil-protective-order route. The available tools are voluntary surrender and Pathway 1.
Texas ERPO bills filed across recent sessions follow the structure used in Florida, Indiana, and Michigan: petition by family/household member or law enforcement; probable cause for an ex parte order (typically 14 days); preponderance or clear-and-convincing evidence for a final order (typically up to one year, renewable); surrender of firearms and suspension of LTC; right to counsel and hearing within a fixed window. None of this is current Texas law. The bills have not advanced past committee. Do not represent that Texas has a "red flag" or "ERPO" mechanism, even informally.
Texas has not enacted ERPO-specific full-faith-and-credit legislation. A Texan subject to an out-of-state ERPO is NOT automatically prohibited under Tex. Penal Code § 46.04 by virtue of that order alone - § 46.04(c) lists protective orders issued under specific Texas statutes, and Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 88 covers family-violence orders, not ERPOs. The person may still be federally prohibited if the out-of-state order satisfies § 922(g)(8), though most out-of-state ERPOs do NOT, because they are not against an "intimate partner" or child. Out-of-state ERPOs do appear on NICS, and DPS may deny or revoke an LTC under § 411.172(a) on background-check grounds even if § 46.04 does not directly list the order. Do NOT tell clients moving to Texas with an active ERPO that "the order does not follow you" - federal prohibitions can follow, NICS will see it, and DPS LTC eligibility analysis is broader than § 46.04.
If a student was apprehended under § 573.001 and released without going to court, ask whether a § 574.034 / § 574.035 order was ever entered. If no court order, no federal § 922(g)(4) prohibition has attached. Any firearm seized under § 573.001(h) is governed by Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 18.191 disposition.
If a student is served with a Magistrate's Order for Emergency Protection at arraignment, the § 46.04(c) prohibition starts at NOTICE - service in court - not at any later hearing. Counsel them to surrender promptly to a friend or family member who is not a household member of the protected party, or to a federally licensed dealer. Texas has no statutory surrender-timeline analog requiring delivery within a fixed period, so surrender practice is jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction. Do not allow the firearm to remain in a residence the protected party can access.
If a household member is at risk to themselves but has not committed family violence and is not committable under § 574.034, the available state-law tools may not reach the situation. The federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 funds state ERPO implementation but does NOT create federal authority to seek an ERPO. Outside § 573.001 and the protective-order routes, the options are voluntary surrender, voluntary commitment, and persuasion.
If a client was committed under Ch. 574 and wants to lawfully repossess firearms, the path is § 574.088. A successful order is reported to NICS through Texas's NIAA program; once reported, NICS will return a proceed.
If a client was convicted of a Class A misdemeanor family-violence assault under § 22.01(a)(1), § 46.04(b) imposes a five-year state bar and 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) imposes a federal LIFETIME bar. The federal bar survives the state five-year bar; there is no Texas mechanism to lift § 922(g)(9).
Do NOT teach students that Texas "has" a red flag law, or that the protective-order or commitment pathways equal an ERPO. They are predicate-bound tools that produce ERPO-like consequences only when the predicates are met.
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