Texas Senate bill by Sen. Paxton details handgun license eligibility for judicial officers

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Angela Paxton seeks to clarify which active and retired judicial officers qualify for a handgun license, aiming to define eligibility criteria within the Texas Government Code, according to the Texas Legislature website.

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

Meanwhile, in the House, 22 Democrats and 83 Republicans voted in favor, while 33 Democrats voted against it.

Angela Paxton introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Friday, Jan. 24, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Paxton graduated from Baylor University with a BS.

Paxton, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2019 to represent the state’s 8th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Van Taylor.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the issuance of a license to carry a handgun to certain active and retired judicial officers’.

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

In essence, this bill modifies the Texas Government Code to detail which active and retired judicial officers are eligible to be issued a license to carry a handgun. It defines “active judicial officer” as judges serving in various courts from the supreme court to municipal courts, including federal judges residing in Texas and associate judges under the Family Code. “Retired judicial officer” covers visiting judges, senior judges as well as retired federal judges residing in the state. The bill specifies that its changes apply only to offenses committed on or after its effective date, Sept. 1, 2025. Any offense committed before this date remains subject to the law as it was at that time.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Bob Hall (Republican – District 2).

The bill received its final legislative approval on Friday, May 23, 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.