Fully automatic weapons are legal to own in Texas, but almost every rule you have to follow comes from federal law. You need a machine gun that was manufactured and registered before May 19, 1986, a $200 federal transfer tax paid to the ATF, approval of ATF Form 4, and no disqualifying history that would make you a prohibited person under federal law. Texas does not add a separate permit, registration, or inspection on top of that.
The 1986 Cutoff That Shapes Everything
The National Firearms Act of 1934 did not ban machine guns. It created a registration-and-tax system to track every transfer, and that system still governs civilian ownership today. The hard limit came in 1986. The Firearm Owners’ Protection Act and its Hughes Amendment banned the transfer or possession of any machine gun not lawfully possessed before May 19, 1986.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National Firearms Act
The practical result is a frozen supply. No newly manufactured machine guns can enter the civilian market, so the only ones you can legally buy are those already registered before that cutoff date. That scarcity drives prices far above what a comparable semi-automatic firearm would cost, and it is the single biggest reason this is a small, specialized corner of the firearms world.
Texas Law: Follow Federal Rules and You’re Covered
Texas Penal Code Section 46.05 makes possessing a machine gun a third-degree felony, punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The statute then creates an explicit exception: the prohibition does not apply if the machine gun is registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record maintained by the ATF.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.05 – Prohibited Weapons
If you satisfy the federal requirements, you satisfy Texas. The state imposes no additional application, no state tax stamp, and no inspection. Texas does not expand federal rights here either, so the ATF process is the entire path.
Who Can Qualify
You must be at least 21. Federal law bars licensed dealers from selling any firearm other than a rifle or shotgun to anyone under that age, and machine guns do not fall into those categories for this purpose.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts The ATF will also deny the transfer if your possession would violate any federal, state, or local law, which effectively means you cannot be a prohibited person under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).
You are barred from possessing any firearm, including a machine gun, if you:
- Have a felony conviction, meaning any crime punishable by more than one year in prison, whether or not you served time
- Are a fugitive from justice
- Use or are addicted to controlled substances
- Have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution or adjudicated as mentally defective
- Are under a qualifying domestic violence restraining order
- Have a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction
- Received a dishonorable discharge from the military
- Have renounced U.S. citizenship
- Are an unlawful noncitizen or, with limited exceptions, a nonimmigrant visa holder
Any of those will produce a denial, and attempting to take possession anyway is a separate federal crime.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
How the Transfer Actually Works
You start by finding a transferable pre-1986 machine gun, usually through an auction site or a dealer who specializes in NFA firearms. The sale must run through a Federal Firearms Licensee with Special Occupational Tax status. The buyer and dealer complete ATF Form 4, the Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm – ATF Form 4 (5320.4) The application requires passport-style photographs and fingerprint cards for every individual applicant, or for every responsible person if the transfer is going to a trust or other entity.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA eForm 1 Submission External Guidance
You pay a one-time $200 federal transfer tax with the Form 4. For machine guns, that $200 rate still applies in 2026. You also send a completed copy of the Form 4 to your local chief law enforcement officer, defined as the chief of police, sheriff, head of the state police, or a local district attorney. That is a notification, not a permission step. The CLEO does not have to approve anything.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 5320.4 – Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid)
Then you wait. The ATF conducts a background investigation before approving the transfer. Based on applications finalized in February 2026, electronic Form 4 submissions for individual applicants averaged about 10 days, trust submissions averaged 26 days, and paper submissions averaged roughly 21 to 24 days.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times High-volume periods or complex applications can push those timelines considerably longer. You cannot take possession until the approved Form 4 comes back with the tax stamp affixed.
What It Costs
The firearm itself is where the money goes. A rough budget:
- The firearm: typically $26,000 and up for an M16 variant, with rarer models and registered sears commanding $50,000 or more. A registered HK MP5 sear recently sold for $55,000.
- Federal transfer tax: $200
- Dealer transfer fee: typically $100 to $300
- NFA trust setup, if you use one: a few hundred dollars in most cases
Prices have climbed steadily since 1986 because no new supply can enter the market. What cost around $1,000 in the late 1980s can sell for thirty times that today.
Register as an Individual or Through a Trust
Many owners put their machine gun into an NFA trust instead of registering it to themselves personally. The main reason is shared legal possession. When a firearm is registered to you individually, no one else can lawfully possess it, not your spouse, not a friend at the range. Hand it to someone and walk away, and that person is technically in violation of federal law. A trust can list multiple trustees who may each possess and use the firearm.
Trusts also smooth out inheritance. The firearms held by the trust skip probate, and a properly drafted trust can continue after the original owner’s death so the successor trustee takes over without a fresh transfer application. The tradeoff is paperwork: every responsible person on the trust must submit photographs and fingerprints with each ATF application, so adding trustees adds work up front.
The Conversion Device Trap
Most people who get caught up in machine gun prosecutions are not collectors with sloppy paperwork. They are people who bought a cheap part online. The federal definition of “machine gun” covers any weapon that fires more than one round with a single trigger pull, but it also covers the frame or receiver of such a weapon, any part designed solely to convert a weapon into a machine gun, and even a collection of parts from which one could be assembled.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 5845 – Definitions
The ATF classifies devices commonly called switches, drop-in auto sears, lightning links, and swift links as machine guns.9U.S. Department of Justice. Machinegun Conversion Devices Possessing one without proper NFA registration carries the same penalties as possessing an unregistered machine gun, even if it is sitting loose in a drawer and never installed. A $30 “Glock switch” is treated identically to a $30,000 registered M16 for charging purposes.
Taking Your Machine Gun Out of Texas
You cannot simply drive your machine gun to another state. Federal law requires written prior authorization from the ATF before transporting a machine gun in interstate commerce.10Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transport Interstate or to Temporarily Export Certain NFA Firearms You file ATF Form 5320.20, which identifies the firearm, the origin, the destination, and the purpose of travel, and you wait for approval before crossing the state line.
Keep your approved Form 4 with the firearm. Federal regulations require you to produce proof of registration if an ATF agent requests it.11Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Handbook – Chapter 12 – Recordkeeping Also check that the destination state allows machine gun possession at all. Not every state matches Texas on this, and arriving in a state that bans them turns your federally approved firearm into an immediate felony.
Penalties if You Get It Wrong
Violating any provision of the National Firearms Act, including possessing an unregistered machine gun, failing to pay the transfer tax, or making a false statement on an application, carries up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $10,000.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties Possessing a post-1986 machine gun that was never lawfully registered is a separate violation under 18 U.S.C. § 922(o).13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 924 – Penalties
Under Texas law, possessing a machine gun that is not properly registered with the ATF is a third-degree felony, punishable by two to ten years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a fine of up to $10,000.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.05 – Prohibited Weapons Federal and state charges are not mutually exclusive. Prosecutors can and do stack them when the facts support it.