Owning a gun in Texas with a domestic violence charge is legally possible while the case is pending, but only if nothing else in the case restricts you. A charge by itself doesn’t trigger either the federal or the Texas firearm ban, both of which require a conviction. What usually trips people up are the other things that come with a domestic violence case: bond conditions, protective orders, and the eventual outcome if the charge sticks.
A Charge Is Not a Conviction
Federal law prohibits firearm possession for anyone “convicted” of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Texas Penal Code 46.04 uses the same “convicted” language.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm An arrest and a filed charge don’t meet that threshold.
That doesn’t mean you’re free to keep carrying. Judges routinely set bond conditions in domestic violence cases that bar firearm possession while the case is open, and violating a bond condition can get your bond revoked and new charges filed. Courts also commonly issue protective orders alongside the criminal case, and an active qualifying protective order triggers its own firearm ban under both federal and Texas law, which is covered below. So the practical answer for many people with a pending charge is that they can’t lawfully possess a firearm even though no conviction yet exists.
If You’re Convicted: Texas Rules
Texas Penal Code 46.04 sets different timelines depending on the level of the offense. A Class A misdemeanor assault involving a family or household member blocks firearm possession for five years after you’re released from confinement or community supervision, whichever comes later.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm After that five-year window closes, Texas no longer prohibits possession.
For a felony conviction, Texas uses a two-phase rule. During the first five years after you finish confinement or supervision, you can’t possess a firearm anywhere. After five years, you can possess a firearm, but only at the premises where you live.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm Taking that gun off the property puts you back in violation.
If You’re Convicted: Federal Rules
Federal law reaches further. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(9), anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in any court is banned from possessing a firearm or ammunition.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The federal definition covers offenses involving the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, where the victim was a current or former spouse, a parent or guardian, someone who shares a child with the offender, a cohabitant, or a person in a dating relationship.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions
For most qualifying convictions the federal ban is permanent. Congress carved out a narrow exception for dating-relationship convictions: if you have only one such conviction, five years have passed since the later of the conviction or completion of your sentence, and you aren’t otherwise prohibited, the federal ban lifts automatically.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence That exception doesn’t apply when the victim was a spouse, family member, cohabitant, or co-parent.
A felony conviction brings in a separate federal prohibition on possession by anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Most Frequently Asked Firearms Questions and Answers That ban is permanent and runs alongside the domestic violence provisions.
Why Texas and Federal Timelines Collide
The five-year Texas misdemeanor window does not end the federal ban. The Texas State Law Library states directly that federal law does not permit the five-year restoration Texas law provides.6Texas State Law Library. Firearms – Restrictions After a Criminal Conviction Picking up a firearm the day after your Texas restriction ends can still be a federal crime, and federal prosecutors do bring those cases.
The same mismatch exists for the Texas home-only rule for felons. Federal law doesn’t recognize it. A person with a felony conviction who keeps a gun at home under the Texas carve-out is still exposed to federal prosecution.
Protective Orders as a Separate Trigger
An active protective order creates a firearm ban that doesn’t depend on any conviction. Under federal law, you can’t possess a firearm or ammunition while subject to a qualifying court order. The order qualifies if it was issued after a hearing you had notice of and an opportunity to attend, it restrains you from threatening or harassing an intimate partner or child, and it either includes a finding that you pose a credible threat to the physical safety of that person or an explicit prohibition on using physical force against them.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The Supreme Court upheld this prohibition in United States v. Rahimi in 2024.7Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Rahimi, No. 22-915
Texas layers on its own rule. Under Penal Code 46.04(c), possessing a firearm after receiving notice of a protective order and before the order expires is a criminal offense.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm Texas Family Code 85.022 lets courts prohibit firearm possession in family-violence protective orders and requires courts to suspend any license to carry held by a person found to have committed family violence.8State of Texas. Texas Family Code 85.022 – Requirements of Order Applying to Person Who Committed Family Violence
Guns in Your Home That Aren’t Yours
Texas courts recognize constructive possession, which means you can be charged with possessing a firearm you don’t own and aren’t holding. If prosecutors can show you knew about a gun in your home and had the ability to exercise control over it, that’s enough. A rifle in an unlocked closet or a handgun in a shared nightstand can qualify even if it belongs to your spouse or roommate.
If you’re prohibited and other people in your household own firearms, you need those firearms secured so that you genuinely cannot access them, stored at a separate location, or transferred out of the house. Saying the gun belongs to someone else is not a reliable defense when you had access to it.
Penalties for Illegal Possession
Under federal law, violating the protective order prohibition carries up to ten years in federal prison.9Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Protection Orders and Federal Firearms Prohibitions Repeat violent offenders face a mandatory minimum of fifteen years under the armed career criminal enhancement.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
Under Texas law, a convicted felon caught with a firearm faces a third-degree felony punishable by two to ten years in state prison. Possession in violation of the misdemeanor domestic violence ban or a protective order is a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 46.04 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm The same conduct can draw both state and federal charges.
Getting Firearm Rights Back
The Texas misdemeanor restriction expires on its own after the five-year waiting period. No application or court order is needed. The Texas felony restriction eases after five years to allow home possession only. Beyond that, full Texas restoration is essentially limited to people who have received a governor’s pardon and then applied to the Board of Pardons and Paroles for firearm rights restoration, which the board considers only in extreme and unusual circumstances.11Texas State Law Library. Criminal Convictions and Firearms – Reentry Resources for Former Offenders
Federal law is harder. The statute says a conviction doesn’t count as a qualifying misdemeanor crime of domestic violence if it has been expunged, set aside, or pardoned, or if civil rights have been restored, unless the expungement or pardon specifically says you still can’t possess firearms.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions For dating-relationship convictions the federal ban lifts automatically after five years if you have only one such conviction and no other disqualifying offense.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence For everyone else, the realistic options are a presidential or governor’s pardon or getting the conviction expunged or set aside under state law.