TSRA-Backed Bills to Protect Foster Family Privacy Advancing in Texas Legislature
Senate Bill 1524 by Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) won initial passage in the Texas Senate on Monday on a 22-9 vote! SB 1524 prohibits state and child placement agencies from requiring foster parents to disclose specific types of firearms and to report any newly-acquired or relinquished guns in the household. TSRA does not oppose foster parents being asked to disclose whether they own firearms, but we do object to them being required to provide specific descriptions or a registry of lawfully-owned guns to a state or child placement agency.
Ensuring foster parents are not required to provide a registry of firearms present in their home could reduce barriers to fostering for some families. The concept for this legislation grew in part from a prospective foster family who contacted TSRA in advance of the Session, upset that they would have to provide such detailed information about firearms they owned to the state. Laws and regulations remain on the books to ensure firearms safety in Texas foster homes.
Ensuring foster parents are not required to provide a registry of firearms present in their home could reduce barriers to fostering for some families. The concept for this legislation grew in part from a prospective foster family who contacted TSRA in advance of the Session, upset that they would have to provide such detailed information about firearms they owned to the state. Laws and regulations remain on the books to ensure firearms safety in Texas foster homes.
We thank Senator Middleton and his Capitol office staff for working hard to pass this important bill through the Texas Senate this session!
Late last week, the House Committee on Human Services reported out House Bill 1403 by Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine), legislation nearly identical to SB 1524. As a pro-Second Amendment foster parent himself, this has been a passion project of Representative Harris’ for two legislative sessions now. As he explained while presenting the measure to the committee, he personally knows of two qualified families in his district who abandoned the foster licensing process because they would have been required to submit a list of all the firearms they own – including make, model, and serial number – to a state vendor.
We appreciate Representative Harris and his office’s leadership on this legislation, and we are working with him to get this bill across the goal line in 2025!
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Article by TSRA PAC Legislative Team
May 5, 2025
May 5, 2025