What does the U.S. Supreme Court's Second Amendment decision in District of Columbia v. Heller mean for Texas weapons offenses? Absolutely nothing.
The District of Columbia bans ownership of all handguns and requires registration and licensing of all firearms kept in a person's home. Heller applied for a license to keep a handgun in his home and was denied. Heller then sued, claiming the handgun ban and the licensing restrictions violated his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The Supremes agreed -- but only to a point.
The Supremes held that there is a Second Amendment right for individuals to keep and bear arms that is unconnected to service in a militia. They further held that banning an entire class a weapons that is traditionally kept in the home for self-defense infringes on that individual right. However, the Supremes pointed out that the Second Amendment does not keep States from regulating weapons in a variety of ways. Ways in which a state could legally regulate weapons, the Court said, would include banning possession of weapons by convicted felons and the mentally ill, restricting the carrying of weapons in public places and "sensitive areas" (such as churches or schools), placing limits on the ability to carrying concealed weapons, prohibiting the possession of certain types of weapons thar are not traditionally used for self-defense, and imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of weapons.
The Court further went out of its way not to address the legality of the D.C. licensing and registration requirements, but simply let them stand. Texas currently does not have a ban on the possession of handguns in the home, or on any other weapon that the Supremes would consider to be "traditionally used for self-defense." And the current Texas restrictions on carrying weapons in public and requirements for conceal carry permits look like they would pass constitutional muster under this decision. Anyone out there who was hoping for any wholesale change in Texas weapons law from this decision wil find Heller very disappointing.