June 12, 2026

Federal Gun Charges in Texas: What 922(g), ACCA, and Mandatory Minimums Really Mean for You

If federal agents just left your home, or if someone you love was arrested by the ATF or FBI and is now sitting in federal custody, you are probably terrified and searching for answers at an hour when no one else is awake. This article was written for you. It explains, in plain language, what a federal firearm charge under 18 U.S.C. §922(g) actually is, how it differs from a Texas state gun case, how much prison time it really carries, and what the next 48 hours should look like.

What Is 18 U.S.C. §922(g)?

Section 922(g) is the federal statute that makes it a crime for certain categories of people, called “prohibited persons,” to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate commerce. There are nine categories in total:

1. Anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison (felons)
2. Fugitives from justice
3. Unlawful users of, or persons addicted to, any controlled substance
4. Persons adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution
5. Non-citizens unlawfully in the United States, or admitted on most nonimmigrant visas
6. Persons dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces
7. Persons who have renounced their U.S. citizenship
8. Persons subject to certain qualifying domestic-violence restraining orders
9. Persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence

By far the most common version we see charged in the Southern District of Texas is §922(g)(1): felon in possession of a firearm. Under §922(g)(1), if you have been convicted of any offense punishable by more than one year in prison, federal law bans you from possessing a firearm or even a single round of ammunition for the rest of your life. There is no expiration date. There is no Texas-style cooldown period.

Crucially, after the Supreme Court’s decision in Rehaif v. United States, 588 U.S. 225 (2019), the prosecution must prove that you knew you belonged to one of the nine prohibited categories — for example, that you knew you had a felony conviction. The government does not, however, have to prove you knew federal law itself prohibited you.

Federal vs. Texas Gun Charges: Why the Difference Changes Everything

One of the most dangerous misconceptions we see in Houston is the belief that “Texas lets me have a gun at home five years after I finish my sentence, so I’m fine.” That is only half true. Texas Penal Code §46.04 does contain a five-year rule for state charges. Federal law does not. A prior felony triggers a federal lifetime ban regardless of what Texas says, and federal prosecutors can indict you the moment they find a firearm in your home, your car, or even your girlfriend’s apartment. (For a broader breakdown of how federal and state systems differ, see our guide on federal vs. state criminal charges in Texas.)

Here is the side-by-side we walk every new client through:

Factor

Texas Penal Code §46.04

Federal 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1)

Who it covers

Anyone with a Texas felony conviction

Anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year

How long the ban lasts

Five years after release from confinement, parole, or probation (with limited home-only rights thereafter)

Lifetime. The federal ban never expires.

Maximum prison sentence

Up to 10 years (third-degree felony)

Up to 15 years under 18 U.S.C. §924(a)(8) — or a 15-year mandatory minimum under the Armed Career Criminal Act

Court

Texas state district court

U.S. District Court (in Houston, the Southern District of Texas)

Parole available?

Yes

No. Federal sentences require approximately 85% to be served.

The practical consequence is simple: a case that might have been a probation-eligible state felony can, with one referral between the Harris County DA and an Assistant U.S. Attorney, become a federal indictment with years of mandatory prison time. That referral happens more often than most people realize, especially in cases involving ghost guns, machine gun conversion devices (so-called “Glock switches”), stolen firearms, or any connection to drug trafficking.

How Much Prison Time Does a 922(g) Charge Really Carry?

There are three numbers every 922(g) defendant needs to understand.

The statutory maximum is now 15 years. For decades, the maximum was 10 years under the prior version of 18 U.S.C. §924(a)(2). That changed when Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-159, §12004(d), 136 Stat. 1313, 1329), which created the new 18 U.S.C. §924(a)(8) and raised the maximum penalty for §922(g) and §922(d) violations from 10 to 15 years for any conduct occurring on or after June 25, 2022. If you are reading older articles online that still list “10 years” as the federal maximum, that information is out of date.

The Armed Career Criminal Act imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum. Under 18 U.S.C. §924(e), any defendant with three prior convictions for a “violent felony” or a “serious drug offense” — committed on occasions different from one another — faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years, with a maximum of life. No judge can go below that floor. Two recent Supreme Court decisions reshaped how ACCA is litigated:

• Wooden v. United States, 595 U.S. 360 (2022), narrowed what counts as “different occasions,” holding that multiple offenses committed in a single criminal episode (in Wooden, ten storage-unit burglaries on the same night) count as one occasion, not ten.
• Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821 (2024), held that a jury — not a judge — must find beyond a reasonable doubt that the prior offenses were committed on different occasions before the ACCA enhancement can apply.

The fight in an ACCA case is almost always about whether the prior convictions truly qualify as predicates and whether they were committed on separate occasions. Both questions are now more contestable than they were a few years ago.

The Sentencing Guidelines drive everything in between. The U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that, in fiscal year 2024, 97.7% of people convicted under §922(g) were sentenced to prison. The Guidelines section that applies, USSG §2K2.1, starts most §922(g)(1) defendants at a base offense level of 14 under §2K2.1(a)(6) and climbs to 20, 22, 24, or 26 depending on prior crimes of violence or controlled substance offenses, the type of firearm, and other factors. Enhancements are then added for things like a stolen firearm (§2K2.1(b)(4)), a high-capacity magazine (§2K2.1(b)(4)(B)), the number of guns involved (§2K2.1(b)(1)), or any connection to another felony offense (§2K2.1(b)(6)(B)). Those numbers, combined with your Criminal History Category, produce the advisory range the judge uses at sentencing. The average federal §922(g) sentence in fiscal year 2024 was approximately 71 months — and 199 months for defendants sentenced under ACCA.

“Possession” Is Not What Most People Think It Is

Many are shocked to learn that the federal government does not need to prove the gun was in your hand or your pocket. Federal law recognizes a concept called constructive possession: if you knowingly had the power and intent to exercise control over the firearm, you “possessed” it. That means a gun in a nightstand in a bedroom you share, a pistol in a glove compartment of a car you were driving, or a firearm stored in a closet you have access to can all support a 922(g) conviction. Constructive possession is also the weakest link in many government cases — and often the most fruitful area for defense.

The Second Amendment Landscape After Bruen and Rahimi

In June 2022, the Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), holding that gun regulations are constitutional only if they are consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Two years later, in United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024), the Court clarified that the government does not need to identify a “historical twin” to a modern firearm law, only a “relevantly similar” historical analogue.

Those decisions opened the door to a wave of as-applied challenges to §922(g)(1). The most prominent is Range v. Attorney General, 124 F.4th 218 (3d Cir. 2024) (en banc), in which the Third Circuit held that §922(g)(1) is unconstitutional as applied to a man whose only disqualifying conviction was a 1995 misdemeanor for making a false statement to obtain food stamps. Other circuits have reached different conclusions, and a circuit split is now squarely before the Supreme Court. For defendants with a single, old, nonviolent felony — particularly fraud, regulatory, or property offenses — a constitutional challenge is no longer a long-shot argument. It is something every careful defense attorney should evaluate at the outset of the case.

Defenses That Actually Work in Federal 922(g) Cases

No two cases are the same, and nothing here is a promise of any outcome, but in our experience the following defense angles are the ones that move real cases in the Southern District of Texas:

• Fourth Amendment suppression. If the agents searched a car, a home, or a person without a valid warrant or a recognized exception, the firearm may be suppressed — and a suppressed gun is often a dismissed case.
• Knowledge defenses under Rehaif. The government must prove you knew you belonged to a prohibited category. When prior records are ambiguous, or when the defendant completed a deferred-adjudication program, this element becomes contestable.
• Challenging constructive possession. If more than one person had access to the space where the gun was found, the government’s case can unravel at trial or in plea negotiations.
• As-applied Second Amendment challenges. After Bruen and Rahimi, defendants with nonviolent or remote prior convictions may have a viable constitutional defense that did not exist three years ago.
• ACCA predicate challenges. Because a single disqualified prior can mean the difference between a guideline sentence and a 15-year mandatory minimum, careful record review under Wooden and Erlinger is essential in any case where the government is eyeing the Armed Career Criminal Act.
• Guideline mitigation. Even when conviction is a foregone conclusion, strategic advocacy on §2K2.1 enhancements, criminal history calculations, and the §3553(a) factors routinely cuts years off a sentence.

What to Do in the First 48 Hours

If you or a loved one is under federal investigation or has just been arrested, three rules matter more than anything else in this article.

1. Do not talk to ATF or FBI agents. Agents are trained to sound friendly. Anything you say, including casual statements about where a gun came from or who owned it, will be written down in a 302 report and used against you.
2. Do not consent to searches. If agents ask for permission to look through your car, phone, or home, politely decline and ask whether they have a warrant.
3. Call a federal criminal defense attorney immediately. Federal cases move faster than state cases. The detention hearing is often within 72 hours of arrest, and the decisions made in that first week — proffer or no proffer, detention or release, early plea or motion practice — can shape the rest of the case.

How The Napier Law Firm Can Help

If you are facing a federal firearm charge in Houston, Richmond, or anywhere else in Texas, The Napier Law Firm offers a free confidential consultation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call (713) 470-4097 or visit our Federal Criminal Defense page to start the conversation today. The sooner you have an experienced advocate on your side, the more options you will have.