Law expands gun rights for retired police

What it does

The bill lets retired and current police carry hidden guns in more places. These places are government buildings open to the public, school zones, and public transit property. Retired police can now get gun training from any trained instructor in their state. Before, they had to train through their old department.

Who it affects

Retired and current police officers can carry guns in more locations. People in schools, government buildings, and on public transit may see more armed officers.

One thing to notice

Each state can set its own rules for what makes an instructor trained. Training standards may differ from state to state.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

18 cosponsors: 17 Republicans, 1 Democrats.

• Mar 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Mar 21, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
• Mar 25, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Mar 25, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 13 - 11”
• May 14, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 229 - 193 (Roll no. 128).”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

9 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 15 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $3,539,548 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 29 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 89% of bills with any report.

Don Bacon, who sponsored the bill, received $518,000 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Union Pacific Corporation — $1,770,000 in 2 reports
• Bnsf Railway Company — $960,000 in 1 report
• National Association for Gun Rights — $429,548 in 2 reports
• National Fraternal Order of Police — $100,000 in 1 report
• Peace Officers Research Association of California — $100,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• hidden guns — Guns that a person carries on their body out of sight
• government buildings — Buildings owned and run by the U.S. government
• trained instructor — A teacher approved by the state to teach gun safety
• public transit — Buses, trains, and other transportation that anyone can use
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.