Bill prefiling opened in Texas on November 9. Within 48 hours, Democrats had filed 23 gun control bills, according to The Texan. The NRA's Institute for Legislative Action put the count higher — 35 firearm-related bills targeting everything from purchase age limits to what amounts to a state gun registry.

The legislative session doesn't start until January 12.

RedState's Rusty Weiss detailed the opening salvo this week, and the specifics are worth the read. State Rep. Ann Johnson filed HB 218, which would create "extreme risk protective orders" — the polite legislative term for red flag laws that let a court seize your firearms based on someone else's petition. State Sen. Judith Zaffirini introduced SB 80 to restrict purchases of "assault weapons" for anyone under 21. State Rep. Suleman Lalani went further with HB 606, banning all firearm purchases for anyone under 21. And State Rep. Joe Moody filed HB 659, which would require the reporting of multiple gun and magazine purchases to the Texas Department of Public Safety and your local sheriff.

Chris McNutt, president of Texas Gun Rights, didn't dance around it. "Democrats campaigned on affordability. On day one, they filed gun confiscation instead."

On the reporting requirement specifically, McNutt was blunter: "Call it whatever you want. It's a gun registry, and registration is the first step to confiscation."

The filing blitz comes after Democrats swept Texas's statewide offices in the midterms, installing Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa — who told The New Yorker that "people should have a background check to carry a gun." That's the moderate version. The bills her party is filing suggest the opening position is considerably less moderate.

The firewall, for now, is the Texas Senate. Republicans held their majority there, and State Sen. Charles Schwertner made the stakes plain on election night, November 4: "Texas stands as long as the Texas Senate Republican caucus holds the line."

That's the math. A Democratic governor and House majority pushing 35 gun bills into a Republican Senate that has to block every single one. Not most. Every single one. Because HB 218 doesn't become less of a red flag law if HB 606 dies. SB 80 doesn't become less of an age restriction because the registry bill stalls. Each one is a standalone erosion.

The session hasn't started. The governor-elect hasn't been sworn in. And there are already more gun control bills prefiled in Texas than some blue states pass in a full term.

Thirty-five bills. Forty-eight hours. January 12 is nine weeks away.