Bill Text: TX HB1207 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to reporting the loss or theft of a firearm; creating a criminal offense.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-10 - Left pending in committee [HB1207 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB1207-Introduced.html
  86R5394 ADM-D
 
  By: Rodriguez H.B. No. 1207
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to reporting the loss or theft of a firearm; creating a
  criminal offense.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Article 42.0184 to read as follows:
         Art. 42.0184.  NOTICE OF FAILURE TO REPORT LOST OR STOLEN
  FIREARM. Not later than the fifth day after the date a person is
  convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication community
  supervision for an offense under Section 46.135, Penal Code, the
  clerk of the court in which the judgment of conviction or order of
  deferred adjudication community supervision is entered shall
  provide to the Department of Public Safety written notice of the
  conviction or deferred adjudication, including the following
  information as established by the record in the case:
               (1)  the name of the defendant and any available
  information about the firearm that was lost or stolen;
               (2)  the date that the defendant became aware the
  firearm was lost or stolen; and
               (3)  the date by which the defendant should have
  reported the loss or theft to a peace officer or law enforcement
  agency.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter D, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 411.055 to read as follows:
         Sec. 411.055.  REPORT TO DEPARTMENT OF LOST OR STOLEN
  FIREARM. (a) A peace officer who receives a report from the owner
  of a firearm or the owner's agent that the firearm was lost or
  stolen shall report the loss or theft to the department. The report
  must include the following information:
               (1)  the name of the owner and any available
  information about the firearm; and
               (2)  the date that the owner became aware the firearm
  was lost or stolen.
         (b)  The department shall maintain a report received under
  Subsection (a) or notice received under Article 42.0184, Code of
  Criminal Procedure, until the fifth anniversary of the date that
  the owner whose firearm is the subject of the report became aware
  the firearm was lost or stolen.
         SECTION 3.  Section 411.172(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  A person is eligible for a license to carry a handgun if
  the person:
               (1)  is a legal resident of this state for the six-month
  period preceding the date of application under this subchapter or
  is otherwise eligible for a license under Section 411.173(a);
               (2)  is at least 21 years of age;
               (3)  has not been convicted of a felony;
               (4)  is not charged with the commission of a Class A or
  Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or of an offense under
  Section 42.01, Penal Code, or equivalent offense, or of a felony
  under an information or indictment;
               (5)  is not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a
  Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense;
               (6)  is not a chemically dependent person;
               (7)  is not incapable of exercising sound judgment with
  respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun;
               (8)  has not, in the five years preceding the date of
  application, been convicted of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or
  equivalent offense, [or] of an offense under Section 42.01, Penal
  Code, or equivalent offense, or of an offense under Section 46.135,
  Penal Code;
               (9)  is fully qualified under applicable federal and
  state law to purchase a handgun;
               (10)  has not been finally determined to be delinquent
  in making a child support payment administered or collected by the
  attorney general;
               (11)  has not been finally determined to be delinquent
  in the payment of a tax or other money collected by the comptroller,
  the tax collector of a political subdivision of the state, or any
  agency or subdivision of the state;
               (12)  is not currently restricted under a court
  protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the
  spousal relationship, other than a restraining order solely
  affecting property interests;
               (13)  has not, in the 10 years preceding the date of
  application, been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent
  conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony; and
               (14)  has not made any material misrepresentation, or
  failed to disclose any material fact, in an application submitted
  pursuant to Section 411.174.
         SECTION 4.  Section 411.176(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  On receipt of application materials by the department at
  its Austin headquarters, the department shall conduct the
  appropriate criminal history record check of the applicant through
  its computerized criminal history system and shall review any
  records received under Article 42.0184, Code of Criminal Procedure,
  that concern the applicant. Not later than the 30th day after the
  date the department receives the application materials, the
  department shall forward the materials to the director's designee
  in the geographical area of the applicant's residence so that the
  designee may conduct the investigation described by Subsection (b).
  For purposes of this section, the director's designee may be a
  noncommissioned employee of the department.
         SECTION 5.  Section 411.186(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  The department shall revoke a license under this section
  if the license holder:
               (1)  was not entitled to the license at the time it was
  issued;
               (2)  made a material misrepresentation or failed to
  disclose a material fact in an application submitted under this
  subchapter;
               (3)  subsequently becomes ineligible for a license
  under Section 411.172, unless the sole basis for the ineligibility
  is that the license holder is charged with the commission of a Class
  A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or of an offense
  under Section 42.01, Penal Code, or equivalent offense, or of a
  felony under an information or indictment;
               (4)  is convicted of an offense under Section 46.035 or
  46.135, Penal Code;
               (5)  is determined by the department to have engaged in
  conduct constituting a reason to suspend a license listed in
  Section 411.187(a) after the person's license has been previously
  suspended twice for the same reason; or
               (6)  submits an application fee that is dishonored or
  reversed if the applicant fails to submit a cashier's check or money
  order made payable to the "Department of Public Safety of the State
  of Texas" in the amount of the dishonored or reversed fee, plus $25,
  within 30 days of being notified by the department that the fee was
  dishonored or reversed.
         SECTION 6.  Chapter 46, Penal Code, is amended by adding
  Section 46.135 to read as follows:
         Sec. 46.135.  FAILURE TO REPORT LOST OR STOLEN FIREARM. (a)
  A person commits an offense if the person:
               (1)  owns a firearm that is subsequently lost by or
  stolen from the person; and
               (2)  fails to report the loss or theft, or cause a
  report of the loss or theft to be made, to a peace officer or law
  enforcement agency on or before the fifth day after the date the
  person became aware the firearm was lost or stolen.
         (b)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
         (c)  If conduct constituting an offense under this section
  also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
  actor may be prosecuted under either section or under both
  sections.
         SECTION 7.  Sections 411.172(a)(8) and 411.186(a)(4),
  Government Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 46.135, Penal
  Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a firearm that is lost or
  stolen on or after the effective date of this Act. A firearm that
  was lost or stolen before the effective date of this Act is governed
  by the law in effect on the date the firearm was lost or stolen, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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