Bill Text: TX HB544 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the unlawful possession of a firearm by persons who are subject to certain judicial determinations; creating a criminal offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-20 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB544 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB544-Introduced.html
86R3322 JSC-D | ||
By: Nevárez | H.B. No. 544 |
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relating to the unlawful possession of a firearm by persons who are | ||
subject to certain judicial determinations; creating a criminal | ||
offense. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 46.04, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsections (b-1) and (h) and amending Subsection (e) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(b-1) A person commits an offense if the person possesses a | ||
firearm and at the time of the offense the person: | ||
(1) has been ordered by a court to receive inpatient | ||
mental health services under Chapter 574, Health and Safety Code; | ||
(2) has been acquitted in a criminal case by reason of | ||
insanity or lack of mental responsibility, regardless of whether | ||
the person was ordered by a court to receive inpatient treatment or | ||
residential care under Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure; | ||
(3) has been determined to be a person with an | ||
intellectual disability and has been committed by a court for | ||
long-term placement in a residential care facility under Chapter | ||
593, Health and Safety Code; | ||
(4) is an incapacitated adult for whom a court has | ||
appointed a guardian of the person under Title 3, Estates Code, | ||
based on a determination that the person lacks the mental capacity | ||
to manage the person's affairs; or | ||
(5) has been determined to be incompetent to stand | ||
trial under Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure. | ||
(e) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, | ||
except that an offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the third | ||
degree. [ |
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(h) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b-1) | ||
that at the time of the offense: | ||
(1) the person is the subject of a judicial order or | ||
finding that the person is no longer an incapacitated adult or is | ||
entitled to relief from disabilities under Section 574.088, Health | ||
and Safety Code; or | ||
(2) the person has obtained notice of relief from | ||
disabilities under 18 U.S.C. Section 925. | ||
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only | ||
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. | ||
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is | ||
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, | ||
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For | ||
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the | ||
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred | ||
before that date. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |