Bill Text: TX HB76 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-23 - Referred to Community Safety, Select [HB76 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB76-Introduced.html

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88R2429 EAS-D
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 76

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 411.056 to read as follows:
Sec. 411.056. 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 46.135,
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) [(5)] 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, 2023.