Bill Text: TX HB781 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to prohibiting the transfer of firearms other than handguns to certain recipients; creating a criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-28 - Referred to Community Safety, Select [HB781 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB781-Introduced.html
  88R2909 JCG-D
 
  By: Goodwin H.B. No. 781
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to prohibiting the transfer of firearms other than
  handguns to certain recipients; creating a criminal offense;
  increasing a criminal penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 46.06, Penal Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsections (c-1)
  and (c-2) to read as follows:
         (a)  A person commits an offense if the person:
               (1)  sells, rents, leases, loans, or gives a handgun to
  any person knowing that the person to whom the handgun is to be
  delivered intends to use it unlawfully or in the commission of an
  unlawful act;
               (2)  intentionally or knowingly sells, rents, leases,
  or gives or offers to sell, rent, lease, or give:
                     (A)  a [to any child younger than 18 years of age
  any firearm,] club, [or] location-restricted knife, or handgun to a
  child younger than 18 years of age; or
                     (B)  a firearm other than a handgun to a person
  younger than 21 years of age;
               (3)  intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly sells a
  firearm or ammunition for a firearm to any person who is
  intoxicated;
               (4)  knowingly sells a firearm or ammunition for a
  firearm to any person who has been convicted of a felony before the
  fifth anniversary of the later of the following dates:
                     (A)  the person's release from confinement
  following conviction of the felony; or
                     (B)  the person's release from supervision under
  community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision following
  conviction of the felony;
               (5)  sells, rents, leases, loans, or gives a handgun to
  any person knowing that an active protective order is directed to
  the person to whom the handgun is to be delivered;
               (6)  knowingly purchases, rents, leases, or receives as
  a loan or gift from another a handgun while an active protective
  order is directed to the actor; or
               (7)  while prohibited from possessing a firearm under
  state or federal law, knowingly makes a material false statement on
  a form that is:
                     (A)  required by state or federal law for the
  purchase, sale, or other transfer of a firearm; and
                     (B)  submitted to a [licensed] firearms dealer
  licensed under[, as defined by] 18 U.S.C. Section 923.
         (c)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
  Subsection (a)(2)(A) [(a)(2)] that the transfer was to a minor
  whose parent or the person having legal custody of the minor had
  given written permission for the sale or, if the transfer was other
  than a sale, the parent or person having legal custody had given
  effective consent.
         (c-1)  It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection
  (a)(2)(B) that the transfer of the firearm is necessary for the
  actual discharge of the recipient's official duties as a member of
  the armed forces or state military forces, as defined by Section
  437.001, Government Code.
         (c-2)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
  Subsection (a)(2)(B) that the firearm is transferred to a recipient
  who:
               (1)  is 18 years of age or older; and
               (2)  not more than one year before the date of the
  transfer, successfully completed a hunter education course
  described by Section 62.014, Parks and Wildlife Code.
         (d)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
  except that:
               (1)  an offense under Subsection (a)(2)(A) [(a)(2)] is
  a state jail felony if the weapon that is the subject of the offense
  is a handgun; and
               (2)  an offense under Subsection (a)(2)(B) or (a)(7) is
  a state jail felony.
         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, 2023.
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