Bill Text: TX HB821 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the eligibility for a license to carry a handgun.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-10 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB821 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB821-Comm_Sub.html

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87R14701 JSC-F
By: White, et al. H.B. No. 821
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 821:
By: Hefner C.S.H.B. No. 821

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility for a license to carry a handgun.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. 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 for:
(A) a federal offense punishable by imprisonment
for a term exceeding one year, other than antitrust violations,
unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar
offenses relating to the regulation of business practices; or
(B) an offense under state law punishable by
imprisonment for a term of more than two years;
(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 on a controlled
substance [person];
(7) has not been involuntarily committed to a mental
institution or adjudicated as a mental defective [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;
[(9)] is not prohibited by [fully qualified under]
applicable federal or [and] state law from possessing a firearm [to
purchase a handgun];
(9) is not illegally or unlawfully in the United
States;
(10) has not been discharged from the United States
armed forces under dishonorable conditions;
(11) has not renounced the person's United States
citizenship;
(12) is not prohibited from possessing firearms for a
misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under Section 46.04(b),
Penal Code, or 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(9);
(13) [(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 prohibited from possessing a
firearm [restricted] under:
(A) a [court] protective order issued under Title
4, Family Code, or Subchapter A or B, Chapter 7B, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(B) a protective order issued by another
jurisdiction as provided by Chapter 88, Family Code; or
(C) a magistrate's order for emergency
protection under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure
[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 2. Sections 411.186(a), (c), and (d), Government
Code, are 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]; or
(4) [is convicted of an offense under Section 46.035,
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 "Texas 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.
(c) A license holder whose license is revoked for a reason
listed in Subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3) [Subsections (a)(1)-(5)]
may reapply as a new applicant for the issuance of a license under
this subchapter after the second anniversary of the date of the
revocation if the cause for revocation does not exist on the date of
the second anniversary. If the cause for revocation exists on the
date of the second anniversary after the date of revocation, the
license holder may not apply for a new license until the cause for
revocation no longer exists and has not existed for a period of two
years.
(d) A license holder whose license is revoked under
Subsection (a)(4) [(a)(6)] may reapply for an original or renewed
license at any time, provided the application fee and a dishonored
payment charge of $25 is paid by cashier's check or money order made
payable to the "Texas Department of Public Safety."
SECTION 3. Sections 411.187(a) and (c), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall suspend a license under this
section if the license holder:
(1) is charged with the commission of an offense and,
if convicted of the offense, the person would be ineligible under
federal or state law to possess a firearm [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];
(2) fails to notify the department of a change of
address, name, or status as required by Section 411.181; or
(3) [commits an act of family violence and] is the
subject of an active protective order that causes the person to
become ineligible under federal or state law to possess a firearm
[rendered under Title 4, Family Code; or
[(4) is arrested for an offense involving family
violence or an offense under Section 42.072, Penal Code, and is the
subject of an order for emergency protection issued under Article
17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure].
(c) The department shall suspend a license under this
section:
(1) for 30 days, if the person's license is subject to
suspension for a reason listed in Subsection (a)(2)[, (3), or (4),
except as provided by Subdivision (2)];
(2) [for not less than one year and not more than three
years, if the person's license:
[(A) is subject to suspension for a reason listed
in Subsection (a), other than the reason listed in Subsection
(a)(1); and
[(B) has been previously suspended for the same
reason;
[(3)] until dismissal of the charges, if the person's
license is subject to suspension for the reason listed in
Subsection (a)(1); or
(3) [(4)] for the duration of or the period specified
by[:
[(A)] the protective order [issued under Title 4,
Family Code,] if the person's license is subject to suspension for
the reason listed in Subsection (a)(3) [(a)(5); or
[(B) the order for emergency protection issued under
Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, if the person's license
is subject to suspension for the reason listed in Subsection
(a)(6)].
SECTION 4. Section 411.201(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) An active judicial officer is eligible for a license to
carry a handgun under the authority of this subchapter. A retired
judicial officer is eligible for a license to carry a handgun under
the authority of this subchapter if the officer meets the
requirements under Section 411.172[:
[(1) has not been convicted of a felony;
[(2) has not, in the five years preceding the date of
application, been convicted of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or
equivalent offense;
[(3) is not charged with the commission of a Class A or
Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense or of a felony under an
information or indictment;
[(4) is not a chemically dependent person; and
[(5) is not a person of unsound mind].
SECTION 5. The following provisions of the Government Code
are repealed:
(1) Sections 411.171(2), (4), and (6);
(2) Section 411.1711;
(3) Sections 411.172(b), (b-1), (c), (d), (e), and
(f); and
(4) Section 411.206(c).
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
411.172 and 411.201, Government Code, apply only to an application
for the issuance, modification, or renewal of a license that is
submitted to the Department of Public Safety on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application submitted before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the application was submitted, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
411.186 and 411.187, Government Code, apply only to an
administrative or judicial determination concerning the revocation
or suspension of a license to carry a handgun that is made on or
after the effective date of this Act. An administrative or judicial
determination made before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the determination was
made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.