By Dear                                                H.B. No. 229
       74R743 GWK-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the prosecution of the offense of unlawfully carrying
    1-3  weapons.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 46.02, Penal Code, is amended by amending
    1-6  Subsection (b) and by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
    1-7        (b)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
    1-8  the actor was, at the time of the commission of the offense:
    1-9              (1)  in the actual discharge of his official duties as
   1-10  a member of the armed forces or state military forces as defined by
   1-11  Section 431.001, Government Code, or as a guard employed by a penal
   1-12  institution;
   1-13              (2)  on his own premises or premises under his control
   1-14  unless he is an employee or agent of the owner of the premises and
   1-15  his primary responsibility is to act in the capacity of a security
   1-16  guard to protect persons or property, in which event he must comply
   1-17  with Subdivision (5);
   1-18              (3)  traveling;
   1-19              (4)  engaging in lawful hunting, fishing, or other
   1-20  sporting activity on the immediate premises where the activity is
   1-21  conducted, or was directly en route between the premises and the
   1-22  actor's residence, if the weapon is a type commonly used in the
   1-23  activity; or
   1-24              (5)  a person who holds a security officer commission
    2-1  issued by the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private
    2-2  Security Agencies, if:
    2-3                    (A)  he is engaged in the performance of his
    2-4  duties as a security officer or traveling to and from his place of
    2-5  assignment;
    2-6                    (B)  he is wearing a distinctive uniform; and
    2-7                    (C)  the weapon is in plain view<; or>
    2-8              <(6)  a peace officer, other than a person commissioned
    2-9  by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy>.
   2-10        (g)  This section does not apply to a peace officer, other
   2-11  than a person commissioned by the State Board of Pharmacy.
   2-12        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   2-13        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-14  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-15  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-16  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-17  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.