By Burnam H.B. No. 200
76R733 JMC-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the prosecution of and the punishment for the offense
1-3 of unlawful transfer of certain weapons.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 46.06(a), (c), and (d), Penal Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
1-8 (1) sells, rents, leases, loans, or gives a firearm
1-9 [handgun] to any person knowing that the person to whom the firearm
1-10 [handgun] is to be delivered intends to use it unlawfully or in the
1-11 commission of an unlawful act;
1-12 (2) intentionally or knowingly sells, rents, leases,
1-13 or gives or offers to sell, rent, lease, or give to any child
1-14 younger than 18 years any firearm, club, or illegal knife;
1-15 (3) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly sells a
1-16 firearm or ammunition for a firearm to any person who is
1-17 intoxicated;
1-18 (4) knowingly sells a firearm or ammunition for a
1-19 firearm to any person who has been convicted of a felony before the
1-20 fifth anniversary of the later of the following dates:
1-21 (A) the person's release from confinement
1-22 following conviction of the felony; or
1-23 (B) the person's release from supervision under
1-24 community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision following
2-1 conviction of the felony;
2-2 (5) sells, rents, leases, loans, or gives a handgun to
2-3 any person knowing that an active protective order is directed to
2-4 the person to whom the handgun is to be delivered; or
2-5 (6) knowingly purchases, rents, leases, or receives as
2-6 a loan or gift from another a handgun while an active protective
2-7 order is directed to the actor.
2-8 (c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
2-9 Subsection (a)(2) that the transfer, unless the transfer is by
2-10 sale, rent, or lease, was to a minor whose parent or the person
2-11 having legal custody of the minor had given [written permission for
2-12 the sale or, if the transfer was other than a sale, the parent or
2-13 person having legal custody had given] effective consent for the
2-14 transfer.
2-15 (d) An offense under Subsection (a)(1) is a felony of the
2-16 third degree. An offense under Subsection (a)(2) [this section] is
2-17 a Class A misdemeanor, except that the [an] offense [under
2-18 Subsection (a)(2)] is a [state jail] felony of the third degree if
2-19 the weapon that is the subject of the offense is a firearm
2-20 [handgun]. An offense under Subsection (a)(3), (4), (5), or (6) is
2-21 a Class A misdemeanor.
2-22 SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
2-23 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
2-24 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
2-25 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
2-26 before that date.
2-27 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-1 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-2 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-3 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-4 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.