By Uher                                               H.B. No. 2644
         76R5127 JMC-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the eligibility of a retired peace officer for a
 1-3     license to carry a concealed handgun.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Sections 411.199(a) and (c), Government Code, are
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  A person who is licensed as a peace officer under
 1-8     Chapter 415 and who has been employed full-time as a peace officer
 1-9     by a law enforcement agency may apply for a license under this
1-10     subchapter at any time after [on] retirement.  [The application
1-11     must be made not later than the first anniversary after the date of
1-12     retirement.]
1-13           (c)  The department may issue a license under this subchapter
1-14     to an applicant under this section if the applicant is honorably
1-15     retired and physically and emotionally fit to possess a handgun.
1-16     In this subsection, "honorably retired" means the applicant:
1-17                 (1)  did not retire in lieu of any disciplinary action;
1-18                 (2)  was eligible to retire from the law enforcement
1-19     agency or was ineligible to retire only as a result of an injury
1-20     received in the course of the applicant's employment with the
1-21     agency [employed as a full-time peace officer for not less than 10
1-22     years by one agency]; and
1-23                 (3)  is entitled to receive a pension or annuity for
1-24     service as a law enforcement officer or is not entitled to receive
 2-1     a pension or annuity only because the law enforcement agency that
 2-2     employed the applicant does not offer a pension or annuity to its
 2-3     employees.
 2-4           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
 2-5     to an application for a license to carry a concealed handgun made
 2-6     under Section 411.199, Government Code, as amended by this Act, on
 2-7     or after the effective date of this Act.  An application for a
 2-8     license to carry a concealed handgun made under Section 411.199,
 2-9     Government Code, before the effective date of this Act is covered
2-10     by the law in effect when the application was made, and the former
2-11     law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-12           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-13           SECTION 4.  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.