By:  Bernsen                                          S.B. No. 1682
         99S0751/1                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to the offense of making a firearm accessible to a child.
 1-2           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-3           SECTION 1.  Section 46.13, Penal Code, is amended by amending
 1-4     Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
 1-5           (c)  It is a [an affirmative] defense to prosecution under
 1-6     this section that the child's access to the firearm:
 1-7                 (1)  was supervised by a person older than 16 [18]
 1-8     years of age [and was for hunting, sporting, or other lawful
 1-9     purposes];
1-10                 (2)  consisted of lawful defense by the child of people
1-11     or property;
1-12                 (3)  was gained by entering property in violation of
1-13     this code; or
1-14                 (4)  occurred during a time when the actor was engaged
1-15     in an agricultural enterprise.
1-16           (h)  It is an exception to the application of this section if
1-17     the firearm is a rifle or shotgun that is the property of the child
1-18     and that the child acquired with the consent of a parent or
1-19     guardian for the child's general use for hunting, sporting, and
1-20     other lawful purposes.
1-21           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-22     applies to all cases not finally adjudicated on or after the
1-23     effective date of this Act, including cases on appeal.
1-24           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.