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.