HBA-BSM, AMW C.S.H.B. 1796 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1796 By: Flores Criminal Jurisprudence 4/12/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There have been numerous recent instances of gun tragedies involving minors in the United States. During 1997, 4,223 children and teenagers were killed by firearms. Under current law, the penalty for making a firearm accessible to a child is a Class C misdemeanor. In an effort to provide a stronger deterrent against adults allowing children access to firearms, C.S.H.B. 1976 increases the penalty to a Class A misdemeanor offense for making a loaded firearm accessible to children, and in such cases that result in death or serious injury, the punishment is increased to a state jail felony. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1796 amends the Penal Code to increase the penalty from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor for the offense of making a firearm accessible to a child, and increases the penalty for this offense from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony if the child discharges the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury to the child or another person. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1796 differs from the original bill by providing that the penalty for the offense of making a firearm accessible to a child is a Class A misdemeanor, rather than a state jail felony. The substitute also differs from the original bill by providing that the penalty for this offense is a state jail felony, rather than a third degree felony, if the child discharges the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury to the child or another person.