H.B. 878 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


H.B. 878
By: Hupp
Criminal Jurisprudence
Committee Report (Unamended)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The 74th Legislature passed the concealed handgun law and at the time
rejected floor amendments that banned carrying by license holders in
public buildings.  A recent attorney general opinion states that the power
to regulate firearms on certain property or premises, except as otherwise
provided by federal law, is granted solely to the state legislature, not
to political subdivisions.  In recent years, a variety of political
subdivisions have implemented ordinances, policies, or rules to prohibit
the licensed carrying of handguns onto property or premises under control
of that entity.  House Bill 878 attempts to clarify the law by amending
Sections 30.05 and 30.06 of the Penal Code so that the governmental
entities' posting of signs that ban firearms and its' prohibiting the
carrying of a handgun onto its' property does not apply to concealed
handgun licensees. Concealed handgun licensees would still be prohibited
from carrying a handgun in the locations listed in 46.03 and 46.035 of the
Penal Code. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or
institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 878 amends Sections 30.05 and 30.06 of the Penal Code to
clarify that persons who are carrying a concealed handgun and are licensed
to do so under Subchapter H, Chapter 411 of the Government Code, may not
be prohibited entry onto property or land owned or leased by a
governmental entity on the basis that the person was prohibited from entry
because a handgun was forbidden, with the exception that license holders
are still prohibited from carrying handguns at the places noted in
Sections 46.03 and 46.035 of the Penal Code. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2003.