|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the application process for a license to carry a |
|
concealed handgun. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 411.175, Government Code, is repealed. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 411.172(a), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(a) A person is eligible for a license to carry a concealed |
|
handgun if the person: |
|
(1) is a legal resident of this state for the six-month |
|
period preceding the date of application under this subchapter or |
|
is otherwise eligible for a license under Section 411.173(a); |
|
(2) is at least 21 years of age; |
|
(3) has not been convicted of a felony; |
|
(4) is not charged with the commission of a Class A or |
|
Class B misdemeanor or an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code, |
|
or of a felony under an information or indictment; |
|
(5) is not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a |
|
Class A or Class B misdemeanor; |
|
(6) is not a chemically dependent person; |
|
(7) is not incapable of exercising sound judgment with |
|
respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun; |
|
(8) has not, in the five years preceding the date of |
|
application, been convicted of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or |
|
an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code; |
|
(9) is fully qualified under applicable federal and |
|
state law to purchase a handgun; |
|
(10) has not been finally determined to be delinquent |
|
in making a child support payment administered or collected by the |
|
attorney general; |
|
(11) has not been finally determined to be delinquent |
|
in the payment of a tax or other money collected by the comptroller, |
|
the tax collector of a political subdivision of the state, or any |
|
agency or subdivision of the state; |
|
(12) has not been finally determined to be in default |
|
on a loan made under Chapter 57, Education Code; |
|
(13) is not currently restricted under a court |
|
protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the |
|
spousal relationship, other than a restraining order solely |
|
affecting property interests; |
|
(14) has not, in the 10 years preceding the date of |
|
application, been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent |
|
conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony; and |
|
(15) has not made any material misrepresentation, or |
|
failed to disclose any material fact, in an application submitted |
|
pursuant to Section 411.174 [or in a request for application
|
|
submitted pursuant to Section 411.175]. |
|
SECTION 3. Section 411.176, Government Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
Sec. 411.176. REVIEW OF APPLICATION MATERIALS. (a) On |
|
receipt of [the] application materials by the department at its |
|
Austin headquarters, the department shall conduct the appropriate |
|
criminal history record check of the applicant through its |
|
computerized criminal history system. Not later than the 30th day |
|
after the date the department receives the application materials, |
|
the department shall forward the materials to the director's |
|
designee in the geographical area of the applicant's residence so |
|
that the designee may conduct the investigation described by |
|
Subsection (b). For purposes of this section, the director's |
|
designee may be a noncommissioned employee of the department. |
|
(b) The director's designee as needed shall conduct an |
|
additional criminal history record check of the applicant and an |
|
investigation of the applicant's local official records to verify |
|
the accuracy of the application materials. The director's designee |
|
may access any records necessary for purposes of this subsection. |
|
The scope of the record check and the investigation are at the sole |
|
discretion of the department, except that the director's designee |
|
shall complete the record check and investigation not later than |
|
the 60th day after the date the department receives the application |
|
materials. The department shall send a fingerprint card to the |
|
Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history |
|
check of the applicant. On completion of the investigation, the |
|
director's designee shall return all materials and the result of |
|
the investigation to the appropriate division of the department at |
|
its Austin headquarters. |
|
(c) The director's designee may submit to the appropriate |
|
division of the department, at the department's Austin |
|
headquarters, along with the application materials a written |
|
recommendation for disapproval of the application, accompanied by |
|
an affidavit stating personal knowledge or naming persons with |
|
personal knowledge of a ground for denial under Section 411.172. |
|
The director's designee [in the appropriate geographical area] may |
|
also submit the application and the recommendation that the license |
|
be issued. |
|
(d) On receipt at the department's Austin headquarters of |
|
the application materials and the result of the investigation by |
|
the director's designee, the department shall conduct any further |
|
record check or investigation the department determines is |
|
necessary if a question exists with respect to the accuracy of the |
|
application materials or the eligibility of the applicant, except |
|
that the department shall complete the record check and |
|
investigation not later than the 180th day after the date the |
|
department receives the application materials from the applicant. |
|
SECTION 4. Section 411.177(b), Government Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(b) The department shall, not later than the 60th day after |
|
the date of the receipt by the director's designee of the completed |
|
application materials: |
|
(1) issue the license; |
|
(2) notify the applicant in writing that the |
|
application was denied: |
|
(A) on the grounds that the applicant failed to |
|
qualify under the criteria listed in Section 411.172; |
|
(B) based on the affidavit of the director's |
|
designee submitted to the department under Section 411.176(c) |
|
[411.176(b)]; or |
|
(C) based on the affidavit of the qualified |
|
handgun instructor submitted to the department under Section |
|
411.189(c); or |
|
(3) notify the applicant in writing that the |
|
department is unable to make a determination regarding the issuance |
|
or denial of a license to the applicant within the 60-day period |
|
prescribed by this subsection and include in that notification an |
|
explanation of the reason for the inability and an estimation of the |
|
amount of time the department will need to make the determination. |
|
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act in repealing |
|
Section 411.175, Government Code, apply only to an application for |
|
the issuance of a license that is submitted to the Department of |
|
Public Safety on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
|
application submitted before the effective date of this Act is |
|
governed by the law in effect when the application was submitted, |
|
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |