BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 485

By: Davis, Sarah

Homeland Security & Public Safety

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note that reserve peace officers often face life-threatening situations similar to those faced by active duty peace officers and consequently should be governed by the same concealed handgun license eligibility laws as active duty officers and provided the same license fee discounts. C.S.H.B. 485 seeks to remedy this discrepancy in the treatment of reserve and active duty peace officers and additionally to extend the peace officer license fee discounts to honorably discharged veterans of the United States military.

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

C.S.H.B. 485 amends the Government Code to require an applicant for a license to carry a concealed handgun who is a veteran who, more than 365 days preceding the date of the application, was honorably discharged from the branch of the military in which the applicant served to pay a fixed fee of $25 for the issuance of an original or renewed license. The bill removes the requirement that the Department of Public Safety reduce by 50 percent any fee required for the issuance of an original or renewed license to such a veteran applicant. The bill removes the requirement that a person employed as a peace officer by a law enforcement agency be employed full-time to be eligible to apply for a concealed handgun license.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 485 differs from the original only by amending the caption.