83R19455 SLB-F

By: Munoz, Jr., Guillen H.B. No. 801

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 801:

By: Pickett C.S.H.B. No. 801

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the discharge of a firearm across the property line of a school.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Section 62.0122 to read as follows:

Sec. 62.0122. HUNTER AWARENESS OF NEARBY SCHOOL. (a) In this section, "school" means a private or public elementary or secondary school.

(b) At the request of a school district, the Texas Department of Transportation shall:

(1) place signs in appropriate places along state or federal highways to alert hunters to the proximity of a school; and

(2) act jointly with municipalities and counties, as appropriate, to place signs along roadways maintained and operated by a municipality or county to alert hunters to the proximity of a school.

(c) A school district that requests a sign under Subsection (b) must pay the costs of the production and placement of the sign.

SECTION 2. Section 62.014, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:

(b) The department may establish and administer a statewide hunter education program. The program must include but is not limited to instruction concerning:

(1) the safe handling and use of firearms, archery equipment, and crossbows;

(2) wildlife conservation and management;

(3) hunting laws and applicable rules and regulations; and

(4) hunting safety and ethics, including landowners' rights and a hunter's personal responsibility as it applies to the discharge of a firearm.

(b-1) The department shall include, in a hunter education program established under this section, in any written or Internet-based information produced by the department for the public that relates to hunting, and in any curricular materials that relate to hunting, information on:

(1) awareness of school property and other surroundings and the danger of discharging a firearm across the property line of a school; and

(2) personal responsibility as it applies to the discharge of a firearm.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.