| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to prohibiting carrying a firearm while intoxicated; |
|
|
creating an offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 46, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 46.025 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 46.025. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF FIREARM WHILE |
|
|
INTOXICATED. (a) A person commits an offense if, while |
|
|
intoxicated, the person carries a firearm, including a handgun or |
|
|
long gun, in a public place. |
|
|
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor. |
|
|
(c) This section does not apply to a special investigator |
|
|
under Article 2.122, Code of Criminal Procedure, or a peace officer |
|
|
regardless of whether the special investigator or peace officer is |
|
|
engaged in the actual discharge of the investigator's or officer's |
|
|
duties while carrying the firearm. |
|
|
(d) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section |
|
|
that the actor carried a handgun under the authority of Subchapter |
|
|
H, Chapter 411, Government Code. |
|
|
(e) In this section, "intoxicated" has the meaning assigned |
|
|
by Section 49.01. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 411.186(a), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) The department shall revoke a license under this section |
|
|
if the license holder: |
|
|
(1) was not entitled to the license at the time it was |
|
|
issued; |
|
|
(2) made a material misrepresentation or failed to |
|
|
disclose a material fact in an application submitted under this |
|
|
subchapter; |
|
|
(3) subsequently becomes ineligible for a license |
|
|
under Section 411.172, unless the sole basis for the ineligibility |
|
|
is that the license holder is charged with the commission of a Class |
|
|
A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or of an offense |
|
|
under Section 42.01, Penal Code, or equivalent offense, or of a |
|
|
felony under an information or indictment; |
|
|
(4) is convicted of an offense under Section 46.025 or |
|
|
46.035, Penal Code; |
|
|
(5) is determined by the department to have engaged in |
|
|
conduct constituting a reason to suspend a license listed in |
|
|
Section 411.187(a) after the person's license has been previously |
|
|
suspended twice for the same reason; or |
|
|
(6) submits an application fee that is dishonored or |
|
|
reversed if the applicant fails to submit a cashier's check or money |
|
|
order made payable to the "Department of Public Safety of the State |
|
|
of Texas" in the amount of the dishonored or reversed fee, plus $25, |
|
|
within 30 days of being notified by the department that the fee was |
|
|
dishonored or reversed. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 411.198(b), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under Section 46.025 or |
|
|
46.035, Penal Code, that the actor, at the time of the commission of |
|
|
the offense, was the holder of an alias license issued under this |
|
|
section. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 411.206(c), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) Any judgment of conviction entered by any court for an |
|
|
offense under Section 46.025 or 46.035, Penal Code, committed by a |
|
|
license holder must contain the handgun license number of the |
|
|
convicted license holder. A certified copy of the judgment is |
|
|
conclusive and sufficient evidence to justify revocation of a |
|
|
license under Section 411.186(a)(4). |
|
|
SECTION 5. Section 46.035(d), Penal Code, is repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
|
|
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
|
|
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
|
|
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
|
|
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
|
|
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
|
|
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
|
|
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |