88R12038 JSC-F

By: Dorazio H.B. No. 4663

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the age at which a person is eligible for a license to carry a handgun.

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

SECTION 1. Section 411.047(b), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Such statistics shall be drawn and reported annually from the Department of Public Safety computerized criminal history file on persons 18 [21] years of age and older and shall be compared in numerical and graphical format to all like offenses committed in the state for the reporting period as a percentage of the total of such reported offenses.

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 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 18 [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 equivalent offense, or of an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code, or equivalent offense, 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 or equivalent offense;

(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 equivalent offense or of an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code, or equivalent offense;

(9) is fully qualified under applicable federal and state law to possess [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) 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;

(13) 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

(14) has not made any material misrepresentation, or failed to disclose any material fact, in an application submitted pursuant to Section 411.174.

SECTION 3. Section 411.179(a), Government Code, as amended by Chapters 203 (H.B. 918), 383 (S.B. 1134), and 821 (H.B. 2675), Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(a) The department by rule shall adopt the form of the license. A license must include:

(1) a number assigned to the license holder by the department;

(2) a statement of the period for which the license is effective;

(3) a photograph of the license holder;

(4) the license holder's full name, date of birth, hair and eye color, height, weight, and signature;

(5) the license holder's residence address or, as provided by Subsection (d), the street address of the courthouse in which the license holder or license holder's spouse or parent serves as a federal judge or the license holder serves as a state judge;

(6) the number of a driver's license or an identification certificate issued to the license holder by the department;

(7) the designation "VETERAN" if required under Subsection (e); and

(8) any at-risk designation for which the license holder has established eligibility under Section 411.184

[(8) if applicable, a protective order designation under Section 411.1735].

SECTION 4. Section 411.205, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 411.205. REQUIREMENT TO DISPLAY LICENSE. If a license holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder display identification, the license holder shall display[:

[(1)] both the license holder's driver's license or identification certificate issued by the department and the license holder's handgun license[; and

[(2) if the license holder's handgun license bears a protective order designation, a copy of the applicable court order under which the license holder is protected].

SECTION 5. Sections 411.172(g), (h), and (i) and 411.1735, Government Code, are repealed.

SECTION 6. A handgun license that bears a protective order designation under former Section 411.1735, Government Code, as repealed by this Act, and that is valid on the effective date of this Act remains valid until the 22nd birthday of the license holder, regardless of whether the license holder continues to be protected under a protective order described by former Section 411.172(i), Government Code, as repealed by this Act. A license holder described by this subsection may apply for a handgun license that does not bear the protective order designation by using the renewal procedure under Section 411.185, Government Code, regardless of whether the license that bears the designation has expired or is about to expire.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.