Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB4406 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R11121 PEP-D
2	2	By: Taylor H.B. No. 4406
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the application process for a license to carry a
8	8	concealed handgun.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 411.175, Government Code, is repealed.
11	11	SECTION 2. Section 411.172(a), Government Code, is amended
12	12	to read as follows:
13	13	(a) A person is eligible for a license to carry a concealed
14	14	handgun if the person:
15	15	(1) is a legal resident of this state for the six-month
16	16	period preceding the date of application under this subchapter or
17	17	is otherwise eligible for a license under Section 411.173(a);
18	18	(2) is at least 21 years of age;
19	19	(3) has not been convicted of a felony;
20	20	(4) is not charged with the commission of a Class A or
21	21	Class B misdemeanor or an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code,
22	22	or of a felony under an information or indictment;
23	23	(5) is not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a
24	24	Class A or Class B misdemeanor;
25	25	(6) is not a chemically dependent person;
26	26	(7) is not incapable of exercising sound judgment with
27	27	respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun;
28	28	(8) has not, in the five years preceding the date of
29	29	application, been convicted of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or
30	30	an offense under Section 42.01, Penal Code;
31	31	(9) is fully qualified under applicable federal and
32	32	state law to purchase a handgun;
33	33	(10) has not been finally determined to be delinquent
34	34	in making a child support payment administered or collected by the
35	35	attorney general;
36	36	(11) has not been finally determined to be delinquent
37	37	in the payment of a tax or other money collected by the comptroller,
38	38	the tax collector of a political subdivision of the state, or any
39	39	agency or subdivision of the state;
40	40	(12) has not been finally determined to be in default
41	41	on a loan made under Chapter 57, Education Code;
42	42	(13) is not currently restricted under a court
43	43	protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the
44	44	spousal relationship, other than a restraining order solely
45	45	affecting property interests;
46	46	(14) has not, in the 10 years preceding the date of
47	47	application, been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent
48	48	conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony; and
49	49	(15) has not made any material misrepresentation, or
50	50	failed to disclose any material fact, in an application submitted
51	51	pursuant to Section 411.174 [or in a request for application
52	52	submitted pursuant to Section 411.175].
53	53	SECTION 3. Section 411.176, Government Code, is amended to
54	54	read as follows:
55	55	Sec. 411.176. REVIEW OF APPLICATION MATERIALS. (a) On
56	56	receipt of [the] application materials by the department at its
57	57	Austin headquarters, the department shall conduct the appropriate
58	58	criminal history record check of the applicant through its
59	59	computerized criminal history system. Not later than the 30th day
60	60	after the date the department receives the application materials,
61	61	the department shall forward the materials to the director's
62	62	designee in the geographical area of the applicant's residence so
63	63	that the designee may conduct the investigation described by
64	64	Subsection (b). For purposes of this section, the director's
65	65	designee may be a noncommissioned employee of the department.
66	66	(b) The director's designee as needed shall conduct an
67	67	additional criminal history record check of the applicant and an
68	68	investigation of the applicant's local official records to verify
69	69	the accuracy of the application materials. The director's designee
70	70	may access any records necessary for purposes of this subsection.
71	71	The scope of the record check and the investigation are at the sole
72	72	discretion of the department, except that the director's designee
73	73	shall complete the record check and investigation not later than
74	74	the 60th day after the date the department receives the application
75	75	materials. The department shall send a fingerprint card to the
76	76	Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history
77	77	check of the applicant. On completion of the investigation, the
78	78	director's designee shall return all materials and the result of
79	79	the investigation to the appropriate division of the department at
80	80	its Austin headquarters.
81	81	(c) The director's designee may submit to the appropriate
82	82	division of the department, at the department's Austin
83	83	headquarters, along with the application materials a written
84	84	recommendation for disapproval of the application, accompanied by
85	85	an affidavit stating personal knowledge or naming persons with
86	86	personal knowledge of a ground for denial under Section 411.172.
87	87	The director's designee [in the appropriate geographical area] may
88	88	also submit the application and the recommendation that the license
89	89	be issued.
90	90	(d) On receipt at the department's Austin headquarters of
91	91	the application materials and the result of the investigation by
92	92	the director's designee, the department shall conduct any further
93	93	record check or investigation the department determines is
94	94	necessary if a question exists with respect to the accuracy of the
95	95	application materials or the eligibility of the applicant, except
96	96	that the department shall complete the record check and
97	97	investigation not later than the 180th day after the date the
98	98	department receives the application materials from the applicant.
99	99	SECTION 4. Section 411.177(b), Government Code, is amended
100	100	to read as follows:
101	101	(b) The department shall, not later than the 60th day after
102	102	the date of the receipt by the director's designee of the completed
103	103	application materials:
104	104	(1) issue the license;
105	105	(2) notify the applicant in writing that the
106	106	application was denied:
107	107	(A) on the grounds that the applicant failed to
108	108	qualify under the criteria listed in Section 411.172;
109	109	(B) based on the affidavit of the director's
110	110	designee submitted to the department under Section 411.176(c)
111	111	[411.176(b)]; or
112	112	(C) based on the affidavit of the qualified
113	113	handgun instructor submitted to the department under Section
114	114	411.189(c); or
115	115	(3) notify the applicant in writing that the
116	116	department is unable to make a determination regarding the issuance
117	117	or denial of a license to the applicant within the 60-day period
118	118	prescribed by this subsection and include in that notification an
119	119	explanation of the reason for the inability and an estimation of the
120	120	amount of time the department will need to make the determination.
121	121	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act in repealing
122	122	Section 411.175, Government Code, apply only to an application for
123	123	the issuance of a license that is submitted to the Department of
124	124	Public Safety on or after the effective date of this Act. An
125	125	application submitted before the effective date of this Act is
126	126	governed by the law in effect when the application was submitted,
127	127	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
128	128	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.