Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB730 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Hegar, et al. S.B. No. 730
2	2	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 730:
3	3	By: Frost C.S.S.B. No. 730
4	4
5	5
6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to an employee's transportation and storage of certain
9	9	firearms or ammunition while on certain property owned or
10	10	controlled by the employee's employer.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 52, Labor Code, is amended by adding
13	13	Subchapter G to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER G. RESTRICTIONS ON PROHIBITING EMPLOYEE TRANSPORTATION
15	15	OR STORAGE OF CERTAIN FIREARMS OR AMMUNITION
16	16	Sec. 52.061. RESTRICTION ON PROHIBITING EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO
17	17	OR STORAGE OF FIREARM OR AMMUNITION. (a) A public or private
18	18	employer may not prohibit an employee who holds a license to carry a
19	19	concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code,
20	20	who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, or who lawfully
21	21	possesses ammunition from transporting or storing a firearm or
22	22	ammunition the employee is authorized by law to possess in a locked,
23	23	privately owned motor vehicle.
24	24	(b) Other than in a civil action based on a violation of
25	25	Subsection (a), a public or private employer or the employer's
26	26	principal, officer, director, or agent is not liable in a civil
27	27	action for personal injury, death, property damage, or any other
28	28	damages resulting from or arising out of an occurrence involving a
29	29	firearm or ammunition transported or stored in accordance with this
30	30	section, including an action for damages resulting from or arising
31	31	out of the theft of the firearm or ammunition or the use of the
32	32	firearm or ammunition by a person other than the employee
33	33	authorized by this section to transport or store the firearm or
34	34	ammunition. The presence of a firearm or ammunition transported or
35	35	stored in the manner and in a location described by Subsection (a)
36	36	does not by itself constitute a failure by the employer to provide a
37	37	safe workplace. For purposes of this section, a public or private
38	38	employer or the employer's principal, officer, director, or agent
39	39	does not have a duty:
40	40	(1) to patrol, inspect, or secure:
41	41	(A) any parking lot, parking garage, or other
42	42	parking area the employer provides for employees; or
43	43	(B) any privately owned motor vehicle located in
44	44	such a parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area; or
45	45	(2) to investigate, confirm, or determine an
46	46	employee's compliance with laws related to the transportation and
47	47	storage of a firearm or ammunition in a privately owned motor
48	48	vehicle.
49	49	(c) This section does not prohibit a public or private
50	50	employer from adopting a policy requiring that any firearm
51	51	described by Subsection (a), while on property controlled by the
52	52	employer, must be stored in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle
53	53	and hidden from plain view or locked in a case or container located
54	54	in the vehicle while the vehicle is unattended.
55	55	(d) This section does not prohibit a public or private
56	56	employer from prohibiting an employee who holds a license to carry a
57	57	concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code,
58	58	or who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, from transporting or
59	59	storing a firearm the employee is authorized by law to possess in a
60	60	locked, privately owned motor vehicle in a parking area the
61	61	employer provides employees if:
62	62	(1) access to the parking area is restricted or
63	63	limited through the use of a fence, gate, security station, sign, or
64	64	other means of restricting or limiting general public access; and
65	65	(2) the employer provides:
66	66	(A) an alternative location on the employer's
67	67	property for the employee to securely store the employee's unloaded
68	68	firearm while on the employer's property; or
69	69	(B) an alternative parking area reasonably close
70	70	to the main parking area in which employees and other persons may
71	71	transport or store firearms in locked, privately owned motor
72	72	vehicles.
73	73	(e) This section does not prohibit an employer from
74	74	prohibiting an employee who holds a license to carry a concealed
75	75	handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, or who
76	76	otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, from possessing a firearm
77	77	the employee is otherwise authorized by law to possess on the
78	78	premises of the employer's business. In this subsection,
79	79	"premises" has the meaning assigned by Section 46.035(f)(3), Penal
80	80	Code.
81	81	(f) This section does not apply to a vehicle owned or leased
82	82	by a public or private employer and used by an employee in the
83	83	course and scope of the employee's employment, unless the employee
84	84	is required to transport or store a firearm in the official
85	85	discharge of the employee's duties.
86	86	(g) This section does not authorize a person who holds a
87	87	license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter
88	88	411, Government Code, who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm,
89	89	or who lawfully possesses ammunition to possess a firearm or
90	90	ammunition on any property where the possession of a firearm or
91	91	ammunition is prohibited by state or federal law.
92	92	(h) This section does not apply to:
93	93	(1) a school district;
94	94	(2) an open-enrollment charter school, as defined by
95	95	Section 5.001, Education Code;
96	96	(3) a private school, as defined by Section 22.081,
97	97	Education Code; or
98	98	(4) property owned or leased by an employer who is
99	99	required to submit a risk management plan under Section 112(r) of
100	100	the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Section 7412) and on which the
101	101	primary business conducted is the manufacture, use, storage, or
102	102	transportation of hazardous, combustible, or explosive materials
103	103	regulated under state or federal law.
104	104	SECTION 2. Section 411.203, Government Code, is amended to
105	105	read as follows:
106	106	Sec. 411.203. RIGHTS OF EMPLOYERS. This subchapter does
107	107	not prevent or otherwise limit the right of a public or private
108	108	employer to prohibit persons who are licensed under this subchapter
109	109	from carrying a concealed handgun on the premises of the business.
110	110	In this subsection, "premises" has the meaning assigned by Section
111	111	46.035(f)(3), Penal Code.
112	112	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
113	113	to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
114	114	this Act. A cause of action that accrues before that date is
115	115	governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
116	116	date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
117	117	purpose.
118	118	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.