83R1319 SLB-D
By: Munoz, Jr. 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; providing criminal penalties.
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. DISCHARGE OF FIREARM ACROSS PROPERTY LINE OF
SCHOOL. (a) In this section:
(1) "Firearm" has the meaning assigned by Section
62.014(a).
(2) "School" means a private or public elementary or
secondary school.
(b) A person commits an offense with a firearm if:
(1) the person, while hunting or engaging in
recreational shooting, knowingly discharges the firearm; and
(2) the projectile from the firearm travels across the
property line of a school.
(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
constitutes an offense under a section of the Penal Code, the person
may be prosecuted under either section or both sections.
(d) The department shall place signs in appropriate places
to alert hunters to the proximity of a school and the penalty for a
violation of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 62.013, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b), [and] (c), and
(d) [of this section], a person who violates a provision of this
subchapter commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife
Code misdemeanor.
(d) A person who violates Section 62.0122 commits an offense
that is a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor, unless it is
shown at the trial of the defendant for a violation of that section
that the commission of the offense resulted in bodily injury to or
the death of any person, in which case the offense is a Parks and
Wildlife Code state jail felony.
SECTION 3. 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) the prohibition against and the penalty for
discharging a projectile from a firearm across the property line of
a school;
(2) awareness of school property and other
surroundings; and
(3) personal responsibility as it applies to the
discharge of a firearm.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies 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
covered 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.