85R1101 LED-D By: Rinaldi H.B. No. 497 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the liability of a business that allows handguns to be carried on the business's premises. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is amended by adding Chapter 95A to read as follows: CHAPTER 95A. LIMITED LIABILITY FOR BUSINESS THAT ALLOWS HANDGUNS Sec. 95A.001. LIMITED LIABILITY FOR BUSINESS THAT ALLOWS HANDGUNS. The owner or operator of a business on the premises of which the carrying of a handgun is not otherwise unlawful is immune from civil liability with respect to any claim that is based on the owner's or operator's failure to exercise the option to forbid the carrying of handguns on the premises by customers or employees. SECTION 2. Chapter 95A, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as added by this Act, does not apply to a cause of action that accrued before the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the cause of action immediately before that date, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.