By: Estes S.B. No. 1447
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the liability of a sport shooting range.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 128, Civil
Practice and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. CIVIL ACTIONS BY PRIVATE PERSONS
SECTION 2. Sections 128.051(3) and (4), Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(3) "Expert" means a person who is:
(A) giving opinion testimony about the
appropriate standard of care for a sport shooting range, an owner or
operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property on
which a sport shooting range is operated, or the causal
relationship between the injury, harm, or damages claimed and the
alleged departure from the applicable standard of care; and
(B) qualified pursuant to Sections 128.054 or
128.055 to render opinions on the standards or [and] causal
relationship described by Paragraph (A) under the Texas Rules of
Evidence.
(4) "Expert report" means a written report by an
expert meeting the requirements of Section 128.054 that provides a
fair summary of the expert's opinions as of the date of the report
regarding applicable standards of care for operation of a sport
shooting range[,] and the manner in which a defendant failed to meet
the standards, or by an expert meeting the requirements of Section
128.055 that provides a fair summary of the expert's opinions as of
the date of the report regarding [and] the causal relationship
between that failure and the injury, harm, or damages claimed.
SECTION 3. Sections 128.052(b) and (c), Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Nothing in this section prohibits a civil action against
a sport shooting range, the owner or operator of a sport shooting
range, or the owner of the real property on which a sport shooting
range is operated for recovery of damages for:
(1) breach of contract for use of the real property on
which a sport shooting range is located;
(2) damage or harm to private property caused by the
discharge of firearms on a sport shooting range; or
(3) personal injury or death caused by the discharge
of a firearm on a sport shooting range[; or
[(4) injunctive relief to enforce a valid ordinance,
statute, or regulation].
(c) Damages may be awarded[, or an injunction may be
obtained,] in a civil action brought under [this section]
Subsection (b) only if the claimant shows by a preponderance of the
evidence, through the testimony of one or more experts meeting the
requirements of Section 128.054 [witnesses], that the sport
shooting range, the owner or operator of the sport shooting range,
or the owner of real property on which the sport shooting range is
operated deviated from the standard of care that is reasonably
expected of an ordinarily prudent sport shooting range, owner or
operator of a sport shooting range, or owner of real property on
which a sport shooting range is operated in the same or similar
circumstances and by the testimony of one or more expert witnesses
meeting the requirements of Section 128.055 that the alleged
deviation from the appropriate standard of care was the cause of the
damages asserted. This subsection does not create a cause of
action.
SECTION 4. Sections 128.053(a), (d), and (e), Civil
Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In a suit against a sport shooting range, an owner or
operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property on
which a sport shooting range is operated, a claimant shall, not
later than the 90th day after the date the original petition was
filed, serve on each party or the party's attorney one or more
expert reports authored by one or more experts meeting the
requirements of Sections 128.054 and 128.055, with a curriculum
vitae of each expert listed in the report for each defendant against
whom a claim is asserted. The date for serving the report may be
extended by written agreement of the affected parties. Each
defendant whose conduct is implicated in a report must file and
serve any objection to the sufficiency of the report not later than
the 21st day after the date the report and curriculum vitae are [is]
served or all objections are waived.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
claimant may satisfy any requirement of this section for serving an
expert report by serving reports of separate experts meeting the
requirements of Sections 128.054 or 128.055 regarding different
defendants or regarding different issues arising from the conduct
of a defendant, including issues of liability and causation.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that a single
expert must address all liability and causation issues with respect
to all defendants or with respect to both liability and causation
issues for a defendant.
(e) A court shall grant a motion challenging the adequacy of
an expert report only if it appears to the court, after a hearing,
that the report does not represent an objective, good faith effort
to comply with the requirements of an expert report. A court shall
find that an expert report served in compliance with Subsection (a)
does not represent an objective, good faith effort to comply with
the requirements of an expert report if:
(1) the expert's curriculum vitae indicates the expert
does not meet the requirements of Section 128.054 to offer opinions
on the appropriate standard of care for a sport shooting range or
that the expert does not meet the requirements of Section 128.055 to
offer opinions concerning a causal link between the alleged
deviation from the appropriate standard of care and the damages
claimed; or
(2) the expert report fails to address either the
standard of care for a sport shooting range, the alleged breach of
the standard of care, or a causal link between the alleged breach
and the claimant's damages.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 128, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended by adding Sections 128.054 and 128.055 to
read as follows:
Sec. 128.054. QUALIFICATIONS OF EXPERT WITNESS ON THE
STANDARD OF CARE. (a) In a suit involving a claim subject to the
requirements of Section 128.053, a person may qualify as an expert
witness on the issue of whether the sport shooting range, the owner
or operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property
on which a sport shooting range is operated departed from the
accepted standard of care only if the person:
(1) is operating a sport shooting range as defined by
Section 250.001, Local Government Code, at the time such testimony
is given, or was operating a sport shooting range as defined by
Section 250.001, Local Government Code, at the time the claim
arose;
(2) has knowledge of the accepted standards of care
for a sport shooting range of the type involved in the claim; and
(3) is qualified on the basis of training or
experience to offer an expert opinion regarding those accepted
standards of care.
(b) As used in this section, "operating a sport shooting
range" includes responsibility for, or actual participation,
either directly or in a supervisory capacity, in the maintenance
and repair of the facility, the supervision of persons shooting on
the range, the identification and correction of any safety hazards,
and the establishment of rules of conduct and safety procedures for
persons using the facility.
(c) In determining whether a person has sufficient training
or experience to qualify as an expert under this section, the court
shall consider whether, at the time the claim arose or at the time
the testimony is given, the witness meets the qualification
requirements of Subsections (a) and (b) by demonstrating experience
with a sport shooting range that is substantially similar to the
range against which the claim is asserted with regard to the range's
size, the range's location, the population density surrounding the
range, and the types of firearms used on the range.
(d) This section does not prevent an operator of a sport
shooting range who is a defendant from qualifying as an expert.
Sec. 128.055. QUALIFICATIONS OF EXPERT WITNESS ON
CAUSATION. (a) In a suit involving a claim subject to the
requirements of Section 128.053, a person may qualify as an expert
witness on the issue of the causal relationship between the alleged
departure from the standard of care and the injury, harm, or damages
claimed only if the person:
(1) is qualified to render opinions on that causal
relationship under the Texas Rules of Evidence; and
(2) if the claim is based in whole or in part on an
allegation that injury, harm, or damages were caused by one or more
bullets or other projectiles, demonstrates that the person
possesses education, training, and experience in the science of
ballistics dealing with the flight, behavior, and effects of
bullets and other projectiles launched from a firearm.
(b) In a jury trial, the court shall determine an expert's
competence to testify about ballistics under Subsection (a)(2)
outside the presence of the jury.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect on September 1, 2017.