| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the unlawful possession of a firearm by persons who are |
|
|
subject to certain judicial determinations; creating a criminal |
|
|
offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 46.04, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Subsections (b-1) and (h) and amending Subsection (e) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(b-1) A person commits an offense if the person possesses a |
|
|
firearm and at the time of the offense the person: |
|
|
(1) has been ordered by a court to receive inpatient |
|
|
mental health services under Chapter 574, Health and Safety Code; |
|
|
(2) has been acquitted in a criminal case by reason of |
|
|
insanity or lack of mental responsibility, regardless of whether |
|
|
the person was ordered by a court to receive inpatient treatment or |
|
|
residential care under Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure; |
|
|
(3) has been determined to be a person with an |
|
|
intellectual disability and has been committed by a court for |
|
|
long-term placement in a residential care facility under Chapter |
|
|
593, Health and Safety Code; |
|
|
(4) is an incapacitated adult for whom a court has |
|
|
appointed a guardian of the person under Title 3, Estates Code, |
|
|
based on a determination that the person lacks the mental capacity |
|
|
to manage the person's affairs; or |
|
|
(5) has been determined to be incompetent to stand |
|
|
trial under Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure. |
|
|
(e) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, |
|
|
except that an offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the third |
|
|
degree. [An offense under Subsection (b) or (c) is a Class A
|
|
|
misdemeanor.] |
|
|
(h) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b-1) |
|
|
that at the time of the offense: |
|
|
(1) the person is the subject of a judicial order or |
|
|
finding that the person is no longer an incapacitated adult or is |
|
|
entitled to relief from disabilities under Section 574.088, Health |
|
|
and Safety Code; or |
|
|
(2) the person has obtained notice of relief from |
|
|
disabilities under 18 U.S.C. Section 925. |
|
|
SECTION 2. 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 |
|
|
governed 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |