bill barring carrying a firearm while intoxicated

The text as introduced · 1,078 words

89R2629 JSC-D

By: Rosenthal
H.B. No. 435

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to prohibiting carrying a firearm while intoxicated;

creating a criminal offense.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 46, Penal Code, is amended by adding

Section 46.022 to read as follows:

Sec. 46.022. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF FIREARM WHILE

INTOXICATED. (a) A person commits an offense if, while

intoxicated, the person carries on or about his or her person a

firearm, including a handgun or long gun, in a public place.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

(c) This section does not apply to:

(1) a special investigator under Article 2A.002, Code

of Criminal Procedure, or a peace officer regardless of whether the

special investigator or peace officer is engaged in the actual

discharge of the investigator's or officer's duties while carrying

the firearm; or

(2) a person who carries a firearm that is unloaded and

encased in a container.

(d) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section

that the actor carried a handgun under the authority of Subchapter

H, Chapter 411, Government Code, or carried a firearm under another

law authorizing the carrying of that firearm by a person not

otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from carrying a

firearm.

(e) In this section, "intoxicated" has the meaning assigned

by Section 49.01.

(f) For purposes of this section, "public place" does not

include:

(1) the interior of a motor vehicle not used for mass

transit; or

(2) the actor's private residence, including the

curtilage of that residence.

SECTION 2. Section 125.0015(a), Civil Practice and Remedies

Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A person who maintains a place to which persons

habitually go for the following purposes and who knowingly

tolerates the activity and furthermore fails to make reasonable

attempts to abate the activity maintains a common nuisance:

(1) discharge of a firearm in a public place as

prohibited by the Penal Code;

(2) reckless discharge of a firearm as prohibited by

the Penal Code;

(3) engaging in organized criminal activity as a

member of a combination as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(4) delivery, possession, manufacture, or use of a

substance or other item in violation of Chapter 481, Health and

Safety Code;

(5) gambling, gambling promotion, or communicating

gambling information as prohibited by the Penal Code;

(6) prostitution as described by Section 43.02, Penal

Code, solicitation of prostitution as described by Section 43.021,

Penal Code, promotion of prostitution as described by Section

43.03, Penal Code, or aggravated promotion of prostitution as

described by Section 43.04, Penal Code;

(7) compelling prostitution as prohibited by the Penal

Code;

(8) commercial manufacture, commercial distribution,

or commercial exhibition of obscene material as prohibited by the

Penal Code;

(9) aggravated assault as described by Section 22.02,

Penal Code;

(10) sexual assault as described by Section 22.011,

Penal Code;

(11) aggravated sexual assault as described by Section

22.021, Penal Code;

(12) robbery as described by Section 29.02, Penal

Code;

(13) aggravated robbery as described by Section 29.03,

Penal Code;

(14) unlawfully carrying a weapon as described by

Section 46.02, Penal Code , or unlawfully carrying a firearm while

intoxicated as described by Section 46.022, Penal Code ;

(15) murder as described by Section 19.02, Penal Code;

(16) capital murder as described by Section 19.03,

Penal Code;

(17) continuous sexual abuse of young child or

disabled individual as described by Section 21.02, Penal Code;

(18) massage therapy or other massage services in

violation of Chapter 455, Occupations Code;

(19) employing or entering into a contract for the

performance of work or the provision of a service with an individual

younger than 21 years of age for work or services performed at a

sexually oriented business as defined by Section 243.002, Local

Government Code;

(20) trafficking of persons as described by Section

20A.02, Penal Code;

(21) sexual conduct or performance by a child as

described by Section 43.25, Penal Code;

(22) employment harmful to a child as described by

Section 43.251, Penal Code;

(23) criminal trespass as described by Section 30.05,

Penal Code;

(24) disorderly conduct as described by Section 42.01,

Penal Code;

(25) arson as described by Section 28.02, Penal Code;

(26) criminal mischief as described by Section 28.03,

Penal Code, that causes a pecuniary loss of $500 or more;

(27) a graffiti offense in violation of Section 28.08,

Penal Code; or

(28) permitting an individual younger than 18 years of

age to enter the premises of a sexually oriented business as defined

by Section 243.002, Local Government Code.

SECTION 3. Section 9.31(b), Penal Code, is amended to read

as follows:

(b) The use of force against another is not justified:

(1) in response to verbal provocation alone;

(2) to resist an arrest or search that the actor knows

is being made by a peace officer, or by a person acting in a peace

officer's presence and at his direction, even though the arrest or

search is unlawful, unless the resistance is justified under

Subsection (c);

(3) if the actor consented to the exact force used or

attempted by the other;

(4) if the actor provoked the other's use or attempted

use of unlawful force, unless:

(A) the actor abandons the encounter, or clearly

communicates to the other his intent to do so reasonably believing

he cannot safely abandon the encounter; and

(B) the other nevertheless continues or attempts

to use unlawful force against the actor; or

(5) if the actor sought an explanation from or

discussion with the other person concerning the actor's differences

with the other person while the actor was:

(A) carrying a weapon in violation of Section

46.02; [ or ]

(B) carrying a firearm while intoxicated in

violation of Section 46.022; or

(C) possessing or transporting a weapon in

violation of Section 46.05.

SECTION 4. Section 46.02(a-6), Penal Code, is repealed.

SECTION 5. 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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.