Relating to the age at which a person not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a firearm may carry a handgun or is eligible for a license to carry a handgun.

89(R) HB 2470 - Introduced version - Bill Text

89R9410 JSC-F

By: Virdell

H.B. No. 2470

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the age at which a person not otherwise prohibited by

state or federal law from possessing a firearm may carry a handgun

or is eligible for a license to carry a handgun.

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

SECTION 1. The Legislature of the State of Texas finds that:

(1) the Second Amendment of the United States

Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms,

to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to

use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as

self-defense;

(2) Section 23, Article I, of the Texas Constitution

secures for Texas citizens the right to keep and bear arms;

(3) the United States District Court for the Northern

District of Texas in
Firearms Policy Coal., Inc. v. McCraw
, 623 F.

Supp. 3d 740 (N.D. Tex. 2022), recognized the right of responsible

individuals aged 18, 19, and 20 to carry a handgun outside the home

for self-defense and found that Texas's statutory scheme and the

prohibition imposed on these individuals under Section 46.02, Penal

Code, and Section 411.172, Government Code, infringed on rights

protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United

States Constitution;

(4) to ensure clarity in the law and consistency with

constitutional principles, the eligibility criteria for carrying a

handgun in Texas without a license and for obtaining a license to

carry a handgun should include responsible individuals aged 18,

19, and 20 who are not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law

from possessing a firearm; and

(5) persons who are currently prohibited from

possessing a firearm under state or federal law will not gain the

right to possess or carry a firearm under this legislation.

SECTION 2. Section 411.047(b), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(b) Such statistics shall be drawn and reported annually

from the Department of Public Safety computerized criminal history

file on persons
18
[
21
] years of age and older and shall be compared

in numerical and graphical format to all like offenses committed in

the state for the reporting period as a percentage of the total of

such reported offenses.

SECTION 3. Section 411.172(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) A person is eligible for a license to carry a handgun if

the person:

(1) is a legal resident of this state for the six-month

period preceding the date of application under this subchapter or

is otherwise eligible for a license under Section 411.173(a);

(2) is at least
18
[
21
] years of age;

(3) has not been convicted of a felony;

(4) is not charged with the commission of a Class A or

Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or of an offense under

Section 42.01, Penal Code, or equivalent offense, or of a felony

under an information or indictment;

(5) is not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a

Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense;

(6) is not a chemically dependent person;

(7) is not incapable of exercising sound judgment with

respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun;

(8) has not, in the five years preceding the date of

application, been convicted of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or

equivalent offense or of an offense under Section 42.01, Penal

Code, or equivalent offense;

(9) is fully qualified under applicable federal and

state law to
possess
[
purchase
] a handgun;

(10) has not been finally determined to be delinquent

in making a child support payment administered or collected by the

attorney general;

(11) has not been finally determined to be delinquent

in the payment of a tax or other money collected by the comptroller,

the tax collector of a political subdivision of the state, or any

agency or subdivision of the state;

(12) is not currently restricted under a court

protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the

spousal relationship, other than a restraining order solely

affecting property interests;

(13) has not, in the 10 years preceding the date of

application, been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent

conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony; and

(14) has not made any material misrepresentation, or

failed to disclose any material fact, in an application submitted

pursuant to Section 411.174.

SECTION 4. Section 411.179(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) The department by rule shall adopt the form of the

license. A license must include:

(1) a number assigned to the license holder by the

department;

(2) a statement of the period for which the license is

effective;

(3) a photograph of the license holder;

(4) the license holder's full name, date of birth, hair

and eye color, height, weight, and signature;

(5) the license holder's residence address or, as

provided by Subsection (d), the street address of the courthouse in

which the license holder or license holder's spouse or parent

serves as a federal judge or the license holder serves as a state

judge;

(6) the number of a driver's license or an

identification certificate issued to the license holder by the

department;

(7) the designation "VETERAN" if required under

Subsection (e);
and

(8) any at-risk designation for which the license

holder has established eligibility under Section 411.184[
; and

[
(9)

if applicable, a protective order designation

under Section 411.1735
].

SECTION 5. Section 411.205, Government Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 411.205. REQUIREMENT TO DISPLAY LICENSE. If a license

holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person

when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder

display identification, the license holder shall display[
:

[
(1)
] both the license holder's driver's license or

identification certificate issued by the department and the license

holder's handgun license[
; and

[
(2)

if the license holder's handgun license bears a

protective order designation, a copy of the applicable court order

under which the license holder is protected
].

SECTION 6. Sections 46.02(a) and (a-1), Penal Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person:

(1) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries

on or about his or her person a handgun;

(2) at the time of the offense:

(A) is younger than
18
[
21
] years of age; or

(B) has been convicted of an offense under

Section 22.01(a)(1), 22.05, 22.07, or 42.01(a)(7) or (8) committed

in the five-year period preceding the date the instant offense was

committed; and

(3) is not:

(A) on the person's own premises or premises

under the person's control; or

(B) inside of or directly en route to a motor

vehicle or watercraft that is owned by the person or under the

person's control.

(a-1) A person commits an offense if the person

intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or

her person a handgun in a motor vehicle or watercraft that is owned

by the person or under the person's control at any time in which:

(1) the handgun is in plain view, unless the person is

18
[
21
] years of age or older [
or is licensed to carry a handgun

under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code,
] and the handgun

is carried in a holster; or

(2) the person is:

(A) engaged in criminal activity, other than a

Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance

regulating traffic or boating; or

(B) prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.

SECTION 7. The following provisions of the Government Code

are repealed:

(1) Sections 411.172(g), (h), and (i); and

(2) Section 411.1735.

SECTION 8. A handgun license that bears a protective order

designation under former Section 411.1735, Government Code, as

repealed by this Act, and that is valid on the effective date of

this Act remains valid until the 22nd birthday of the license

holder, regardless of whether the license holder continues to be

protected under a protective order described by former Section

411.172(i), Government Code, as repealed by this Act. A license

holder described by this section may apply for a handgun license

that does not bear the protective order designation by using the

renewal procedure under Section 411.185, Government Code,

regardless of whether the license that bears the designation has

expired or is about to expire.

SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.