By: Springer, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Creighton)	H.B. No. 554
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2015;
	May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on State
	Affairs; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
	Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to a defense to prosecution for the offense of possessing
	or carrying a weapon in or into the secured area of an airport.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 46.03, Penal Code, is amended by adding
	Subsections (e-1) and (e-2) and amending Subsection (f) to read as
	follows:
	(e-1)  It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(5)
	that the actor:
	(1)  possessed, at the screening checkpoint for the
	secured area, a concealed handgun that the actor was licensed to
	carry under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code; and
	(2)  exited the screening checkpoint for the secured
	area immediately upon notification that the actor possessed the
	handgun.
	(e-2)  A peace officer investigating conduct that may
	constitute an offense under Subsection (a)(5) and that consists
	only of an actor's possession of a concealed handgun that the actor
	is licensed to carry under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government
	Code, may not arrest the actor for the offense unless:
	(1)  the officer advises the actor of the defense
	available under Subsection (e-1) and gives the actor an opportunity
	to exit the screening checkpoint for the secured area; and
	(2)  the actor does not immediately exit the
	checkpoint.
	(f)  Except as provided by Subsection (e-1), it [It] is not a
	defense to prosecution under this section that the actor possessed
	a handgun and was licensed to carry a concealed handgun under
	Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code.
	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, 2015.
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