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.