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.