Texas Legislative Update - 6/18/01

• HB 1837 by Rep. Mary Denny (R-Aubrey) & Sen. Ken Armbrister (D-Victoria) will protect Texas` safe and valuable shooting range facilities from frivolous nuisance lawsuits based on noise. It made important changes to current law by extending protection to ranges built after 1991 and to those located in counties with no ordinance-making authority.

• HB 2784 by Rep. Bill Carter (R-Fort Worth) & Sen. Todd Staples (R-Palestine) will improve the way DPS collects and maintains statistics on concealed handgun license holders by focusing on reporting convictions of concealed handgun licensees for violent offenses, weapons offenses and violations of the concealed carry law, rather than non-violent, non-weapons-related offenses. DPS will also be required to provide an annual comparison of crime conviction rates among concealed handgun licensees versus the adult population in general, providing an improved, consistent and more meaningful methodology of record keeping to measure trends over time and assess the success or failure of the state`s carry law.

• SB 430, a bill dealing generally with school safety, will require visiting resource officers in public elementary schools to offer to teach NRA`s Eddie Eagle GunSafe program at least once a year, thanks to an amendment added to the bill in the House by Rep. Manny Najera (D-El Paso). Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) carried HB 2656 with similar language that remained stuck in committee, and he identified SB 430 as a perfect vehicle for his House bill late in the session. Thanks also go out to Sen. Florence Shapiro, the original sponsor of SB 430, who agreed to accept Rep. Najera`s Eddie Eagle amendment to her bill.

Thanks to all of you who made phone calls, sent emails and faxes, and came to the capitol to testify on these important measures. With your help, gun owners and sportsmen had, by far, the most successful legislative session ever! Let`s keep working together to protect our rights in the Lone Star State.