Bill Text: TX HB1599 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to a handgun safety course required for the transfer of a handgun.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-12 - Filed [HB1599 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB1599-Introduced.html

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89R4995 JSC-D
By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 1599

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a handgun safety course required for the transfer of a
handgun.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 411, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter H-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H-1. HANDGUN SAFETY
Sec. 411.221. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Handgun" has the meaning assigned by Section
46.01, Penal Code.
(2) "Qualified handgun instructor" has the meaning
assigned by Section 411.171.
Sec. 411.222. HANDGUN SAFETY COURSE. (a) The director by
rule shall establish minimum standards for a handgun safety course
that a person may complete to receive a certificate of completion
from the department under this section. The course must be
administered by a qualified handgun instructor.
(b) The department shall issue a certificate of completion
to a person who completes the handgun safety course under
Subsection (a).
(c) A person is responsible for paying to the course
provider the costs of a handgun safety course under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 46.06(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) sells, rents, leases, loans, or gives a handgun to
any person knowing that the person to whom the handgun is to be
delivered intends to use it unlawfully or in the commission of an
unlawful act;
(2) intentionally or knowingly sells, rents, leases,
or gives or offers to sell, rent, lease, or give to any child
younger than 18 years of age any firearm, club, or
location-restricted knife;
(3) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly sells a
firearm or ammunition for a firearm to any person who is
intoxicated;
(4) knowingly sells a firearm or ammunition for a
firearm to any person who has been convicted of a felony before the
fifth anniversary of the later of the following dates:
(A) the person's release from confinement
following conviction of the felony; or
(B) the person's release from supervision under
community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision following
conviction of the felony;
(5) sells, rents, leases, loans, or gives a handgun to
any person knowing that an active protective order is directed to
the person to whom the handgun is to be delivered;
(6) knowingly purchases, rents, leases, or receives as
a loan or gift from another a handgun while an active protective
order is directed to the actor; [or]
(7) while prohibited from possessing a firearm under
state or federal law, knowingly makes a material false statement on
a form that is:
(A) required by state or federal law for the
purchase, sale, or other transfer of a firearm; and
(B) submitted to a firearms dealer licensed under
18 U.S.C. Section 923; or
(8) sells, rents, leases, loans, or gives a handgun to
any person without first verifying that the person possesses a
certificate of completion issued by the Department of Public Safety
under Section 411.222, Government Code.
SECTION 3. The public safety director of the Department of
Public Safety shall adopt the rules necessary to implement Section
411.222, Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than
December 1, 2025.
SECTION 4. Section 46.06(a), Penal Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after January 1,
2026. An offense committed before January 1, 2026, 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 January 1, 2026, if
any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.