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By: Hegar, et al. S.B. No. 730
(In the Senate - Filed February 9, 2009; February 25, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
March 23, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 23, 2009,
sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 730 By: Hegar
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an employee's transportation and storage of certain
firearms or ammunition while on certain property owned or
controlled by the employee's employer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 52, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter G to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER G. RESTRICTIONS ON PROHIBITING EMPLOYEE TRANSPORTATION
OR STORAGE OF CERTAIN FIREARMS OR AMMUNITION
Sec. 52.061. RESTRICTION ON PROHIBITING EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO
OR STORAGE OF FIREARM OR AMMUNITION. (a) A public or private
employer may not prohibit an employee who holds a license to carry a
concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code,
who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, or who lawfully
possesses ammunition from transporting or storing a firearm or
ammunition the employee is authorized by law to possess in a locked,
privately owned motor vehicle in a parking lot, parking garage, or
other parking area the employer provides for employees.
(b) Except in cases of gross negligence, a public or private
employer or the employer's agent is not liable in a civil action for
personal injury, death, property damage, or any other damages
resulting from or arising out of an occurrence involving a firearm
or ammunition transported or stored in accordance with this
section, including an action for damages arising from the theft of
the firearm or ammunition or the use of the firearm or ammunition by
a person other than the employee authorized by this section to
transport or store the firearm or ammunition. The presence of a
firearm or ammunition transported or stored in the manner and in a
location described by Subsection (a) does not by itself constitute
a failure by the employer to provide a safe workplace.
(c) This section does not prohibit a public or private
employer from adopting a policy requiring that any firearm
described by Subsection (a), while on property controlled by the
employer, must be stored in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle
and hidden from plain view or locked in a case or container located
in the vehicle while the vehicle is unattended.
(d) This section does not prohibit a public or private
employer from prohibiting an employee who holds a license to carry a
concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code,
or who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, from transporting or
storing a firearm the employee is authorized by law to possess in a
locked, privately owned motor vehicle in a parking area the
employer provides employees if:
(1) access to the parking area is restricted or
limited through the use of a fence, gate, security station, sign, or
other means of restricting or limiting general public access; and
(2) the employer provides:
(A) an alternative location on the employer's
property for the employee to securely store the employee's unloaded
firearm while on the employer's property; or
(B) an alternative parking area reasonably close
to the main parking area in which employees and other persons may
transport or store firearms in locked, privately owned motor
vehicles.
(e) This section does not prohibit an employer from
prohibiting an employee who holds a license to carry a concealed
handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, or who
otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, from possessing a firearm
the employee is otherwise authorized by law to possess on the
premises of the employer's business. In this subsection,
"premises" has the meaning assigned by Section 46.035(f)(3), Penal
Code.
(f) This section does not apply to a vehicle owned or leased
by a public or private employer and used by an employee in the
course and scope of the employee's employment, unless the employee
is required to transport or store a firearm in the official
discharge of the employee's duties.
(g) This section does not authorize a person who holds a
license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter
411, Government Code, who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm,
or who lawfully possesses ammunition to possess a firearm or
ammunition on any property where the possession of a firearm or
ammunition is prohibited by state or federal law.
(h) This section does not apply to:
(1) a school district;
(2) an open-enrollment charter school, as defined by
Section 5.001, Education Code; or
(3) a private school, as defined by Section 22.081,
Education Code.
SECTION 2. Section 411.203, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 411.203. RIGHTS OF EMPLOYERS. This subchapter does
not prevent or otherwise limit the right of a public or private
employer to prohibit persons who are licensed under this subchapter
from carrying a concealed handgun on the premises of the business.
In this subsection, "premises" has the meaning assigned by Section
46.035(f)(3), Penal Code.
SECTION 3. 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 that date is
governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.