HBA-JEK C.S.H.B. 2784 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2784
By: Carter
Public Safety
4/12/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to maintain
statistics regarding responses by law enforcement agencies to incidents in
which a person licensed to carry a concealed handgun is convicted of an
offense related to the unlawful carrying of a concealed handgun.
Statistics on responses to certain serious offenses committed by persons
licensed to carry concealed handguns might provide important information on
the influence of concealed handguns on the commission of certain serious
crimes.  C.S.H.B. 2784 authorizes DPS to maintain statistics related to
responses by law enforcement agencies on its website only in incidents in
which persons licensed to carry concealed handguns are convicted of certain
serious offenses. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2784 amends the Government Code to authorize the Department of
Public Safety (DPS) to maintain statistics on its website related to
responses by law enforcement agencies to incidents in which a person
licensed to carry a concealed handgun is convicted of robbery, burglary, an
offense against a person, or an offense involving the unlawful use or
possession of a weapon.  The bill requires these statistics to be drawn and
reported annually from the DPS Computerized Criminal History file on
persons 21 years of age and older, and requires the statistics to 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. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2784 differs from the original bill by specifying that the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) may maintain statistics on its website
regarding certain serious offenses involving persons licensed to carry
concealed handguns.  The substitute requires these statistics to be drawn
and reported annually from the DPS Computerized Criminal History file on
persons 21 years of age and older, and requires the statistics to be
compared to all like offenses committed in the state for the reporting
period.