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The House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety met to hear from invited testimony about Cybersecurity and Gun Laws in Texas as well as address pending business. This report does not cover any bills discussed after the invited testimony.

Pending Business:
HB 893 (Raymond) Relating to the dissemination of criminal history record information by the Department of Public Safety concerning certain intoxication offenses.

  • Passed – 7 ayes and 1 nay

CS HB 912 (Romero) Relating to the persons authorized to conduct a driver education course.

  • CS Incorporates changes from stakeholders
  • Passed and placed on general calendar – 7 ayes and 0 nays

HB 1345 (Dale) Relating to a photograph on a driver's license.

  • Passed and placed on general calendar – 9 ayes and 0 nays

HB 1699 (Geren) Relating to the participation by qualified persons in the Department of Public Safety's driver record monitoring pilot program.

  • Passed and placed on general calendar – 8 ayes and 1 nay

 
Invited Testimony:
Yair Solow, CEO of CyGov

  • Israel is the number 2 exporter of technology
  • 2002 – legislation passed in Israel to make cybersecurity a focus
  • National Cyber Bureau created 5 years ago
  • Holistic approach needed to meet today’s demands
    • Collection of borders is different than geography in cybersecurity.
  • Legislation is the pillar for creating a safe cyber network
  • Gave example of how Israel used education and cybersecurity to educate youth
  • Nevarez – question on stressors Israel put into play to stress importance
    • Visibility to see forward and the damage that can occur. Everything is connected to internet. Israel created a specific industry stock inserts to educate agencies. They allowed industry players to share information between them in a secure network.
  • King – initially thought about serious infrastructure instead of public private partnership.
    • Collaboration is the key to the game. The private sector is hungry for a partnership. A critical infrastructure is a critical point but it needs to be part of an overlaying strategy. A strategic approach is needed instead of just fixing water or power. Approach should be thinking what the attackers would do and being prepared for the future instead of fixing the past. Israel has a layered approach to security. Gave example of airport interaction. The world is reactive whereas the right approach is to be proactive. There is an opportunity for states to build this right now.

Shannon Edmonds, Texas District and County Attorneys Association

  • Tracking 36 bills within committee
  • Legislator has authority to design regulations to promote public safety
  • King – asked for discussion from the laws in the 1876 that were in placed and the constitutional meaning at that point.
    • Originally, the language about legislator regulations. Although everyone has a right to carry a hand gun, they can choose to regulate carrying of firearms. The last recent challenge was armed carrying by a felon. If legislator believes a certain class should not carry a handgun, then they can’t make it a criminal act. But even that only lasts around 5 years. It doesn’t apply to cars or hunting. There are ways that people can get those rights restored.
  • Nevarez – who gives the executive clemency? Asked for statistics on how many asked and are granted.
    • The Governor’s office.
  • Compared to other states, Texas lightly regulates hand guns.
  • Concealed carry was put in place which was then followed by open carry.
  • Change to allow carrying in a vehicle has worked well with no issues
  • Schaefer – question on traveling laws for concealing fire arms. Noted it is not defined in statute.
    • Based on case by case basis. Term used is “plain view”. Rule of thumb is that if someone approaches you and can see the gun, then it is in plain view. Hypothetical situations can have unintended consequences. The challenge is for legislation to craft something that can be used in both venues.
  • King – asked to discuss licensed carry and open carry. Is there anything in statute that prohibits a police officer if they get a call because a mom is concerned about suspicious behavior?
    • There havent been any problems of abusing open carry. There isn’t anything in statute. It hasn’t been a problem, so it hasn’t come up yet. An officer has the right to ask any question, but a person does not have to answer. It is part of the original concealed carry language.
  • There are gun free zones though including court houses, government buildings, churches, places serving alcohol. It varies on where firearms can be taken. Some of the regulations are taught in their License to Carry class. There are also private locations that can post notifications. 30ot6 is concealed and 30ot7 is open carry in Government Penial Code. The body decided that pictures with a slash through a handgun is not enough notice. Private businesses owners can also tell persons that they are not allowed to carry.
  • King – what about colleges? When did it go into effect?
    • Campus carry came into effect August 1, 2016 for concealed weapons. There is no open carry. Gave the Board of Regents and Administrations of public universities to regulate it. Community Colleges have until August 1, 2017 for regulations to go into effect.
  • Hinojosa – out of all to opt out of the campus carry, only 1 opted out?
    • Didn’t have information
  • Schaefer – the talk of not believing there has been an issue with gun controls. I have been told that there are cases out there on concealed carry.
    • We havent had any situations that have gotten out of control, which is a positive.
  • Holland – asked hypothetical situation of driving with a handgun from public roads to campus property on the right to have a firearm in a vehicle.
    • Would have to check the books to give solid answer.

Scott Houston, Texas Municipal League

  • Weeding into implementation of open carry was a frenzy of how to comply with the laws.
  • Implementation of laws have been a non-issue thus far
  • The common understanding under concealed carry was a whole building would be under law.
  • Addressed Rep. Holland’s question on where to carry on college campuses – if you drove onto UT campus you would be okay, however if you entered the buildings it would be different. There is another prohibition that says if an activity is taking place then the entire grounds is off limits for open carry.
  • Gave series of examples of undefined/questionable places in for open carry.

RenEarl Bowie, Department of Public Safety

  • Discussed the process in order to gain LTC
  • Once documents have been completed the 60-day clock begins for applicant to receive license.
  • King – they pay a fee in those 60 days, do they get a refund if they get declined?
    • Yes.
  • King – what is the timeliness on the LTC?
    • Running about 20-25 day turn around.
  • Schaefer – fingerprinting is down during that process?
    • No. The applicant has to set a finger print appointment.
  • Schaefer – what do you do with the finger prints of the applicants? What does the FBI do with them?
    • We input them into the DPS database and then send them to the FBI.
  • Schaefer – so the fingerprints are being compared to the FBI’s database of crime incident fingerprints? It is not just storing for future purposes? Does DPS maintain a database? What happens if fingerprints come back negative/clean?
    • Yes, it is run against a national database. DPS does have a database. Our crime records division still maintains those fingerprints.
  • Schaefer – how long do you keep the fingerprints?
    • Not sure, would have to check.
  • King – what about trainings?
    • That is prior to the LTC. They have to submit documents proving they have done the class.
  • Wray – what happens if DPS denies the license and there is an appeal procedure? Some eligibility requirements of having a Class B misdemeanors can disqualify a person for an LTC?
    • If license is denied based on one of those charges, the applicant can appeal that. Which is handled by our General Counsel’s office. It doesn’t happen very often.