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Committee advances concealed-carry changes to make provisional licenses permanent at age 21
Summary
The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee voted to move House Bill 2,052 favorably after adopting amendments that revise disqualifying offenses, adjust surrender procedures for suspended or revoked concealed-carry licenses, and allow alternative notice methods when provisional licenses convert to standard licenses at age 21.
The Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs on an undisclosed date voted to move House Bill 2,052 out favorably after amending the bill to clarify several points in the concealed-carry statutes.
House Bill 2,052 would revise the concealed-carry law to (1) update the list of crimes that disqualify a person from receiving a concealed-carry license, (2) transition provisional concealed-carry licenses to regular licenses when holders reach age 21, (3) adjust procedures for surrendering suspended or revoked licenses, and (4) prohibit private building owners or operators from requiring off-duty law enforcement officers to identify themselves or display items that reveal their status as a law enforcement officer or as carrying a concealed handgun.
Jason, a staff member who briefed the committee, said the bill reinserts language referencing the "national instant criminal background check system" for federal compliance and explains that, in practice, the Division of Motor Vehicles will process the physical license cards but the Attorney General retains legal authority over issuance and reissuance. Jason said the bill also removes a $250 penalty provision tied to surrender procedures because, under the amendment, surrendered cards would instead be destroyed by the Division of Motor Vehicles and reissued only upon authorization from the Attorney General.
Senator Francisco offered a conceptual amendment to remove the phrase "by letter" from the notification requirement so the Attorney General could notify eligible licensees by alternate means (for example email); the committee adopted that amendment on a second. The committee also adopted the attorney general-requested cleanups to the disqualifying-offense language and the DMV surrender/reissue procedure.
Senator Clifford moved that the committee pass House Bill 2,052 as amended favorably; Senator Gossage seconded. The committee voice vote passed and the chair announced the bill "passes." The committee record does not include a roll-call tally in the transcript excerpt.
Discussion versus decision: committee members asked for clarification on which agency issues and processes the cards, and questioned whether the statutory references should specify "concealed-carry license"; staff responded that the statutes in that chapter exclusively address concealed-carry licenses. The committee took formal action on several amendments before voting to advance the bill.
Votes and formal actions recorded in the meeting transcript include the adoption of the attorney-general-requested cleanups and the "strike 'by letter'" conceptual amendment, and the favorable motion to advance House Bill 2,052 as amended.
