Texas House committee considers state ban on celebratory gunfire, prohibit guns in group homes

DALLAS - Texas House lawmakers are considering a number of gun control measures.

Those debated so far include a state ban on celebratory gunfire as well as a bill proposed in response to an autistic man being shot in a Dallas group home. 

The Committee on Community Safety still has many of the gun control measures left to discuss today. 

The House Community Safety Committee on Tuesday debated creating a ban on celebratory gunfire.

While most big cities already have a ban in place, the proposed state law would create a statewide ban in counties with populations over 500,000 and cities and municipalities over 100,000.

The representative who proposed the bill, Armando Martinez (D-Weslaco), was a victim of celebratory gunfire himself in 2017. He was celebrating New Year’s Eve with his family in the lower Rio Grande Valley when he was shot in the head by a stray bullet.    

While some people turned out to speak against the proposal, lawmakers said it was a commonsense measure. 

"Every year, celebratory gunfire claims lives and causes severe injury," Martinez said. "Many of y'all know I was the victim of celebratory gunfire in 2017."

"When you have a gentleman like my friend who was victimized by reckless discharge of a firearm, for me it is problematic for anyone to get up there and testify against this bill," said State Rep. Sam Harless (R-Spring).

Another bill debated would prohibit weapons in group homes that provide services for people with disabilities. 

State Rep. Chris Turner (D-Arlington) proposed the bill. He is calling it Joshua's Act in honor of Joshua Moore. The 27-year-old autistic man was shot and killed by a staff member in a Dallas group home in July 2021 after he found a knife that had been improperly left in a drawer. 

"My baby brother, Joshua Moore, was a person," said Stephanie Moore. "He had the same dreams as anyone else. He was autistic, cognitively impaired and IDD. He was a fabulous uncle, brother, son and a great friend."

"Had there not been a gun in the group home, the confrontation would not have escalated to the point it did, and Joshua would still be alive today," Turner said.

Turner said the bill would close a loophole since guns are already prohibited in hospitals and mental health care facilities. 

The Committee on Community Safety still has other gun control measures to debate. Among them is a proposal that would prohibit the transfer of semi-automatic rifles to some recipients and measures that would require sales of multiple firearms and firearm magazines to be reported.