By: Estes S.B. No. 1447
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the liability of a sport shooting range.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 128, Civil
  Practice and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER B. CIVIL ACTIONS BY PRIVATE PERSONS
         SECTION 2.  Sections 128.051(3) and (4), Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
               (3)  "Expert" means a person who is:
                     (A)  giving opinion testimony about the
  appropriate standard of care for a sport shooting range, an owner or
  operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property on
  which a sport shooting range is operated, or the causal
  relationship between the injury, harm, or damages claimed and the
  alleged departure from the applicable standard of care; and
                     (B)  qualified pursuant to Sections 128.054 or
  128.055 to render opinions on the standards or [and] causal
  relationship described by Paragraph (A) under the Texas Rules of
  Evidence.
               (4)  "Expert report" means a written report by an
  expert meeting the requirements of Section 128.054 that provides a
  fair summary of the expert's opinions as of the date of the report
  regarding applicable standards of care for operation of a sport
  shooting range[,] and the manner in which a defendant failed to meet
  the standards, or by an expert meeting the requirements of Section
  128.055 that provides a fair summary of the expert's opinions as of
  the date of the report regarding [and] the causal relationship
  between that failure and the injury, harm, or damages claimed.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 128.052(b) and (c), Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Nothing in this section prohibits a civil action against
  a sport shooting range, the owner or operator of a sport shooting
  range, or the owner of the real property on which a sport shooting
  range is operated for recovery of damages for:
               (1)  breach of contract for use of the real property on
  which a sport shooting range is located;
               (2)  damage or harm to private property caused by the
  discharge of firearms on a sport shooting range; or
               (3)  personal injury or death caused by the discharge
  of a firearm on a sport shooting range[; or
               [(4) injunctive relief to enforce a valid ordinance,
  statute, or regulation].
         (c)  Damages may be awarded[, or an injunction may be
  obtained,] in a civil action brought under [this section]
  Subsection (b) only if the claimant shows by a preponderance of the
  evidence, through the testimony of one or more experts meeting the
  requirements of Section 128.054 [witnesses], that the sport
  shooting range, the owner or operator of the sport shooting range,
  or the owner of real property on which the sport shooting range is
  operated deviated from the standard of care that is reasonably
  expected of an ordinarily prudent sport shooting range, owner or
  operator of a sport shooting range, or owner of real property on
  which a sport shooting range is operated in the same or similar
  circumstances and by the testimony of one or more expert witnesses
  meeting the requirements of Section 128.055 that the alleged
  deviation from the appropriate standard of care was the cause of the
  damages asserted. This subsection does not create a cause of
  action.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 128.053(a), (d), and (e), Civil
  Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  In a suit against a sport shooting range, an owner or
  operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property on
  which a sport shooting range is operated, a claimant shall, not
  later than the 90th day after the date the original petition was
  filed, serve on each party or the party's attorney one or more
  expert reports authored by one or more experts meeting the
  requirements of Sections 128.054 and 128.055, with a curriculum
  vitae of each expert listed in the report for each defendant against
  whom a claim is asserted. The date for serving the report may be
  extended by written agreement of the affected parties. Each
  defendant whose conduct is implicated in a report must file and
  serve any objection to the sufficiency of the report not later than
  the 21st day after the date the report and curriculum vitae are [is]
  served or all objections are waived.
         (d)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
  claimant may satisfy any requirement of this section for serving an
  expert report by serving reports of separate experts meeting the
  requirements of Sections 128.054 or 128.055 regarding different
  defendants or regarding different issues arising from the conduct
  of a defendant, including issues of liability and causation.
  Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that a single
  expert must address all liability and causation issues with respect
  to all defendants or with respect to both liability and causation
  issues for a defendant.
         (e)  A court shall grant a motion challenging the adequacy of
  an expert report only if it appears to the court, after a hearing,
  that the report does not represent an objective, good faith effort
  to comply with the requirements of an expert report. A court shall
  find that an expert report served in compliance with Subsection (a)
  does not represent an objective, good faith effort to comply with
  the requirements of an expert report if:
               (1)  the expert's curriculum vitae indicates the expert
  does not meet the requirements of Section 128.054 to offer opinions
  on the appropriate standard of care for a sport shooting range or
  that the expert does not meet the requirements of Section 128.055 to
  offer opinions concerning a causal link between the alleged
  deviation from the appropriate standard of care and the damages
  claimed; or
               (2)  the expert report fails to address either the
  standard of care for a sport shooting range, the alleged breach of
  the standard of care, or a causal link between the alleged breach
  and the claimant's damages.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter B, Chapter 128, Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, is amended by adding Sections 128.054 and 128.055 to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 128.054.  QUALIFICATIONS OF EXPERT WITNESS ON THE
  STANDARD OF CARE. (a) In a suit involving a claim subject to the
  requirements of Section 128.053, a person may qualify as an expert
  witness on the issue of whether the sport shooting range, the owner
  or operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property
  on which a sport shooting range is operated departed from the
  accepted standard of care only if the person:
               (1)  is operating a sport shooting range as defined by
  Section 250.001, Local Government Code, at the time such testimony
  is given, or was operating a sport shooting range as defined by
  Section 250.001, Local Government Code, at the time the claim
  arose;
               (2)  has knowledge of the accepted standards of care
  for a sport shooting range of the type involved in the claim; and
               (3)  is qualified on the basis of training or
  experience to offer an expert opinion regarding those accepted
  standards of care.
         (b)  As used in this section, "operating a sport shooting
  range" includes responsibility for, or actual participation,
  either directly or in a supervisory capacity, in the maintenance
  and repair of the facility, the supervision of persons shooting on
  the range, the identification and correction of any safety hazards,
  and the establishment of rules of conduct and safety procedures for
  persons using the facility.
         (c)  In determining whether a person has sufficient training
  or experience to qualify as an expert under this section, the court
  shall consider whether, at the time the claim arose or at the time
  the testimony is given, the witness meets the qualification
  requirements of Subsections (a) and (b) by demonstrating experience
  with a sport shooting range that is substantially similar to the
  range against which the claim is asserted with regard to the range's
  size, the range's location, the population density surrounding the
  range, and the types of firearms used on the range. 
         (d)  This section does not prevent an operator of a sport
  shooting range who is a defendant from qualifying as an expert.
         Sec. 128.055.  QUALIFICATIONS OF EXPERT WITNESS ON
  CAUSATION. (a) In a suit involving a claim subject to the
  requirements of Section 128.053, a person may qualify as an expert
  witness on the issue of the causal relationship between the alleged
  departure from the standard of care and the injury, harm, or damages
  claimed only if the person:
               (1)  is qualified to render opinions on that causal
  relationship under the Texas Rules of Evidence; and
               (2)  if the claim is based in whole or in part on an
  allegation that injury, harm, or damages were caused by one or more
  bullets or other projectiles, demonstrates that the person
  possesses education, training, and experience in the science of
  ballistics dealing with the flight, behavior, and effects of
  bullets and other projectiles launched from a firearm.
         (b)  In a jury trial, the court shall determine an expert's
  competence to testify about ballistics under Subsection (a)(2)
  outside the presence of the jury.
         SECTION 6.  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 the effective date
  of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
  effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect on September 1, 2017.