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1 FIRST PRINTING February 13, 1973 Official House Printing, 63rd. Leg.
By: Hawn H. B. No. 443
(In the House.--Filed February 12 , 1973 ; February 13 , 1973 ,
read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. )
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1 AN ACT
2 prohibiting the selling, offering or exposing for sale, keeping
3 with intent to sell at retail, or using or exploding of certain
4 fireworks ; providing penalties; regulating supervised displays
5 of fireworks; repealing Chapter 498, Acts of the 55th Legislature,
6 Regular Session, 1957,. as amended (Article 1725 , Vernon's Texas
7 Penal Code) ; and declaring an emergency.
8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS :
9 Section 1 . The term "fireworks" shall mean and include any
10 combustible or explosive composition, or any substance or
11 combination of substances , or article prepared for the purpose
12 of producing a visible or an audible effect by combustion, .
13 explosion, deflagration, or detonation, and shall include blank
14 cartridges, toy pistols , toy cannons , toy canes , or toy guns in
15 which explosives are used, the type of balloons which require
16 fire underneath to propel the same, firecrackers , torpedoes ,
17 skyrockets , Roman candles , Daygo bombs , sparklers , or other
18 fireworks of like construction and any fireworks containing any
19 explosive or flammable compound, or any tablets or other device
20 containing any explosive substance, except that the term
21 "fireworks" shall not include toy pistols , toy canes , toy guns ,
22 or other devices in which paper caps containing not more than an "
23 average of 25/100 of a grain per cap are used and manufactured
24 according to the U.S . Interstate Commerce Commission regulations,
25 the sale and use of which shall be permitted at all times . Each
26 package containing toy paper caps offered for retail sale shall
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1 be labeled to indicate the maximum explosive content per cap.
2 Sec. 2 . Except as hereinafter provided, no person, firm,
3 copartnership, or corporation shall offer for sale, expose for
4 sale, sell at retail, keep with intent to sell at retail, or use
5 or explode any fireworks, provided that the state fire marshal
6 may adopt reasonable rules and regulations for the granting of
7 permits for supervised displays of fireworks by municipalities ,
8 fair associations , amusement parks , and other organizations or
9 groups of individuals. Such permits may be granted upon
10 application to the state fire marshal and after approval of the
11 local police and fire authorities of the community wherein the
12 display is proposed to be held as provided herein and the filing
13 of a bond by the applicant as provided hereinafter. Every such
14 display shall be handled by a competent operator licensed or
15 certificated as to competency by the state fire marshal and shall
16 be of such composition, character, and so located, discharged,
17 or fired as in the opinion of the chief of the fire department,
18 after proper inspection, and of the chief of police shall not be
19 hazardous to property or endanger any person or persons . After
20 such privilege shall have been granted, sales, possession, use,
21 and distribution of fireworks for such display shall be lawful
22 for that purpose only. No permit granted hereunder shall be
23 transferable.
24 Sec. 3. The governing body or chief executive authority
25 of the municipality shall require a bond from the licensee in a
26 sum not less than $1,000 conditioned on compliance with the
27 provisions of this law and the regulations of the state fire
28 marshal adopted hereunder, provided no municipality shall be
29 required to file such bond.
30 Sec. 4 . Before any permit for a pyrotechnic display shall
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1 be issued, the person, firm, or corporation making application
2 therefor shall furnish proof of financial responsibility to satisfy
3 claims for damages to property or personal injuries arising out
4 of any act or omission on the part of such person, firm, or
5 corporation or any agent or employee thereof, in such amount,
6 character, and form as the state fire marshal determines to be
7 necessary for the protection of the public.
8 Sec. 5 . No permit shall be issued under the provisions of
9 this Act to a nonresident person, firm, or corporation for conduct
10 of a pyrotechnic display in this state until such person, firm,
11 or corporation shall have appointed in writing a member of the
12 bar of this state and residing therein to be his attorney upon
13 whom all process in any action or proceeding against him may be
14 served.
15 Sec. 6 . Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit
16 any resident wholesaler, dealer, or jobber to sell at wholesale
17 such fireworks as are not herein prohibited or the sale of any
18 kind of fireworks provided the same are to be shipped directly
19 out of state in accordance with regulations of the U.S . Interstate
20 Commerce Commission covering the transportation of explosives and
21 other dangerous articles by motor, rail, and water, or the use
22 of fireworks by railroads or other transportation agencies for
23 signal purposes or illumination, or the sale or use of blank
24 cartridges for a show or theater, or for signal or ceremonial
25 purposes in athletics or sports , or for use by military
26 organizations , or the use of fireworks for agricultural purposes
27 under conditions approved by the local authority.
28 Sec. 7 . The state fire marshal shall seize, take, remove,
29 or cause to be removed at the expense of the owner all stocks of
30 fireworks or combustibles offered or exposed for sale, stored,
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1 or held in violation of this Act.
2 Sec. 8 . Any person, firm, copartnership, or corporation
3 violating the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of a
4 misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine
5 not exceeding $100 or by confinement in the county jail not
6 exceeding 90 days , or by both.
7 Sec. 9 . The following laws are repealed: Chapter 498 ,
8 Acts of the 55th Legislature, Regular Session, 1957 , as amended
9 (Article 1725, Vernon' s Texas Penal Code) .
10 Sec. 10. The importance of this legislation and the crowded
11 condition of the calendars in both houses create an emergency and
12 an imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule
13 requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house
14 be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, and that this
15 Act take effect and be in force from and after its passage , and
16 it is so enacted.
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