TX HB2044

Expands the firearm-free zone around schools from 300 feet to 1,000 feet, making it a criminal offense to possess a firearm on or within 1,000 feet of school property as measured from the property boundary line

Creates a new criminal offense for intentionally possessing, exhibiting, or using a firearm within 1,000 feet of school property with intent to cause alarm, injury, or property damage, or for threatening to exhibit or use a firearm in that zone

Allows student expulsion for possessing a firearm on or within 1,000 feet of school property, expanding the previous 300-foot expulsion zone

Provides legal defenses for firearm possession within the 1,000-foot zone if the firearm is at the person's private residence (not on school grounds) or stored in a vehicle that is transiting through the area without crossing school grounds

Updates school marshal and school security provisions to reference the new 1,000-foot firearm restriction, while maintaining exceptions for written authorization from schools and licensed concealed handgun carriers at postsecondary institutions