Senate Bill 168
Requiring a firearms restrictions record search for transfers of handguns that do not involve a firearms dealer, requiring the exercise of rule-making authority, and providing a penalty
Topics: Criminal identification and investigation, Firearms and dangerous weapons, Justice, Department of, Legislature: Criminal Penalties, Joint Review Committee on
Stopped in committee
It never got a , so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.
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Introduced, passed
Aug 11, 2011
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Committee, stopped here
Stopped here. No public hearing was held.
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Senate vote, not reached
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Assembly vote, not reached
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Governor, not reached
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Law, not reached
Latest entry in the official record, Mar 23, 2012: “Failed to pass pursuant to ”
It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Utilities, Commerce, and Government Operations. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.
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Terms on this page
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary
Author
A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary
Cost estimate
A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.
Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary
What it would have done
Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.
Under current law, a firearms dealer must request that the Department of Justice (DOJ) perform a firearms restrictions record search on a handgun purchaser before the dealer may complete a sale of a handgun to the purchaser. If DOJ does not identify any firearms restrictions or if DOJ fails to complete the record search within 48 hours after receiving the request, subject to a limited extension, the firearms dealer may complete the sale. A person may be prohibited from possessing a firearm for several reasons, including that he or she is a felon or, in connection with a civil commitment or a domestic abuse injunction, has been ordered not to possess a firearm. A firearms dealer who intentionally violates the firearms restrictions record search requirements or a handgun purchaser who intentionally provides false information to a firearms dealer in connection with a record search is subject to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $10,000 and may be imprisoned for up to nine months.
This bill requires a firearms restrictions record search for transfers of handguns that do not involve a firearms dealer. A person who is not a firearms dealer may not transfer a handgun to another person who is not a firearms dealer unless all of the following steps are completed: the person who is to receive the handgun submits a request to a firearms dealer for a record search; the firearms dealer requests that DOJ perform the record search; and the firearms dealer notifies the person who is transferring the handgun either that the record search did not reveal any firearms restrictions for the person who is to receive the handgun or that the time period for running a record search expired. The bill allows a firearms dealer to charge the person who is to receive the handgun the $13 fee charged by DOJ for record searches plus an additional $5. Any person who intentionally transfers a handgun in violation of the requirements in this bill or any transferee who intentionally provides false information in connection with a firearms restrictions record search is subject to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $10,000 and may be imprisoned for up to nine months.
Read the full summary Show less
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.
Who's behind it
2 senators are its . All 2 are Democrats.
4 more lawmakers .
See all 6 names Hide the names
Authors (2)
- Fred A. Risser · Democrat, Senate
- Spencer Coggs · Democrat, Senate
Signed on in support (4)
- Terese Berceau · Democrat, Assembly
- Jason Fields · Democrat, Assembly
- Tony Staskunas · Democrat, Assembly
- Leon Young · Democrat, Assembly
What it would cost
State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.
What happened
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Mar 23, 2012
The session ended, and the bill died with it.
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Aug 30, 2011
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Aug 25, 2011
A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.
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Aug 11, 2011
Sent to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Utilities, Commerce, and Government Operations.
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Aug 11, 2011
Introduced in the Senate.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Aug 11, 2011 · Senate
Introduced by Senators S. Coggs and Risser;Cosponsored by Representatives Young, Staskunas, Berceau and Fields
- Aug 11, 2011 · Senate
Read first time and referred to committee on Judiciary, Utilities, Commerce, and Government Operations
- Aug 25, 2011 · Senate
Fiscal estimate received
- Aug 30, 2011 · Senate
Fiscal estimate received
- Mar 23, 2012 · Senate
Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1
Terms on this page
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary
Author
A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary
Cost estimate
A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.
Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary
From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor
Cost estimate
A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.
Official term: Fiscal estimate