SB 168

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.

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.