SB 1046

Permits for firearms dealers

Under current federal law, persons who regularly engage in the sale of firearms for profit must have a license issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. This bill requires dealers who offer to sell at least five firearms in one year to also get a permit issued by the Wisconsin Department of Justice for each location at which sales are conducted. A person who violates this provision is guilty of misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class I felony for a repeat offense.

Under the bill, a person may apply for a state permit, and DOJ must act on the application within 90 days. Under the bill, DOJ must issue a permit to an applicant who is at least 21 years old and has a federal license unless the applicant is prohibited from possessing a firearm; had a license or permit involving a firearm revoked within the 10 years prior to submitting the application; or had been convicted of a violation involving a firearm within the 10 years prior to submitting the application. The fee for an application is $250. A permit is valid for one year, and a permittee must apply to renew the permit and pay a $200 renewal fee. The bill provides an appeal process if DOJ denies an applicant a permit or revokes a permit.

Under the bill, DOJ must conduct an on-site inspection of each permittee within a year after granting the permit and shall conduct an annual on-site inspection of at least 20 percent of the other permittees.

Regulating firearms transactions

Under current law, a federally licensed firearms dealer may not transfer possession of a firearm after a sale until the dealer requests DOJ to conduct a background check on the prospective transferee to ensure that they are not prohibited from possessing a firearm. This bill retains this requirement but adds a waiting period of seven days between the request for a background check and the transfer of the firearm. A dealer who transfers a firearm without conducting a background check or without waiting the seven days is guilty of a misdemeanor for a first violation and a Class I felony for a repeat violation.

The bill regulates “gun industry members,” which the bill defines as a person engaged in the sale, manufacturing, distribution, importing, or marketing of firearms, ammunition, magazines, or accessories. The bill prohibits gun industry members from knowingly or recklessly creating, maintaining, or contributing to a condition that endangers the safety or health of the public through the sale, manufacturing, importing, or marketing of a firearm, ammunition, or a firearm component by conduct that is unlawful or unreasonable. The bill requires a gun industry member that manufactures, markets, imports, or offers for wholesale or retail sale a firearm, ammunition, or a firearm component to use reasonable controls and procedures to prevent those products from being unlawfully possessed, used, marketed, or sold. Under the bill, “reasonable controls” include business practices that prevent theft of firearms, ammunition, or firearm components; sales of firearms to persons prohibited from possessing a firearm; or straw purchases of firearms. The bill sets up a process for the attorney general to follow to enforce the regulations described in this paragraph.

The bill requires a firearms dealer to retain an electronic record of each firearm purchase and transfer; a monthly inventory of all firearms; all transaction forms required by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and other records of business on the dealer’s premises. The dealer must also retain a record of any commissions or bonuses given to employees for sales of firearms. Under the bill, the records must be available for inspection by DOJ and law enforcement agencies.

Security of premises where firearms are sold and firearm safety

The bill requires that, if a firearms dealer or manufacturer receives a firearm trace request from a law enforcement agency, the dealer or manufacturer must respond to the request within 24 hours. In addition, if a firearms dealer or manufacturer experiences a loss, theft, or unlawful transfer of a firearm or ammunition, the dealer or manufacture must report it within 24 hours of learning of it. The report must go to DOJ, a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the premises, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The bill also provides security measures that firearms dealers must follow. Some security measures differ depending on whether the business is attended or unattended, but some are more general including the requirement that the premises be monitored by a digital video surveillance system and an alarm system or service.

The bill further requires a firearms dealer to ensure that each firearm transferred includes a trigger lock or other device designed to disable the firearm and prevent the discharge of the firearm or a gun case or container that can be secured.

Lastly, the bill requires a firearms dealer to display warnings about dangers of firearms in homes, to post numbers to call or text for the Suicide and Crisis hotline, and to post signs regarding the storage of firearms and advising that firearm owners should report the loss or theft of a firearm to a law enforcement agency.

Printed information for firearms dealers

The bill requires the Department of Health Services to consult with DOJ to develop detailed printed information in English and Spanish for firearms dealers to distribute. The information must focus on the risks of access to firearms, the importance of laws that regulate firearms, the importance of reporting lost or stolen firearms, a summary of the crimes against public health and safety, the duties of people who sell, purchase, or possess firearms, and suicide prevention resources.

Tracing and ballistics requirements for law enforcement officers

The bill requires all law enforcement agencies to participate in “eTrace” which is an online system under the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that allows law enforcement agencies to submit firearm traces and receive firearm trace results, search all firearm traces submitted by their agency, and perform other functions. The bill also requires law enforcement officers that possess a recovered firearm to submit a firearm trace request to eTrace within 48 hours of recovering the firearm. The bill defines a “recovered firearm” to be a firearm that has been seized, taken into custody, or is otherwise being investigated by a law enforcement agency if it was unlawfully possessed, used for unlawful purposes, recovered from the scene of a crime, believed to have been used in a crime, or abandoned, lost, or discarded. The bill also requires the law enforcement agency to test fire the recovered firearm and enter the information from the test fire into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network System.

Under the bill, DOJ must compile all eTrace data entered by a law enforcement agency. DOJ must analyze the data to look for patterns and trends relating to recovered firearms. DOJ must maintain a public online dashboard that allows users to view the patterns and trends. DOJ must also maintain a platform for law enforcement agencies to view statewide trace data that identify firearm traffickers, individuals who commit crimes with firearms, individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms, and any known source of firearms used in crimes.

DOJ must annually notify each firearms dealer and manufacturer of the total number of firearm trace requests involving the dealer or manufacturer for the prior year, as well as other related data.

Straw purchasing of firearms

Under current law, a person who intentionally furnishes, purchases, or possesses a firearm for a person, knowing that the person is prohibited from possessing a firearm, is guilty of a Class G felony. This crime is commonly known as “straw purchasing.” This bill increases the penalty to a Class D felony. The bill adds that no person may purchase or receive a firearm on behalf of an individual, and no dealer may sell or transfer a firearm to a person knowing the person is purchasing or receiving the firearm on behalf of an individual, if there is reasonable cause to know that the individual intends to use the firearm, or give to another to use, in furtherance of a felony, a federal crime of terrorism, or a drug trafficking crime. The penalty for the new crime is a Class D felony.

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.