Firearm Bills

Passed:

HB 103 Weapon Possession While Under the Influence Amendments amends Category II restricted person and provides a penalty for carrying a weapon while impaired even with a prescription. We worked specifically on this bill and helped draft the language for the sponsor to ensure its passage.

HB 120 Weapon Possession Amendments amends the definition of a Category II restricted person relating to domestic violence by exempting those whose conviction has been expunged, set aside, reduced to an infraction by court order or pardoned.

HB 199 Voluntary Firearm Safekeeping Amendments prohibits a law enforcement agency that receives a firearm from the owner or the owner's cohabitant for safekeeping from returning the firearm to the owner if the owner: is a restricted person; or has been arrested and booked into jail on a class A misdemeanor or felony domestic violence offense, has had a court review the probable cause statement and determine that probable cause existed for the arrest, and is subject to a jail release agreement or a jail release court order. This bill also directs the Department of Public Safety to create a pamphlet detailing a domestic violence victim's rights to commit the perpetrator's firearm to a law enforcement agency.

HB 219 Firearms Regulations declares the state's commitment to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and declares that the state and its political subdivisions will not enforce federal laws that purport to restrict or ban certain firearms, ammunition, or firearms accessories.

HB 225 Firearm Possession Amendments amends several provisions in the restricted persons statute to: require agencies to run a background check when returning a firearm to an individual from evidence; add dating relationships to the list of relationships that restrict a person convicted of assault or aggravated assault; provide that a person is not a restricted person for certain convictions after five years after a conviction; classify an alien in the state on a nonimmigrant visa in certain circumstances as a restricted person not able to possess, own, or purchase a firearm; require the Bureau of Criminal Identification to inform the local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a firearms dealer when a restricted person attempts to purchase a firearm from that dealer; clarify that a restricted person may not use an antique firearm for an activity regulated under the Wildlife Resources Code of Utah.

HB 226 Sale of a Firearm Amendments directs BCI to create an online process that allows an individual involved in the sale of a firearm to determine if the other party to the sale has a valid concealed carry permit or the firearm has been reported as stolen.

HB 300 Voluntary Firearm Restrictions Amendments creates a voluntary firearm restricted list under BCI and removes the requirement for BCI to enter the information received from an individual requesting to be placed on a voluntary firearm restricted list into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

HB 461 Airport Firearm Possession Amendments provides that a firearm that was seized as part of a criminal offense at an airport should be returned to the firearm's owner if it does not need to be retained. Restricts the ability of a prosecutor to seek the forfeiture of a firearm as part of any plea or settlement negotiation.

HB 485 Restricted Persons Amendments requires a defendant to sign a document acknowledging their restricted status and the 10-day time constraint they are under to relinquish all firearms. 

HB 507 Firearm Possession Revisions amends the definition of restricted person to someone who has completed a sentence for a felony conviction in the last three years.

Failed:

HB 86 Firearm Reporting Requirements passed the House vote but failed to receive funding for final passage. It would have required BCI to gather data on where restricted persons are obtaining firearms.

HB 89 Gun Safety Amendments sought to create a waiting period between the purchase of a firearm from a dealer and the delivery of the firearm to the purchaser as well as creating a third degree felony offense of willfully and intentionally making a false statement when applying for an exemption to the waiting period. 

HB 148 Firearm Amendments would have made it a class A misdemeanor to possess a firearm on which the identifying marks have been altered or removed. It also attempted to add possession of ammunition to the various penalties associated with firearm possession by a restricted person and required the Bureau of Criminal Identification to inform local law enforcement when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a firearm from a firearm dealer. It would have required firearm dealers to distribute a firearm safety brochure at the time of the transfer of a firearm and post a written notice of potential liability for the negligent storage of a firearm, the failure of which would be a class C misdemeanor. Another bill was introduced this session that would have made it a class A misdemeanor to possess a firearm on which the identifying marks have been altered or removed, SB 69 Firearm Identification Amendments, but neither of these bills were heard in committee.

HB 354 Firearm Access Amendments would have created a criminal penalty for firearm owners who fail to secure a firearm that is used by a restricted/at-risk person or a minor to commit a crime or injure someone. This offense would have been charged as one level below the offense charged against the restricted/at-risk person or minor. This bill failed to pass out of committee.

SB 68 Restricted Person Possession Amendments would have amended offenses related to a restricted person in possession of a dangerous weapon to include ammunition but failed to be heard in committee.