1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to crime prevention; regulating transfers or 
  1.3             purchases of pistols or semiautomatic military-style 
  1.4             assault weapons within a 30-day period; prohibiting 
  1.5             the transporting of pistols and semiautomatic 
  1.6             military-style assault weapons into the state with the 
  1.7             intent to transfer them to persons who are ineligible 
  1.8             to possess them; requiring the reporting of lost or 
  1.9             stolen pistols or semiautomatic military-style assault 
  1.10            weapons; increasing the criminal penalty for certain 
  1.11            transfers of pistols and semiautomatic military-style 
  1.12            assault weapons; requiring the commissioner of public 
  1.13            safety to establish a computerized central reporting 
  1.14            system and to maintain a database related to firearms 
  1.15            transfers; imposing criminal penalties; appropriating 
  1.16            money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 
  1.17            624.7132, subdivision 9; and 624.7141, subdivision 1; 
  1.18            proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.19            chapters 299A; and 624. 
  1.20  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.21     Section 1.  [299A.07] [DATABASE OF FIREARM TRANSFERS.] 
  1.22     The commissioner of public safety shall establish a 
  1.23  computerized central reporting system and maintain a database of 
  1.24  firearm transfers to track the sales of pistols and 
  1.25  semiautomatic military-style assault weapons.  The commissioner 
  1.26  shall adopt rules to establish a procedure that must be followed 
  1.27  by transferors and transferees when checking on the number and 
  1.28  dates of prior firearm sales or transfers prior to a sale or 
  1.29  transfer.  This database must quickly indicate whether the 
  1.30  transferee has purchased a pistol or semiautomatic 
  1.31  military-style assault weapon within a 30-day period. 
  1.32     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 624.7132, 
  2.1   subdivision 9, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subd. 9.  [NUMBER OF PISTOLS OR SEMIAUTOMATIC 
  2.3   MILITARY-STYLE ASSAULT WEAPONS.] Except as provided in section 
  2.4   624.7133, any number of pistols or semiautomatic military-style 
  2.5   assault weapons may be the subject of a single transfer 
  2.6   agreement and report to the chief of police or sheriff.  Nothing 
  2.7   in this section or section 624.7131 shall be construed to limit 
  2.8   or restrict the number of pistols or semiautomatic 
  2.9   military-style assault weapons a person may acquire.  However, 
  2.10  section 624.7133 applies to the transfer of more than one pistol 
  2.11  or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon within a 30-day 
  2.12  period. 
  2.13     Sec. 3.  [624.7133] [PURCHASE, TRANSFER OF MORE THAN ONE 
  2.14  PISTOL OR SEMIAUTOMATIC MILITARY-STYLE ASSAULT WEAPON PER 30 
  2.15  DAYS PROHIBITED.] 
  2.16     Subdivision 1.  [GROSS MISDEMEANOR.] (a) A person who 
  2.17  purchases or accepts the transfer of more than one pistol or 
  2.18  semiautomatic military-style assault weapon within a 30-day 
  2.19  period is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. 
  2.20     (b) A person who transfers a pistol or a semiautomatic 
  2.21  military-style assault weapon to an individual knowing that the 
  2.22  individual has purchased or accepted the transfer of a pistol or 
  2.23  a semiautomatic military-style assault weapon within the 
  2.24  preceding 30 days is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. 
  2.25     Subd. 2.  [EXCEPTIONS.] Subdivision 1 does not apply to: 
  2.26     (1) firearms dealers as defined in section 624.7161, 
  2.27  subdivision 1; 
  2.28     (2) small firearms dealers as defined in section 624.7161, 
  2.29  subdivision 1; 
  2.30     (3) large firearms dealers as defined in section 624.7161, 
  2.31  subdivision 1; 
  2.32     (4) law enforcement agencies; 
  2.33     (5) private security companies; 
  2.34     (6) the purchase of antique firearms; and 
  2.35     (7) persons who have been exempted from this section under 
  2.36  subdivision 3. 
  3.1      Subd. 3.  [STOLEN OR LOST FIREARMS.] A person whose pistol 
  3.2   or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon was stolen or 
  3.3   irretrievably lost and who because of an occupational or 
  3.4   personal safety hazard wishes to purchase or accept the transfer 
  3.5   of a pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon but 
  3.6   who is prohibited from doing so because of this section may 
  3.7   apply to the chief of police of an organized full-time police 
  3.8   department of the municipality where the person resides or to 
  3.9   the county sheriff if there is no local chief of police where 
  3.10  the person resides for an exception to this section.  The police 
  3.11  chief or sheriff shall respond to an application within three 
  3.12  business days of the application by either approving or denying 
  3.13  the request. 
  3.14     Sec. 4.  [624.7134] [GUN TRAFFICKING PROHIBITED.] 
  3.15     A person who crosses a state or international border to 
  3.16  transport pistols or semiautomatic military-style assault 
  3.17  weapons into the state of Minnesota with the intent to transfer 
  3.18  the pistols or semiautomatic military-style assault weapons to a 
  3.19  person who is ineligible to possess a pistol or semiautomatic 
  3.20  military-style assault weapon under section 624.713 is guilty of 
  3.21  a felony. 
  3.22     Sec. 5.  [624.7135] [LOST OR STOLEN FIREARMS.] 
  3.23     Subdivision 1.  [FAILURE TO REPORT; GROSS MISDEMEANOR.] A 
  3.24  person who fails to report a stolen or lost pistol or 
  3.25  semiautomatic military-style assault weapon within seven days of 
  3.26  discovery of the loss is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. 
  3.27     Subd. 2.  [DUTY TO REPORT.] A person shall report a stolen 
  3.28  or lost pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon to 
  3.29  the chief of police of an organized full-time police department 
  3.30  of the municipality where the person resides or to the county 
  3.31  sheriff if there is no local chief of police where the person 
  3.32  resides. 
  3.33     Subd. 3.  [REPORT TO COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY.] A 
  3.34  chief of police or sheriff shall report all stolen or lost 
  3.35  pistols or semiautomatic military-style assault weapons to the 
  3.36  commissioner of public safety within seven days of receiving 
  4.1   notification of the theft or loss under this section. 
  4.2      Subd. 4.  [REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION.] If a person whose 
  4.3   pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon was stolen 
  4.4   or lost fails to report it under subdivision 1 or 2, and the gun 
  4.5   is used in the commission of a crime or seized from a person 
  4.6   ineligible to possess it, there is a rebuttable presumption that 
  4.7   the original gun owner transferred the gun in violation of 
  4.8   section 624.7141, subdivision 1. 
  4.9      Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 624.7141, 
  4.10  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.11     Subdivision 1.  [TRANSFER PROHIBITED.] (a) A person ~~is~~ 
  4.12  ~~guilty of a gross misdemeanor who~~ may not intentionally 
  4.13  ~~transfers~~ transfer a pistol or semiautomatic military-style 
  4.14  assault weapon to another if the person knows that the 
  4.15  transferee: 
  4.16     (1) has been denied a permit to carry under section 624.714 
  4.17  because the transferee is not eligible under section 624.713 to 
  4.18  possess a pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon; 
  4.19     (2) has been found ineligible to possess a pistol or 
  4.20  semiautomatic military-style assault weapon by a chief of police 
  4.21  or sheriff as a result of an application for a transferee permit 
  4.22  or a transfer report; or 
  4.23     (3) is disqualified under section 624.713 from possessing a 
  4.24  pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon. 
  4.25     (b) A person who violates paragraph (a) is guilty of a 
  4.26  felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 
  4.27  two years or to payment of a fine of not more than $4,000, or 
  4.28  both. 
  4.29     Sec. 7.  [APPLICATION FORMS.] 
  4.30     The commissioner of public safety shall develop a standard 
  4.31  application form for requests to be exempted from Minnesota 
  4.32  Statutes, section 624.7133, as provided in section 624.7133, 
  4.33  subdivision 3, and distribute the form to all local police 
  4.34  chiefs and sheriffs before August 1, 1999. 
  4.35     Sec. 8.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.36     $....... is appropriated to the commissioner of public 
  5.1   safety from the general fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 
  5.2   2000, to create and maintain the reporting system and the 
  5.3   database described in section 1. 
  5.4      Sec. 9.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.5      Section 1 is effective July 1, 1999.  Sections 2 to 7 are 
  5.6   effective August 1, 1999, and apply to crimes committed on or 
  5.7   after that date.