PRINTER'S NO. 3730
No. 2536 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY METCALFE, FORCIER, ARMSTRONG, BAKER, BARRAR,
BASTIAN, BENNINGHOFF, BEYER, BUNT, CAPPELLI, CLYMER,
CREIGHTON, DeLUCA, DeWEESE, ELLIS, FAIRCHILD, GERGELY, HANNA,
HESS, HUTCHINSON, JAMES, LEH, McILHATTAN, McNAUGHTON, MUSTIO,
NICKOL, PETRARCA, PHILLIPS, PYLE, RAPP, REED, ROHRER, SATHER,
SIPTROTH, S. H. SMITH, R. STEVENSON, T. STEVENSON,
E. Z. TAYLOR, TURZAI, WILT, YEWCIC, ZUG, DIVEN, LESCOVITZ,
MARKOSEK AND DERMODY, MARCH 15, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 15, 2006
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, providing for the offense of unlawful
3 firearm records; and prescribing a penalty.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
8 § 6143. Unlawful firearm records.
9 (a) Prohibition.--Except as otherwise provided under
10 subsection (b), no State governmental agency or political
11 subdivision or official, agent or employee thereof or any other
12 person, public or private, may knowingly and willfully keep or
13 cause to be kept any list, database, record or registry of
14 privately owned firearms or any list, database, record or
15 registry of the owners of those firearms.
1 (b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to any of
2 the following:
3 (1) Records of firearms that have been used in
4 committing a crime.
5 (2) Records relating to a person who has been convicted
6 of a crime.
7 (3) Records of firearms that have been reported stolen.
8 These records may be retained for a period not in excess of
9 ten days after such firearms are recovered and any criminal
10 prosecution related to the stolen firearms has ended,
11 including any period during which an appeal may be filed.
12 Official documentation recording the theft of a recovered
13 weapon may be maintained no longer than the balance of the
14 year entered, plus two years.
15 (4) Firearm records that are required to be retained by
16 firearms dealers under Federal law, including copies of such
17 records transmitted to law enforcement agencies, provided
18 that no State governmental agency or political subdivision or
19 official, agent or employee thereof or any other person,
20 private or public, may accumulate, compile, computerize or
21 otherwise collect or convert such written records into any
22 form of list, registry or database for any purpose.
23 (5) Records kept by the Pennsylvania State Police to the
24 extent required by Federal law and a log of dates of requests
25 for criminal history record checks, unique approval and
26 nonapproval numbers, license identification numbers and
27 transaction numbers corresponding to such dates.
28 (6) Records of an insurer that, as a condition to
29 providing insurance against theft or loss of a firearm,
30 identify such firearm, provided that the records are not
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1 sold, commingled with records relating to other firearms or
2 transferred to any other person or entity and that the
3 insurer does not keep a record of the firearm more than 60
4 days after the policy of insurance expires or after
5 notification by the insured that the insured is no longer the
6 owner of the firearm unless part of an ongoing claim.
7 (7) Lists of customers of a firearm dealer retained by
8 the dealer, provided that the lists do not disclose the
9 particular firearms purchased, and lists, or any parts
10 thereof, are not sold, commingled with records relating to
11 other firearms or transferred to any other person or entity.
12 (8) Sales receipts retained by the seller of firearms or
13 by a person providing credit for the purchase, provided that
14 the receipts do not serve as or are used for the creation of
15 a database for registration of firearms.
16 (9) Personal records of firearms maintained by the owner
17 of the firearms or at the request of the owner of the
18 firearms.
19 (10) Records maintained by a business that stores or
20 acts as the selling agent of firearms on behalf of the lawful
21 owner of the firearms.
22 (11) Membership lists of organizations comprised of
23 owners of firearms.
24 (12) Records maintained by an employer or contracting
25 entity of the firearms owned by its officers, employees or
26 agents, if the firearms are used in the course of business
27 performed on behalf of the employer or contracting entity.
28 (13) Records of firearms involved in criminal
29 investigations, criminal prosecutions, criminal appeals and
30 postconviction motions, civil proceedings relating to the
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1 surrender or seizure of firearms, including protection orders
2 and sheriff executions, and voluntary surrender by the owner
3 or custodian of the firearm.
4 (14) Paper documents relating to firearms involved in
5 criminal cases, criminal investigations and criminal
6 prosecutions, civil proceedings relating to the surrender or
7 seizure of firearms, including protection orders and sheriff
8 executions, and voluntary surrender by the owner or custodian
9 of the firearm.
10 (15) Noncriminal records relating to the receipt,
11 storage or return of firearms, including, but not limited to,
12 records relating to firearms impounded for storage or
13 safekeeping, receipts proving that a firearm was returned to
14 its lawful owner and supporting records of identification and
15 proof of ownership, or records relating to firearms impounded
16 pursuant to sheriff execution or court orders, provided that
17 the records are not compiled, sorted or otherwise arranged
18 into any lists, indexes or registries of firearms or owners
19 of firearms.
20 (c) Penalties.--A person who violates this section commits a
21 felony of the third degree.
22 (d) No expenditure of State funds to defend.--
23 (1) Except as otherwise provided under paragraph (2) and
24 the sixth amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
25 no public funds shall be used to defend the unlawful conduct
26 of any person charged with a violation of this section,
27 unless the charges against the person are dismissed or the
28 person is determined to be not guilty at trial.
29 (2) Public funds may be expended to provide the services
30 of a public defender or court-appointed attorney.
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1 (e) Fines.--
2 (1) The governmental entity, or the designee of such
3 governmental entity, in whose service or employ a list,
4 record or registry was compiled in violation of this section
5 may be assessed a fine of not more than $5,000,000, if the
6 court determines that the evidence shows that the list,
7 database, record or registry was compiled or maintained with
8 the knowledge or complicity of the management of the
9 governmental entity.
10 (2) The Attorney General may bring a civil cause of
11 action to enforce the fines assessed under this subsection.
12 (f) Prosecution.--The district attorney in the appropriate
13 jurisdiction shall investigate complaints of criminal violations
14 of this section and, where evidence indicates a violation may
15 have occurred, shall prosecute violators.
16 (g) Construction.--This section shall be construed to
17 effectuate its remedial and deterrent purposes. This section may
18 not be construed to grant any substantive, procedural privacy
19 right or civil claim to any criminal defendant, and a violation
20 of this section may not be grounds for the suppression of
21 evidence in any criminal case.
22 (h) Destruction of existing records.--A list, database,
23 record or registry of firearms maintained or under construction
24 on the effective date of this section shall be destroyed, unless
25 prohibited by law, within 60 days after the effective date of
26 this section. After that 60-day time period, the failure to
27 destroy such list, database, record or registry may result in
28 prosecution under this section.
29 (i) Confidentiality.--Information retained in compliance
30 with subsection (b)(3), (4), (5), (12), (13), (14) and (15)
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1 shall not be subject to public access under the act of June 21,
2 1957 (P.L.390, No.212), referred to as the Right-to-Know Law.
3 (j) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
4 words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
5 subsection:
6 "Firearm." Any weapon which is designed to or may readily be
7 converted to expel any projectile by the action of an explosive
8 or the frame or receiver of such weapon.
9 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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