PRINTER'S NO. 2323
No. 1744 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY CALTAGIRONE, BLACKWELL, DONATUCCI, FRANKEL, GODSHALL, HARPER, JAMES, JOSEPHS, KOTIK, MANDERINO, McGEEHAN, MURT, MYERS, M. O'BRIEN, PAYTON, SIPTROTH, STEIL, STURLA, J. TAYLOR, THOMAS, WALKO AND YOUNGBLOOD, JULY 13, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JULY 13, 2007
AN ACT 1 Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania 2 Consolidated Statutes, further providing for grading of theft 3 offenses and for sale or transfer of firearms; providing for 4 limits on lending or transferring a handgun, for a study by 5 the Joint State Government Commission and for additional 6 authority for the Office of Attorney General; and making an 7 appropriation. 8 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 9 hereby enacts as follows: 10 Section 1. Sections 3903(a)(3) and 6111(b)(5) of Title 18 of 11 the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read: 12 § 3903. Grading of theft offenses. 13 (a) Felony of the second degree.--Theft constitutes a felony 14 of the second degree if: 15 * * * 16 [(3) In the case of theft by receiving stolen property, 17 the property received, retained or disposed of is a firearm 18 and the receiver is in the business of buying or selling 19 stolen property].
1 * * * 2 § 6111. Sale or transfer of firearms. 3 * * * 4 (b) Duty of seller.--No licensed importer, licensed 5 manufacturer or licensed dealer shall sell or deliver any 6 firearm to another person, other than a licensed importer, 7 licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer or licensed collector, 8 until the conditions of subsection (a) have been satisfied and 9 until he has: 10 * * * 11 (5) (i) Issued a receipt containing the information 12 from paragraph (4), including the unique approval number 13 of the purchaser. This receipt shall be prima facie 14 evidence of the purchaser's or transferee's compliance 15 with the provisions of this section. 16 (ii) Provided to the buyer of a firearm, as defined 17 in section 6102, a copy of the notice provided for in 18 section 6111.6 (relating to notice of limits on lending 19 or transferring a handgun). 20 * * * 21 Section 2. Title 18 is amended by adding sections to read: 22 § 6111.6. Notice of limits on lending or transferring a 23 handgun. 24 Each purchaser of a firearm, as defined in § 6102 (relating 25 to definitions), shall receive a copy of a notice, to be 26 promulgated by the Pennsylvania State Police, containing the 27 following information: 28 Notice of Limits on Lending 29 or Transferring a Handgun 30 As the owner of a handgun, you must comply with certain 20070H1744B2323 - 2 -
1 legal obligations and restrictions. You may not lend or give 2 the handgun to any person, except as provided in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3 6115(b) (relating to rules and regulations). A violation of 4 this provision is a crime punishable by five years 5 imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. You may not sell or transfer 6 the handgun to another person unless the sale or transfer 7 occurs at a licensed dealer or the office of the county 8 sheriff, as provided in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6111(c) (relating to 9 sale or transfer of firearms). A violation of this provision 10 is a crime, punishable by two years imprisonment and a $5,000 11 fine. If the person to whom you sell or transfer the handgun 12 is ineligible to possess a handgun, the penalty is seven 13 years imprisonment and a $15,000 fine. 14 § 6111.7. Study by Joint State Government Commission. 15 The Joint State Government Commission shall conduct a 16 continuing study for the purpose of evaluating the extent, if 17 any, to which multiple purchases of firearms, as defined in 18 section 6102 (relating to definitions), by any individual during 19 the period of the study are a contributing factor to the use of 20 firearms in criminal activity. Beginning on the effective date 21 of this section and ending three years from the effective date 22 of this section, the Pennsylvania State Police shall provide to 23 the commission such information as is necessary to conduct the 24 study. The commission may contract with such persons as 25 appropriate for the purposes of carrying out the study. The 26 commission shall issue a final report on the study within three 27 years and six months after the effective date of this section. 28 The commission may issue interim reports as it deems 29 appropriate. No identifying information obtained by the 30 commission may be publicly released by the commission or any 20070H1744B2323 - 3 -
1 other person in the reports or in any other manner. The 2 commission shall make information which it compiles on multiple 3 firearms purchases available to the Office of Attorney General 4 for law enforcement purposes. The Office of Attorney General or 5 any other law enforcement agency which receives such information 6 shall treat the information as intelligence information subject 7 to the provisions of Chapter 91 (relating to criminal history 8 record information). 9 § 6127. Office of Attorney General. 10 (a) Authority.--In addition to the authority conferred upon 11 the Attorney General by the act of October 15, 1980 (P.L.950, 12 No.164), known as the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, the Attorney 13 General shall have the authority to investigate and to institute 14 criminal proceedings for any violation of this chapter. No 15 person charged with a violation of this chapter by the Attorney 16 General shall have standing to challenge the authority of the 17 Attorney General to investigate or prosecute the case, and, if 18 any such challenge is made, the challenge shall be dismissed and 19 no relief shall be available in the courts of this Commonwealth 20 to the person making the challenge. 21 (b) Record examination.--The Attorney General may inspect or 22 examine the inventory and records of a licensed importer, 23 licensed manufacturer or licensed dealer without reasonable 24 cause or warrant: 25 (1) in the course of a reasonable inquiry during the 26 course of a criminal investigation of a person or persons 27 other than the licensee; 28 (2) for ensuring compliance with the recordkeeping 29 requirements of this chapter: 30 (i) not more than once during any 12-month period; 20070H1744B2323 - 4 -
1 or 2 (ii) at any time with respect to records relating to 3 a firearm involved in a criminal investigation that is 4 traced to the licensee; or 5 (3) when such inspection or examination may be required 6 for determining the disposition of one or more particular 7 firearms in the course of a bona fide criminal investigation. 8 (c) Authority of law enforcement officers.--Nothing in this 9 section shall limit or abrogate any existing authority of any 10 law enforcement officer to investigate or arrest for any 11 violation of law, or obtain or execute any search warrant, 12 subpoena or other legal process. 13 Section 3. The sum of $300,000 is hereby appropriated to the 14 Joint State Government Commission for the purposes of conducting 15 the study provided for in 18 Pa.C.S. § 6111.7. 16 Section 4. 18 Pa.C.S. § 6127 shall expire three years after 17 the effective date of this act. 18 Section 5. This act shall take effect in six months. F29L18AJM/20070H1744B2323 - 5 -