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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 10, 2022 09:38 AM |
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| From: | Representative Perry S. Warren |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Lost and Stolen Firearms |
| It has been reported that every two minutes, a firearm is stolen in the United States, amounting to hundreds of thousands of firearms that are lost or stolen every single year. Many stolen firearms find their way into the black market and are later used in the commission of a crime. One study conducted in Pittsburgh uncovered that one third of all firearms recovered at crimes scenes had been stolen from the lawful owner. The simple step of requiring firearm owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm to authorities can help to reduce the flow of firearms to the black market. Moreover, the reporting of lost and stolen firearms both increases the likelihood that a lost or stolen firearm will be returned to its owner, and reporting will protect owners of lost or stolen firearms from criminal accusations if their lost or stolen firearm is later used in a crime. And, under this bill, the victim of a crime committed with an unreported lost or stolen firearm will have a civil remedy for the failure to report. Lost-and-stolen reporting is a win-win-win for everyone. For these reasons, I will be reintroducing legislation to require firearm owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm to the police within 24 hours of the discovery of the loss or theft. The remedy in this bill for failure to report a lost or stolen firearm is only a civil remedy. There is no criminal sanction under this bill for a firearm owner’s failure to report a lost or stolen firearm. Please join me in reducing firearm theft and violence, increasing the likelihood of recovery of a lost or stolen firearm, protecting firearm owners from inaccurate accusations of involvement in a crime committed with a lost or stolen firearm, and providing a civil remedy for victims of crimes committed with unreported lost or stolen firearms. |
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Introduced as HB2687