PRINTER'S NO. 807
No. 738 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY PIPPY, LOGAN, WONDERLING, LAVALLE, WAUGH, FOLMER, ORIE, BROWNE, BOSCOLA, MADIGAN AND EICHELBERGER, APRIL 9, 2007
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, APRIL 9, 2007
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. 16 (b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to any of 17 the following: 18 (1) Records of firearms that have been used in
1 committing a crime. 2 (2) Records relating to a person who has been convicted 3 of a crime. 4 (3) Records of firearms that have been reported stolen. 5 These records may be retained for a period not in excess of 6 ten days after such firearms are recovered and any criminal 7 prosecution related to the stolen firearms has ended, 8 including any period during which an appeal may be filed. 9 Official documentation recording the theft of a recovered 10 weapon may be maintained no longer than the balance of the 11 year entered, plus two years. 12 (4) Firearm records that are required to be retained by 13 firearms dealers under Federal law, including copies of such 14 records transmitted to law enforcement agencies, provided 15 that no State governmental agency or political subdivision or 16 official, agent or employee thereof or any other person, 17 private or public, may accumulate, compile, computerize or 18 otherwise collect or convert such written records into any 19 form of list, registry or database for any purpose. 20 (5) Records kept by the Pennsylvania State Police to the 21 extent required by Federal law and a log of dates of requests 22 for criminal history record checks, unique approval and 23 nonapproval numbers, license identification numbers and 24 transaction numbers corresponding to such dates. 25 (6) Records of an insurer that, as a condition to 26 providing insurance against theft or loss of a firearm, 27 identify such firearm, provided that the records are not 28 sold, commingled with records relating to other firearms or 29 transferred to any other person or entity and that the 30 insurer does not keep a record of the firearm more than 60 20070S0738B0807 - 2 -
1 days after the policy of insurance expires or after 2 notification by the insured that the insured is no longer the 3 owner of the firearm unless part of an ongoing claim. 4 (7) Lists of customers of a firearm dealer retained by 5 the dealer, provided that the lists do not disclose the 6 particular firearms purchased, and lists, or any parts 7 thereof, are not sold, commingled with records relating to 8 other firearms or transferred to any other person or entity. 9 (8) Sales receipts retained by the seller of firearms or 10 by a person providing credit for the purchase, provided that 11 the receipts do not serve as or are used for the creation of 12 a database for registration of firearms. 13 (9) Personal records of firearms maintained by the owner 14 of the firearms or at the request of the owner of the 15 firearms. 16 (10) Records maintained by a business that stores or 17 acts as the selling agent of firearms on behalf of the lawful 18 owner of the firearms. 19 (11) Membership lists of organizations comprised of 20 owners of firearms. 21 (12) Records maintained by an employer or contracting 22 entity of the firearms owned by its officers, employees or 23 agents, if the firearms are used in the course of business 24 performed on behalf of the employer or contracting entity. 25 (13) Records of firearms involved in criminal 26 investigations, criminal prosecutions, criminal appeals and 27 postconviction motions, civil proceedings relating to the 28 surrender or seizure of firearms, including protection orders 29 and sheriff executions, and voluntary surrender by the owner 30 or custodian of the firearm. 20070S0738B0807 - 3 -
1 (14) Paper documents relating to firearms involved in 2 criminal cases, criminal investigations and criminal 3 prosecutions, civil proceedings relating to the surrender or 4 seizure of firearms, including protection orders and sheriff 5 executions, and voluntary surrender by the owner or custodian 6 of the firearm. 7 (15) Noncriminal records relating to the receipt, 8 storage or return of firearms, including, but not limited to, 9 records relating to firearms impounded for storage or 10 safekeeping, receipts proving that a firearm was returned to 11 its lawful owner and supporting records of identification and 12 proof of ownership, or records relating to firearms impounded 13 pursuant to sheriff execution or court orders, provided that 14 the records are not compiled, sorted or otherwise arranged 15 into any lists, indexes or registries of firearms or owners 16 of firearms. 17 (c) Penalties.--A person who violates this section commits a 18 felony of the third degree. 19 (d) No expenditure of State funds to defend.-- 20 (1) Except as otherwise provided under paragraph (2) and 21 the sixth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 22 no public funds shall be used to defend the unlawful conduct 23 of any person charged with a violation of this section, 24 unless the charges against the person are dismissed or the 25 person is determined to be not guilty at trial. 26 (2) Public funds may be expended to provide the services 27 of a public defender or court-appointed attorney. 28 (e) Fines.-- 29 (1) The governmental entity, or the designee of such 30 governmental entity, in whose service or employ a list, 20070S0738B0807 - 4 -
1 record or registry was compiled in violation of this section 2 may be assessed a fine of not more than $5,000,000, if the 3 court determines that the evidence shows that the list, 4 database, record or registry was compiled or maintained with 5 the knowledge or complicity of the management of the 6 governmental entity. 7 (2) The Attorney General may bring a civil cause of 8 action to enforce the fines assessed under this subsection. 9 (f) Prosecution.--The district attorney in the appropriate 10 jurisdiction shall investigate complaints of criminal violations 11 of this section and, where evidence indicates a violation may 12 have occurred, shall prosecute violators. 13 (g) Construction.--This section shall be construed to 14 effectuate its remedial and deterrent purposes. This section may 15 not be construed to grant any substantive, procedural privacy 16 right or civil claim to any criminal defendant, and a violation 17 of this section may not be grounds for the suppression of 18 evidence in any criminal case. 19 (h) Destruction of existing records.--A list, database, 20 record or registry of firearms maintained or under construction 21 on the effective date of this section shall be destroyed, unless 22 prohibited by law, within 60 days after the effective date of 23 this section. After that 60-day time period, the failure to 24 destroy such list, database, record or registry may result in 25 prosecution under this section. 26 (i) Confidentiality.--Information retained in compliance 27 with subsection (b)(3), (4), (5), (12), (13), (14) and (15) 28 shall not be subject to public access under the act of June 21, 29 1957 (P.L.390, No.212), referred to as the Right-to-Know Law. 30 (j) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following 20070S0738B0807 - 5 -
1 words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this 2 subsection: 3 "Firearm." Any weapon which is designed to or may readily be 4 converted to expel any projectile by the action of an explosive 5 or the frame or receiver of such weapon. 6 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days. C28L18DMS/20070S0738B0807 - 6 -