By: Sarah Johnson
In light of the horrific consecutive terrorist attacks at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday Prayer on March 15, 2019, I thought it would be interesting to see what the United States’ trending gun legislation looks like so far this year. It took New Zealand 26 days to enact stronger gun safety (banning military-style semi-automatic weapons) after this shooting; voting 119 to one to pass a bill for tighter gun restrictions. As we are aware, the United States has never taken an action similar to this after a mass shooting, a point of contention across the nation.
Let’s Look at the Bills.
Here is a list of the gun control related legislation that has been trending on BillTrack50 at some point in 2019.
Alabama SB4
AL SB4 was pre-filed by Senator James Allen and is Alabama’s fourth attempt to pass constitutional carry. Constitutional carry (also called permitless, unrestricted or Vermont carry) allows people to legally carry a handgun, open or concealed, without a permit or license.
First, let us take a look at the current concealed carry situation in Alabama. Alabama is an open carry state, meaning, adults do not need a permit or license to carry guns in public. AL SB4 attempts to address the issue of Alabama requiring residents to obtain a permit if they want to open carry within a vehicle. Many people argue the increased activity of moving a gun in and out of a vehicle to comply with state law increases the chance of an accident, and, is generally a hassle.
Currently, Alabama carry permits are shall issue. Shall issue jurisdiction means people are required to have a license to carry a concealed handgun, but granting the licenses is only based off whether or not applicants meet the criteria laid out in the law. Authorities who grant shall issue permits have no discretion, they must issue a permit if an applicant has met the criteria. Applicants are also not required to demonstrate “good cause” for needing/wanting a permit. Alabama permit cost varies from five to twenty dollars, depending on the Sheriff, and are only issued to residents. Alabama recognizes all state carry permits, here is a great interactive map depicting permits states recognize.
When looking at the issue, many people draw a correlation between Alabama not being able to pass a law removing the permit requirement and Sheriff departments around the state. As I mentioned before, price of permits vary by Sheriff. The money from permits is collected and retained (and put in a discretionary fund) by the Sheriff. These funds are not part of the normal yearly budget, so they are not subject to the same rules giving the Sheriff sole authority over funds generated from these permits. Alabama Sheriffs have been advocates against constitutional carry.
Georgia HB2 and SB150
GA HB2 follows a lot of the same ideas as Alabama’s bill in that it aims to allow residents who can legally possess firearms to carry them without having to register, pass a background check and pay $75 to the state to obtain a license. The bill also aims to remove the ban on residents prohibiting them from carrying firearms, other than handguns, in a park, historic site or recreational area. Current law also requires residents who carry handguns on the aforementioned premises to have a weapons carry permit.
Matthew Gurtler, a Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives, had this to say about the bill,
“As it stands now, law-abiding Georgians are taxed millions of dollars annually for exercising their God-given natural rights of self-defense. Under the (U.S) Constitution and in accordance with our Founding Fathers, ‘shall not be infringed’ is a no-compromise statement.”
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GA SB150 addresses a very different area of the gun control debate. A common narrative in legislation over the last couple years is closing the loophole in state and federal laws regarding limiting people’s access to firearms if they have been convicted of violent domestic offenses. Currently, Georgia only limits gun ownership based off felony convictions. Federal law prohibits people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors and people subject to specific domestic violence protective orders from purchasing or possessing firearms. Quick note: abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser owns a firearm; and in 2011, nearly two-thirds of women killed with guns were killed by their intimate partners.
GA SB150 specifically aims to address this potentially lethal gap by banning any person convicted of simple assault, simple battery, battery, assault, stalking, criminal damage to property, unlawful restraint, criminal trespass or misdemeanor family violence between “past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household” from “receiving, possessing, or transporting” a firearm. The bill also orders the transfer of any firearm out of the possession of people convicted of misdemeanors. Finally, the bill requires that following a hearing, anyone subject to a family violence protective order be subject to the same laws and restrictions for firearm possession as a convicted felon.
Missouri SB367
MO SB367 creates the “Second Amendment Preservation Act” and declares various items relating to the scope of the United States Constitution and the federal government’s power within the state of Missouri. The bill explicitly states the accepted scope of government authority does not apply to federal laws that restrict or prohibit the manufacture, ownership and use of firearms, ammunition or firearm accessories within Missouri. Legislators use the fact that laws used to regulate the United States Armed Forces are excluded from the type of federal firearms laws the sponsors view as exceeding federal authority. The bill states:
This act declares as invalid all federal laws that infringe on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution. Some laws declared invalid under this act include certain taxes, certain registration and tracking laws, certain prohibitions on the possession, ownership, use, or transfer of a specific type of firearm, and confiscation orders.The act declares that it is the duty of the courts and law enforcement agencies to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.Under this act, no public officer or state or local employee has the authority to enforce firearms laws declared invalid by the act.
Any public officer or state or local employee who tries to enforce the firearms declared invalid by the act or any person who acts under the color of law to deprive a Missouri citizen of rights or privileges ensured by the federal and state constitutions shall be liable for redress. In such an action attorney’s fees and costs may be awarded, and official or qualified immunity shall not be available to the defendant as a defense. Such officer or employee may also be prohibited from serving as a law enforcement officer for the state or political subdivision.
This bill would essentially allow the State of Missouri to act as its own agent in enforcing firearm laws and void laws their government/representatives do not agree with passed and implemented on a federal level. The bill includes a detailed definition of actions that qualify as “infringement”:
- Taxes and fees on firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition that would have a “chilling effect” on firearms ownership
- Registration and tracking schemes applied to firearms, ammunition or firearm accessories
- Any act forbidding the possession, ownership, use or transfer of a firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition by law-abiding citizens
- Any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition from law-abiding citizens
Nebraska LB126
NE LB126 is an interesting change up in the legislation we have seen so far. This bill proposes new regulations on deer firearm hunting season permits for landowners and qualifying family members. The legislation aims to allow landowners to hunt deer during the seven days before regular firearm deer hunting season, if the landowner consents to make 50 percent or more of their land available to deer hunters with a valid permit during regular firearm hunting season. Landowners would provide the location of the land to be published on the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission website. Most of Nebraska’s land is privately owned, meaning, most animals hunted have foraged on private land. Apparently, a single deer eats around 2,555 pounds of food each year. Proponents of the legislation say it is a good way to try to offset the cost to farmers and ranchers of wildlife eating and destroying their crops.
Not everyone is for this bill, some have raised concerns about it creating an increased overlap between archery and firearm deer seasons, potentially endangering hunters lives and reducing the availability for archers’ hunting season. Others have issues with how “qualifying family members” is defined.
New Jersey NJ A2761 and NJ A4304
NJ A2761 follows a little more of what New Zealand implemented by proposing a ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. The bill gives residents a 180-day “grace period” to turn in large magazines over the legal limit. The bill does include a grandfather clause for specific firearms that are unmodified, fixed magazine capacity of up to 15 rounds or a firearm that only accepts an unmodifiable detachable magazine of up to 15 rounds. People who own these types of firearms before the bill is enacted will have to register these firearms with local law enforcement agencies.
The legislation also outlined certain exceptions for current law enforcement who are on-duty, traveling to or from duty and retired law enforcement, it did not, however, address active off duty officers. The law is written in a way that makes police officers abide by the same magazine capacity restrictions as everyone else in New Jersey while carrying off duty. Most police service weapons’ magazines contain 12 to 17 rounds. The majority police officers carry their weapons when they are off duty, creating a major issue for them. After this issue gained public notice, NJ A4304 was proposed to correct it.
NJ A4304 was a bill proposed in June of 2018 and addressed law enforcement officers’ ability to possess and carry certain ammunition magazines while on and off duty. The bill now “allows a law enforcement officer to possess and carry while off-duty a large capacity ammunition magazine capable of holding 17 rounds of ammunition or less, provided it is used with the officer’s service firearm issued by the officer’s employer.”
Pennsylvania SB768
PA HB768 would require residents to register their firearms and obtain a registry certificate from the Pennsylvania State Police in order to possess, transfer, sell, give or accept a firearm. To obtain this certificate, residents must submit to a criminal background check, submit fingerprints and provide their social security number, home and business address, telephone number, date of birth, age, sex and citizenship. The bill prevents the state from issuing a certificate to anyone convicted of a violent crime or the possession or sale of narcotics in the five years prior to their application submission. It also excludes antiques, collectors items and duty weapons, and would require people to pay $10 per firearm each year to register.
United States HR8/SR42
US HR8/US S42 have been trending consistently since the beginning of the year. 97% of Americans (99% of Democrats, 97% of Republicans and 97% of gun owners) support comprehensive background checks. Currently, unlicensed or private sellers are under no obligation to conduct background checks before they sell or transfer a firearm and almost 25% of all gun sales in the United States occur without a background check.
The Background Check Expansion Acts require almost any type of transfer of firearms to be done only after a thorough background check is completed. This pertains to everyone selling firearms within the US, including unlicensed sellers. It does not matter whether sellers do business online, at gun shows or out of their home, everyone will be required to perform due diligence before transferring a firearm. The bills do outline a few exceptions: transfers between law enforcement officers, temporarily loaning firearms for hunting and sporting events, providing firearms as gifts to immediate family members, transferring a firearm as part of an inheritance or temporarily transferring a firearm for immediate self-defense.
Virginia HB2285
VA HB2285, died in subcommittee, but is the only trending bill relating to firearms and children we have seen so far. The bill would have made it a felony to leave a loaded, unsecured firearm “so as to endanger any minor.” When you look at the statistics of child related injury or death and the involvement of a firearm in Virginia, it is quite alarming. The majority of Virginia’s child firearm deaths are teenage suicides and unintentional shootings; most of these children were over age 14 and not protected by the current Child Access Prevention law. From 2008 to 2017, 139 Virginia children died by firearm suicide and 24 died by unintentional shootings.
This bill states “any person who negligently leaves a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any person under the age of 18 is guilty of a Class 6 felony.” Current law provides that any person who recklessly leaves a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of 14 is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. This new law will primarily protect teenagers ages 14 to 17 and make it easier for prosecutors to hold irresponsible gun owners accountable.
Conclusions.
I have to say, it is pretty disheartening for me to see how quickly New Zealand acted and passed actionable legislation after their tragedy. They are a nation who also prides itself on gun ownership, much like many in the United States. It is easier to tell ourselves rejection to gun control is ingrained in our culture and not an area where we can make any headway, but New Zealand has proven you can care about your right to bear arms, and also protect your people from unreasonably dangerous weapons no citizen has any business owning. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced just six days after the shootings that “Every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack … will be banned in this country” and it was passed just 25 days later.
After looking at these bills I am much, much more concerned. I honestly did not think about how state’s individual laws and decisions about abiding by federal laws could influence our representative’s abilities to pass legislation that protects all Americans. States with incredibly lax gun laws undermine federal efforts to regulate guns. If federal regulation becomes ineffective (like we have seen with marijuana being federally banned but allowed on the state level) we could be in a possibly dangerous situation.
We’re posting this article one day after another deadly shooting in Colorado at a school just miles away from Columbine. At least one student has died and at least seven people were injured from the attack. Two suspects have been arrested. Of course our thoughts and prayers are with them, but it is and has been time for much, much more.
Cover Photo by Tedward Quinn on Unsplash
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