Florida Senate - 2022 SB 346



By Senator Polsky





29-00609-22 2022346__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records; amending s.
3 790.065, F.S.; providing an exemption from public
4 records requirements for records containing certain
5 information pertaining to a buyer or transferee who is
6 not found to be prohibited from receipt or transfer of
7 ammunition; providing for future legislative review
8 and repeal of the exemption; providing for the
9 reversion of specified statutory text if certain
10 conditions are met; providing a statement of public
11 necessity; providing a contingent effective date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section
16 790.065, Florida Statutes, as amended by SB 334, 2022 Regular
17 Session, is amended to read:
18 790.065 Sale and delivery of firearms and ammunition.—
19 (4)(a) Any records containing any of the information set
20 forth in subsection (1) pertaining to a buyer or transferee who
21 is not found to be prohibited from receipt or transfer of a
22 firearm or ammunition by reason of Florida and federal law which
23 records are created by the Department of Law Enforcement to
24 conduct the criminal history record check shall be confidential
25 and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a),
26 Art. I of the State Constitution and may not be disclosed by the
27 Department of Law Enforcement or any officer or employee thereof
28 to any person or to another agency. The Department of Law
29 Enforcement shall destroy any such records forthwith after it
30 communicates the approval and nonapproval numbers to the
31 licensee and, in any event, such records shall be destroyed
32 within 48 hours after the day of the response to the licensee’s
33 request.
34 Section 2. The amendments to s. 790.065(4)(a), Florida
35 Statutes, made by this act are subject to the Open Government
36 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15, Florida
37 Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution and
38 shall stand repealed on October 2, 2027, and the text of this
39 paragraph shall revert to that in existence on September 30,
40 2022, except that any amendments to such text enacted other than
41 by this act shall be preserved and continue to operate to the
42 extent that such amendments are not dependent upon the portions
43 of text which expire pursuant to this section, unless reviewed
44 and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
45 Section 3. The Legislature finds that it is a public
46 necessity that the information pertaining to an individual who
47 is a buyer or transferee who is not found to be prohibited from
48 receipt or transfer of ammunition under s. 790.065, Florida
49 Statutes, be made confidential and exempt from public records
50 requirements under s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a),
51 Article I of the State Constitution. The knowledge that someone
52 has purchased ammunition can easily lead to the conclusion that
53 the applicant or licensee has in fact armed himself or herself.
54 The Legislature has found in prior legislative sessions and has
55 expressed in s. 790.335(1)(a)3., Florida Statutes, that a list,
56 record, or registry of legally owned firearms or law-abiding
57 firearm owners is “an instrument that can be used as a means to
58 profile innocent citizens and to harass and abuse American
59 citizens based solely on their choice to own firearms and
60 exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms as
61 guaranteed under the United States Constitution.” Release of
62 personal identifying information of an individual who has
63 purchased ammunition could be used to harass an innocent person
64 based solely on that person’s exercised right to own a firearm.
65 Therefore, the Legislature finds that such information must be
66 held confidential and exempt from public records requirements.
67 Section 4. This act shall take effect on the same date that
68 SB 334 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
69 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
70 thereof and becomes a law.