Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 518
       
       
        
       By Senator Polsky
       
       
       
       
       
       30-00692-24                                            2024518__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to weapons and firearms; providing a
       short title; creating s. 790.0653, F.S.; providing
       definitions; requiring background checks on all
       persons involved in a firearm sale or other transfer;
       requiring firearm sales or other transfers between
       unlicensed persons to be conducted through, and
       processed by, a licensed dealer; specifying
       requirements for firearm sales or transfers through
       licensed dealers; authorizing a fee; providing
       exceptions; providing criminal penalties; requiring
       the investigating law enforcement agency to report
       certain violations to the Attorney General; providing
       applicability; amending s. 790.174, F.S.; revising
       requirements for the safe storage of firearms;
       revising criminal penalties for violations; providing
       exceptions; providing and revising definitions;
       amending s. 790.175, F.S.; prohibiting licensed
       dealers from selling firearms without trigger locks or
       gun cases; providing exceptions; revising required
       written warnings to be delivered by licensed dealers
       to purchasers or transferees upon retail commercial
       sales or retail transfers of firearms; requiring
       certain written materials to be delivered to gun
       purchasers; providing applicability; requiring
       licensed dealers and purchasers to sign a specified
       statement; providing record retention requirements for
       licensed dealers; providing construction; providing
       criminal penalties; defining the term “licensed
       dealer”; creating s. 790.223, F.S.; providing
       definitions; prohibiting certain actions leading to
       the manufacture or assembly, sale, or transfer of a
       firearm not imprinted with a valid serial number;
       prohibiting specified acts involving unfinished
       firearm frames or receivers; prohibiting specified
       acts involving undetectable firearms; prohibiting
       certain activities involving a three-dimensional
       printer or computer numerical control milling machine
       that has the primary or intended function of
       manufacturing or assembling firearms or related items;
       providing an exception; providing criminal penalties;
       providing applicability; providing construction;
       defining the term “licensed dealer”; providing an
       effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Responsible Gun
Ownership Act.”
       Section 2. Section 790.0653, Florida Statutes, is created
to read:
       790.0653 Transfers of firearms; transfer through licensed
dealer required.—
       (1) As used in this section, the term:
       (a) “Background check” means the process described in 18
U.S.C. s. 922(t) and s. 790.065 of using the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System and other systems to determine
that a person is not prohibited from possessing or receiving a
firearm under federal or state law.
       (b) “Family member” means a spouse or any of the following
relations, whether by consanguinity, adoption, or step-relation:
       1. Parent;
       2. Child;
       3. Sibling;
       4. Grandparent; or
       5. Grandchild.
       (c) “Firearm” has the same meaning as in s. 790.001 and
includes any handgun, rifle, or shotgun or any completed or
unfinished frame or receiver.
       (d) “Licensed dealer” means a person who holds a federal
firearms license issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. s. 923(a).
       (e) “Person” means any individual, corporation, trust,
company, firm, partnership, association, club, organization,
society, joint stock company, or other legal entity.
       (f) “Purchaser or other transferee” means an unlicensed
person who wishes or intends to receive a firearm from another
unlicensed person.
       (g) “Sale” means the sale, delivery, or passing of
ownership or control of a firearm for a fee or other
consideration.
       (h) “Seller or other transferor” means an unlicensed person
who wishes or intends to transfer a firearm to another
unlicensed person.
       (i) “Transfer” means to furnish, give, lend, deliver, or
otherwise provide, with or without consideration.
       (j) “Unfinished frame or receiver” means a forging,
casting, printing, extrusion, machined body, or similar item
that is:
       1. Designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, or
otherwise converted to function as a frame or receiver; or
       2. Marketed or sold to the public to become or be used as
the frame or receiver of a functional firearm, rifle, or shotgun
once completed, assembled, or otherwise converted.

However, the term does not include a component designed and
intended for use in an antique weapon.
       (k) “Unlicensed person” means a person who is not a
licensed dealer.
       (2) All persons involved in a firearm sale or other
transfer, in whole or in part, shall be subject to a background
check unless specifically exempted by state or federal law. If
the person involved in the firearm sale or other transfer, in
whole or in part, is a corporation or any entity other than an
individual person, the principal individual or individuals
involved in such sale or other transfer on behalf of the
corporation or other entity shall be subject to background
checks unless specifically exempted by federal law. A person may
not sell or otherwise transfer a firearm unless:
       (a) The person is a licensed dealer;
       (b) The purchaser or other transferee is a licensed dealer;
or
       (c) The requirements of subsection (3) are met.
       (3) If neither party to a prospective firearm sale or other
transfer is a licensed dealer, the parties to the transaction
shall complete the sale or other transfer through a licensed
dealer as follows:
       (a) The seller or other transferor and the purchaser or
other transferee shall appear jointly with the firearm at a
licensed dealer and request that the licensed dealer conduct a
background check on the purchaser or other transferee.
       (b) A licensed dealer who agrees to conduct a background
check pursuant to this section shall process the sale or other
transfer as if he or she were transferring the firearm from the
licensed dealer’s own inventory to the purchaser or other
transferee, complying with all requirements of federal and state
law which would apply if he or she were the seller or other
transferor of the firearm, including all background checks and
recordkeeping requirements.
       (c) The seller or other transferor and the purchaser or
other transferee shall each complete, sign, and submit all state
and federal forms necessary to process the background check and
otherwise complete the sale or other transfer pursuant to this
section, and the licensed dealer shall indicate on the forms
that the sale or other transfer is between unlicensed persons.
       (d) This section does not prevent the seller or other
transferor from removing the firearm from the premises of the
licensed dealer while the background check is being conducted or
during the applicable waiting period, provided that the seller
or other transferor returns to the business premises of the
licensed dealer and delivers the firearm to the licensed dealer
before completion of the sale or other transfer.
       (e) A licensed dealer or a seller or other transferor may
not sell or otherwise transfer a firearm to a purchaser or other
transferee if the results of the background check indicate that
the purchaser or other transferee is prohibited from possessing
or receiving a firearm under federal or state law.
       (f) A licensed dealer who agrees to conduct a background
check pursuant to this section may charge a reasonable fee not
to exceed the administrative costs incurred by the licensed
dealer for conducting the sale or other transfer of the firearm,
plus applicable fees pursuant to federal and state law.
       (4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to the following:
       (a) A law enforcement officer or a correctional officer, as
defined in s. 943.10(1) and (2), respectively, vested with the
authority to bear arms, acting within the course and scope of
his or her employment or official duties.
       (b) A United States Marshals Service officer, United States
Armed Forces or National Guard member, or federal official
vested with the authority to bear arms, acting within the course
and scope of his or her employment or official duties.
       (c) A gunsmith who receives a firearm solely for the
purposes of service or repair and who returns the firearm to its
lawful owner.
       (d) A common carrier, warehouseman, or other person engaged
in the business of transportation or storage, to the extent that
the receipt of any firearm is in the ordinary course of business
and not for the personal use of any such person.
       (e) A person who is not prohibited from possessing or
receiving a firearm under state or federal law and who has
temporarily been transferred a firearm by its lawful owner:
       1. Solely for the purpose of the person shooting at
targets, if the transfer occurs on the premises of a sport
shooting range authorized by the governing body of the
jurisdiction in which the range is located, or, if no such
authorization is required, operated consistently with local law
in such jurisdiction, and the firearm is at all times kept
within the premises of the sport shooting range;
       2. While the person is accompanying the lawful owner of the
firearm and using the firearm for lawful hunting purposes, if
hunting is legal in all places where the person possesses the
firearm and the person holds all licenses and permits required
for such hunting;
       3. While the person is participating in a lawfully
organized competition involving the use of a firearm; or
       4. While the person is in the presence of the seller or
other transferor.
       (f) A family member of the seller or other transferor. This
paragraph does not apply if the lawful owner or family member
knows or has reasonable cause to believe that federal or state
law prohibits the family member from purchasing or possessing a
firearm, or the seller or other transferor knows or has
reasonable cause to believe that the family member is likely to
use the firearm for unlawful purposes.
       (g) An executor, administrator, trustee, or personal
representative of an estate or trust that occurs by operation of
law upon the death of the former lawful owner of the firearm.
       (h) The temporary transfer of a firearm if such transfer is
to prevent immediate or imminent death or great bodily harm to
one’s self or others, provided that the person to whom the
firearm is transferred is not prohibited from possessing a
firearm under state or federal law and the temporary transfer
lasts no longer than is necessary to prevent the immediate or
imminent death or great bodily harm.
       (i) The sale or other transfer of an antique firearm.
       (5) A person who violates this section commits a felony of
the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s.
775.083, or s. 775.084.
       (6) In addition to any other penalty or remedy, the
investigating law enforcement agency shall report any violation
of this section committed by a licensed dealer to the Attorney
General.
       (7) This section does not apply to any firearm modified to
render it permanently inoperable.
       Section 3. Section 790.174, Florida Statutes, is amended to
read:
       790.174 Safe storage of firearms required.—
       (1)(a) A person who stores or leaves, on a premise under
his or her control, a loaded firearm, as defined in s. 790.001,
and who knows or reasonably should know that a minor is likely
to gain access to the firearm without the lawful permission of
the minor’s parent or the person having charge of the minor, or
without the supervision required by law, shall keep the firearm
in a securely locked box or container or in a location which a
reasonable person would believe to be secure or shall secure it
with a trigger lock, except when the person is carrying the
firearm on his or her body or within such close proximity
thereto that he or she can retrieve and use the firearm it as
easily and quickly as if he or she carried it on his or her
body.
       (b) A person who stores or leaves, on a premise under his
or her control, a firearm, as defined in s. 790.001, and who
knows or reasonably should know that a prohibited user is likely
to gain access to the firearm, shall keep the firearm in a
securely locked box or container or shall secure it with a
trigger lock, except when the person is carrying the firearm on
his or her body or within such close proximity thereto that he
or she can retrieve and use the firearm as easily and quickly as
if he or she carried it on his or her body. For the purposes of
this section, the term “prohibited user” means any person who is
prohibited by state or federal law from possessing the firearm.
       (2) Except as provided in paragraphs (a) and (b), It is a
misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s.
775.082 or s. 775.083, if a person who violates subsection (1)
commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
       (a) If, as a result of the violation of subsection (1), by
failing to store or leave a firearm in the required manner and
as a result thereof a prohibited user or a minor gains access to
the firearm, without the lawful permission of the minor’s parent
or the person having charge of the minor, and possesses or
exhibits it, without the supervision required by law:
       1.(a) In a public place; or
       2.(b) In a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner in
violation of s. 790.10,

The person who violates subsection (1) commits a misdemeanor of
the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
775.083.
       (b) This subsection does not apply under any of the
following circumstances if the prohibited user or the minor
obtains the firearm:
       1. If the minor obtains the firearm As a result of an
unlawful entry by any person.
       2. While lawfully acting in self-defense or defense of
another.
       3. With the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian
and the minor uses or possesses the firearm during the minor’s
employment; ranching or farming; or target practice, hunting, or
instruction in the safe use of a firearm.
       (3) As used in this section act, the term:
       (a) “Locked box or container” means a secure container that
is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination
lock, or similar locking device.
       (b) “Locking device” means a trigger lock, cable lock, or
similar lock that prevents a firearm from discharging when the
locking device is properly engaged so as to render such weapon
inoperable by any person other than the owner or other lawfully
authorized user.
       (c) “Minor” means any person under the age of 18 16.
       Section 4. Section 790.175, Florida Statutes, is amended to
read:
       790.175 Transfer or sale of firearms; required warnings;
penalties.—
       (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a licensed dealer
may not sell a firearm in this state unless the sale includes
one of the following:
       (a) A commercially available trigger lock or other device
designed to disable the firearm and prevent the discharge of the
firearm.
       (b) A commercially available gun case or storage container
that can be secured to prevent unauthorized access to the
firearm.
       (2)(1) Upon the retail commercial sale or retail transfer
of any firearm, the licensed dealer seller or transferor shall
deliver:
  296