Under this bill, it will be an offense for a person to store a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or firearm ammunition in a motor vehicle or boat while the person is not in the motor vehicle or boat, unless the firearm or firearm ammunition is kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, utility or glove box, or a locked container securely affixed to the motor vehicle or boat.
This bill requires a person who owns a firearm to report the loss or theft of the firearm to a law enforcement agency within 24 hours of the discovery of the loss or theft of the firearm.
The offense described above and a violation of the reporting requirement will both be Class C misdemeanors, punishable only by the completion of a court-approved firearm safety course.
Present law authorizes a person to transport and store a firearm or firearm ammunition in the person's motor vehicle while on or utilizing any public or private parking area, if certain conditions are met. One such condition is that the firearm or ammunition is kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, glove box, or interior of the person's motor vehicle or a container securely affixed to the motor vehicle if the person is not in the motor vehicle. This bill revises this condition to mirror the condition set out in this bill, as described above, removing the reference to the interior of the car, so it will be instead that the firearm or ammunition is kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, utility or glove box, or a locked container securely affixed to the motor vehicle, if the person is not in the car.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 39-17-1307, 39-17-1313(a)(2)(B), 39-17-1313