A bill for an act
relating to public safety; regulating the lawful possession, purchase, and transfer
of firearms and ammunition; establishing mandatory minimum sentences; creating
new criminal offenses; providing procedures for restoring firearms rights; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2020, sections 609.165, subdivision 1b; 609.505, by adding a
subdivision; 624.712, subdivision 5; 624.713, subdivisions 1, 2, by adding a
subdivision; 624.7141, subdivisions 2, 3; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 609; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2020, section
624.713, subdivision 4.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 609.165, subdivision 1b, is amended to read:
(a) Any person who has been convicted of a crime of violence, as defined in
section 624.712, subdivision 5, and who ships, transports, possesses, or receives a firearm
or ammunition, commits a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than
15 years or to payment of a fine of not more than $30,000, or both.
(b) A conviction and sentencing under this section shall be construed to bar a conviction
and sentencing for a violation of section 624.713, subdivision 2.
(c) The criminal penalty in paragraph (a) does not apply to any person who has received
a relief of disability under United States Code, title 18, section 925, or whose ability to
possess firearms and ammunition has been restored under subdivision 1d.
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(d) Unless a longer mandatory minimum sentence is otherwise required by law or the
sentencing guidelines provide for and the court executes a longer presumptive executed
sentence, a person convicted of violating paragraph (a) shall be committed to the custody
of the commissioner of corrections for not less than:
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(1) 60 months; or
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(2) 120 months, if the person has a prior conviction under this section, section 624.713,
subdivision 2, paragraph (b), or a comparable law of another state or the United States.
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A person convicted and sentenced as required by this paragraph is not eligible for probation,
parole, discharge, work release, conditional release, or supervised release, until that person
has served the full term of imprisonment as provided by law, notwithstanding the provisions
of sections 241.26, 242.19, 243.05, 244.04, 609.12, and 609.135.
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This section is effective August 1, 2021, and applies to crimes
committed on or after that date.
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Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 609.505, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:
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(a) Whoever files a written report
with a peace officer that a firearm has been lost or stolen, knowing that the report is false,
is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
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(b) A person is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more
than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both, if the person:
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(1) is convicted a second or subsequent time of violating this subdivision; or
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(2) violates paragraph (a) while knowing that the firearm has been transferred to someone
who intends to use it in furtherance of a felony crime of violence, as defined in section
624.712, subdivision 5.
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This section is effective August 1, 2021, and applies to crimes
committed on or after that date.
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(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the meanings given.
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(b) "False information" means material information that portrays an illegal transaction
as legal or a legal transaction as illegal.
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(c) "Firearm" has the meaning given in section 609.669, subdivision 2.
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(d) "Licensed dealer" means a person who is licensed pursuant to United States Code,
title 18, section 923, as amended through February 15, 2019, to engage in the business of
dealing in firearms.
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(e) "Private seller" means a person who is not a licensed dealer and who transfers or
offers for transfer ammunition or any firearm.
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(a) Whoever does any of the following is guilty of a felony and may
be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not
more than $10,000, or both:
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(1) knowingly solicits, persuades, encourages, or entices a licensed dealer or private
seller of firearms or ammunition to transfer a firearm or ammunition under circumstances
that the person knows would violate the laws of this state or the United States; or
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(2) provides to a licensed dealer or private seller of firearms or ammunition what the
person knows to be false information with intent to deceive the dealer or seller about the
legality of a transfer of a firearm or ammunition.
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(b) Any person who willfully procures another person to engage in conduct prohibited
by this section is liable as a principal.
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This section does not apply to a law enforcement officer acting in
the officer's official capacity or to a person acting at the direction of a law enforcement
officer.
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This section is effective August 1, 2021, and applies to crimes
committed on or after that date.
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Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 624.712, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
"Crime of violence" means: felony convictions of the
following offenses: sections 609.185 (murder in the first degree); 609.19 (murder in the
second degree); 609.195 (murder in the third degree); 609.20 (manslaughter in the first
degree); 609.205 (manslaughter in the second degree); 609.215 (aiding suicide and aiding
attempted suicide); 609.221 (assault in the first degree); 609.222 (assault in the second
degree); 609.223 (assault in the third degree); 609.2231 (assault in the fourth degree);
609.224 (assault in the fifth degree); 609.2242 (domestic assault); 609.2247 (domestic
assault by strangulation); 609.229 (crimes committed for the benefit of a gang); 609.235
(use of drugs to injure or facilitate crime); 609.24 (simple robbery); 609.245 (aggravated
robbery); 609.25 (kidnapping); 609.255 (false imprisonment); 609.322 (solicitation,
inducement, and promotion of prostitution; sex trafficking); 609.342 (criminal sexual conduct
in the first degree); 609.343 (criminal sexual conduct in the second degree); 609.344 (criminal
sexual conduct in the third degree); 609.345 (criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree);
609.377 (malicious punishment of a child); 609.378 (neglect or endangerment of a child);
609.486 (commission of crime while wearing or possessing a bullet-resistant vest); new text begin609.505,
subdivision 3, paragraph (b) (falsely reporting lost or stolen firearms); new text end609.52 (involving
theft of a firearm and theft involving the theft of a controlled substance, an explosive, or an
incendiary device); 609.561 (arson in the first degree); 609.562 (arson in the second degree);
609.582, subdivision 1 or 2 (burglary in the first and second degrees); 609.66, subdivision
1e (drive-by shooting); 609.67 (unlawfully owning, possessing, operating a machine gun
or short-barreled shotgun); 609.71 (riot); 609.713 (terroristic threats); 609.749 (harassment);new text begin
609.84 (crimes against sellers of firearms);new text end 609.855, subdivision 5 (shooting at a public
transit vehicle or facility);new text begin 624.7141, subdivision