Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Enrolled Copy                                                                         H.B. 120
                          WEAPON POSSESSION AMENDMENTS
                                      2023 GENERAL SESSION
                                            STATE OF UTAH
                              Chief Sponsor: Karianne Lisonbee
                              Senate Sponsor: Michael S. Kennedy
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 LONG TITLE
 General Description:
        This bill amends provisions relating to the possession of a weapon.
 Highlighted Provisions:
        This bill:
        < amends the definition of a Category II restricted person relating to domestic
 violence.
 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
        None
 Other Special Clauses:
        None
 Utah Code Sections Affected:
 AMENDS:
        76-10-503, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 262
21
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
        Section 1. Section 76-10-503 is amended to read:
        76-10-503. Restrictions on possession, purchase, transfer, and ownership of
 dangerous weapons by certain persons -- Exceptions.
        (1) For purposes of this section:
        (a) A Category I restricted person is a person who:
        (i) has been convicted of any violent felony as defined in Section 76-3-203.5;
        (ii) is on probation or parole for any felony;
       H.B. 120                                                                            Enrolled Copy
           (iii) is on parole from secure care, as defined in Section 80-1-102;
           (iv) within the last 10 years has been adjudicated under Section 80-6-701 for an offense
 which if committed by an adult would have been a violent felony as defined in Section
 76-3-203.5;
           (v) is an alien who is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
           (vi) is on probation for a conviction of possessing:
           (A) a substance classified in Section 58-37-4 as a Schedule I or II controlled substance;
           (B) a controlled substance analog; or
           (C) a substance listed in Section 58-37-4.2.
           (b) A Category II restricted person is a person who:
           (i) has been convicted of any felony;
           (ii) within the last seven years has been adjudicated delinquent for an offense which if
 committed by an adult would have been a felony;
           (iii) is an unlawful user of a controlled substance as defined in Section 58-37-2;
           (iv) is in possession of a dangerous weapon and is knowingly and intentionally in
 unlawful possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance as defined in Section 58-37-2;
           (v) has been found not guilty by reason of insanity for a felony offense;
           (vi) has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial for a felony offense;
           (vii) has been adjudicated as mentally defective as provided in the Brady Handgun
 Violence Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. 103-159, 107 Stat. 1536 (1993), or has been committed
 to a mental institution;
           (viii) has been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces;
           (ix) has renounced the individual's citizenship after having been a citizen of the United
 States;
           (x) is a respondent or defendant subject to a protective order or child protective order
 that is issued after a hearing for which the respondent or defendant received actual notice and at
 which the respondent or defendant has an opportunity to participate, that restrains the
 respondent or defendant from harassing, stalking, threatening, or engaging in other conduct that
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       Enrolled Copy                                                                              H.B. 120
 would place an intimate partner, as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 921, or a child of the intimate
 partner, in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the intimate partner or child of the intimate
 partner, and that:
         (A) includes a finding that the respondent or defendant represents a credible threat to
 the physical safety of an individual who meets the definition of an intimate partner in 18 U.S.C.
 Sec. 921 or the child of the individual; or
         (B) explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force that
 would reasonably be expected to cause bodily harm against an intimate partner or the child of
 an intimate partner; or
         (xi) has been convicted of the commission or attempted commission of misdemeanor
 assault under Section 76-5-102 or aggravated assault under Section 76-5-103 against a current
 or former spouse, parent, guardian, individual with whom the restricted person shares a child in
 common, individual who is cohabitating or has cohabitated with the restricted person as a
 spouse, parent, or guardian, or against an individual similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or
 guardian of the restricted person.
         (c) As used in this section, a conviction of a felony or adjudication of delinquency for
 an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult does not include:
         (i) a conviction or an adjudication under Section 80-6-701 for an offense pertaining to
 antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraint of trade, or other similar offenses relating to
 the regulation of business practices not involving theft or fraud; or
         (ii) a conviction or an adjudication under Section 80-6-701 which, [according to] in
 accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which it occurred, has been expunged, set aside,
 reduced to a misdemeanor by court order, pardoned, or regarding which the person's civil rights
 have been restored unless the pardon, reduction, expungement, or restoration of civil rights
 expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.
         (d) As used in this section, a conviction for misdemeanor assault under Subsection
 (1)(b)(xi), does not include a conviction which, in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction
 in which the conviction occurred, has been expunged, set aside, reduced to an infraction by
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        H.B. 120                                                                        Enrolled Copy
 court order, pardoned, or regarding which the person's civil rights have been restored, unless
 the pardon, reduction, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the
 person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.
        [(d)] (e) It is the burden of the defendant in a criminal case to provide evidence that a
 conviction or an adjudication under Section 80-6-701 is subject to an exception provided in
 Subsection (1)(c), after which it is the burden of the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
 that the conviction or the adjudication is not subject to that exception.
        (2) A Category I restricted person who intentionally or knowingly agrees, consents,
 offers, or arranges to purchase, transfer, possess, use, or have under the person's custody or
 control, or who intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has under
 the person's custody or control:
        (a) any firearm is guilty of a second degree felony; or
        (b) any dangerous weapon other than a firearm is guilty of a third degree felony.
        (3) A Category II restricted person who intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers,
 possesses, uses, or has under the person's custody or control:
        (a) any firearm is guilty of a third degree felony; or
        (b) any dangerous weapon other than a firearm is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
        (4) A person may be subject to the restrictions of both categories at the same time.
        (5) If a higher penalty than is prescribed in this section is provided in another section
 for one who purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has under this custody or control any
 dangerous weapon, the penalties of that section control.
        (6) It is an affirmative defense to a charge based on the definition in Subsection
 (1)(b)(iv) that the person was:
        (a) in possession of a controlled substance pursuant to a lawful order of a practitioner
 for use of a member of the person's household or for administration to an animal owned by the
 person or a member of the person's household; or
        (b) otherwise authorized by law to possess the substance.
        (7) (a) It is an affirmative defense to transferring a firearm or other dangerous weapon
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        Enrolled Copy                                                                          H.B. 120
 by a person restricted under Subsection (2) or (3) that the firearm or dangerous weapon:
        (i) was possessed by the person or was under the person's custody or control before the
 person became a restricted person;
        (ii) was not used in or possessed during the commission of a crime or subject to
 disposition under Section 24-3-103;
        (iii) is not being held as evidence by a court or law enforcement agency;
        (iv) was transferred to a person not legally prohibited from possessing the weapon; and
        (v) unless a different time is ordered by the court, was transferred within 10 days of the
 person becoming a restricted person.
        (b) Subsection (7)(a) is not a defense to the use, purchase, or possession on the person
 of a firearm or other dangerous weapon by a restricted person.
        (8) (a) A person may not sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any firearm or
 dangerous weapon to any person, knowing that the recipient is a person described in
 Subsection (1)(a) or (b).
        (b) A person who violates Subsection (8)(a) when the recipient is:
        (i) a person described in Subsection (1)(a) and the transaction involves a firearm, is
 guilty of a second degree felony;
        (ii) a person described in Subsection (1)(a) and the transaction involves any dangerous
 weapon other than a firearm, and the transferor has knowledge that the recipient intends to use
 the weapon for any unlawful purpose, is guilty of a third degree felony;
        (iii) a person described in Subsection (1)(b) and the transaction involves a firearm, is
 guilty of a third degree felony; or
        (iv) a person described in Subsection (1)(b) and the transaction involves any dangerous
 weapon other than a firearm, and the transferor has knowledge that the recipient intends to use
 the weapon for any unlawful purpose, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
        (9) (a) A person may not knowingly solicit, persuade, encourage or entice a dealer or
 other person to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of a firearm or dangerous weapon under
 circumstances which the person knows would be a violation of the law.
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        H.B. 120                                                                        Enrolled Copy
         (b) A person may not provide to a dealer or other person any information that the
 person knows to be materially false information with intent to deceive the dealer or other
 person about the legality of a sale, transfer or other disposition of a firearm or dangerous
 weapon.
         (c) "Materially false information" means information that portrays an illegal transaction
 as legal or a legal transaction as illegal.
         (d) A person who violates this Subsection (9) is guilty of:
         (i) a third degree felony if the transaction involved a firearm; or
         (ii) a class A misdemeanor if the transaction involved a dangerous weapon other than a
 firearm.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 76-10-503
Enrolled: 76-10-503