Would you like to make this site your homepage? It's fast and easy...
Yes, Please make this my home page!
OREGON GUN OWNERS INITIATIVE
CHIEF PETITIONERS: JOHN NICHOLS AND SENATOR VERAL TARNO
FINAL VERSION-ADDED 12/7/99
SEND YOUR COMMENTS ON THE INITIATIVE TO
COMMENTS@OGO.ORG
FIREARMS ACT OF 2000
Section 1. Title. This act shall be known as the Firearms Act of 2000.
Section 2. The purpose of this Act is to ensure that only law-abiding
citizens may purchase firearms in this state, but to also ensure that all
law-abiding citizens shall maintain the individual right to keep and bear
arms and to protect the privacy of all law-abiding citizens.
Section 3. All provisions of ORS 166.412, which require that a gun dealer
carry out a background check process with the Oregon State Police as to the
transfer of any handgun, shall also apply to a gun dealer’s transfer of any
firearm as defined in ORS 166.412 (1)(c). A gun dealer who complies with
the requirements of this Act and ORS 166.412 is immune from civil liability
for any use of the firearm from the time the firearm is transferred unless
the gun dealer transfers the firearm knowing that the purchaser is likely
to commit an unlawful act involving the firearm.
Section 4.
(1.) A person other than a dealer who transfers a firearm at an event
at which the person knows, or reasonably should know, that more
than 25 firearms are held out to the public for transfer is
required to request a criminal history record check under
Section 5 of this Act prior to completing the transfer.
(2.) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply if the transferee
is licensed as a dealer under 18 U.S.C. 923, if the person is
transferring a firearm as part of an estate sale, or if the
person conducts the transfer from the person’s place of
residence.
(3.) Failure to comply with the requirements of Subsection (1) of
this section is a violation. A repeat failure to comply with
the requirements of subsection (1) of this section is a Class C
misdemeanor.
(4.) Even if not legally required to do so, any person who is
considering transferring a firearm to another person may request
a criminal history record check under Section 5 of this Act.
Section 5.
(1.) The Department of State Police shall make the telephone number
for gun dealer background checks under ORS 166.412 available to
all persons for the purpose of responding to inquiries from
persons for criminal history record checks under this Act. This
telephone number shall be toll-free and shall be operational 7
days a week between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. for the
purpose of responding to inquiries for criminal history record
checks. The Department is not required to operate the telephone
number on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day.
(2.) Prior to transferring a firearm, a person other than a gun
dealer may request by telephone that the department conduct a
criminal history record check on the transferee and shall
provide the following information to the department:
(a) The name, address and telephone number of the person making
the transfer;
(b) The make, model, caliber and manufacturer’s number of the
firearm being transferred;
(c) The name, date of birth, race, sex and address of the
transferee;
(d) The Social Security number of the transferee if the
transferee voluntarily provides this number; and
(e) The type, issuer and identification number of the
identification bearing the transferee’s recent photograph
presented by the transferee and meeting the standards as to
satisfactory identification as specified in ORS 166.412(4).
(3.) (a) Upon receipt of a request for a criminal history record
check under this section, the department shall immediately,
during the telephone call or by return call:
(A) Determine from criminal records and other information
available to it whether the transferee is disqualified
under ORS 166.470 from completing the transfer; and
(B) Notify the person when a transferee is disqualified from
completing the transfer or provide the person with a
unique approval number indicating that the transferee is
qualified to complete the transfer. The unique approval
number is a permit valid for 24 hours for the requested
transfer. If the firearm is not transferred from the
person to the transferee within 24 hours after receipt
of the unique approval number, the person must make a
new inquiry.
(b) If the department is unable to determine, within 30 minutes,
if the transferee is qualified for or disqualified from
completing the transfer, the department shall notify the
person and provide the person with an estimate of the time
when the department will provide the requested information.
A deferral of the qualification or disqualification
determination may not exceed 24 hours beyond the first
telephone inquiry on a particular transfer.
If the department does not acquire objective information,
within 24 hours of the first telephone inquiry, that the
transferee is disqualified from completing the transfer, the
department shall either notify the person that the
transferee is qualified or notify the person that the
transferee is potentially disqualified, with the opportunity
for further investigation by the department to attempt to
qualify the transferee.
The person may then notify the transferee of this
opportunity.
The transferee may then contact the department and request
further investigation to qualify the transfer.
If the transferee does not contact the department, within 72
hours of the first telephone inquiry, to request further
investigation to qualify the transfer, the department shall
conclude the criminal records check.
This does not prevent the department from continuing an
investigation where it has reasonable grounds to believe
that the transferee was attempting to engage in an illegal
firearm transfer.
(c) If the transferee does request further investigation, the
investigation shall proceed until a qualification or
disqualification determination is made. Once the
investigation is complete so as to allow a
qualification/disqualification determination, the department
shall proceed as provided in Subsection (7) of this Section.
(d) If the department fails to provide a unique approval number
to a transferor or to notify the transferor that the
transferee is disqualified under paragraph (a) of this
Subsection, within 24 hours of the initial criminal history
record check request, the transferor may transfer the
firearm.
(4.) (a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this
subsection, a person who receives notification under this
section that a transferee is qualified to complete the
transfer of a firearm is immune from civil liability for any
use of the firearm from the time of the transfer unless the
person transfers the firearm knowing that the transferee is
likely to commit an unlawful act involving the firearm.
(b) The immunity provided by paragraph (a) of this subsection
does not apply if the person who first transfers the firearm
knows that the transferee of the firearm intends to deliver
the firearm to a third person whom the first transferor
knows may not lawfully possess the firearm.
(5.) A public employee or public agency incurs no criminal or civil
liability for performing the investigations required by this
section provided the employee or agency acts in good faith and
without malice.
(6.) The transferee of the firearm must be present when a person
makes a request for a criminal history record check under this
section.
(7.) Within 24 hours after the department completes a criminal
history record check, the department shall mail to a transferor
a confirmation of the criminal history record check, indicating
the date of the check, the name of the person who was subject to
the record check, the result of the record check, and the name
of the person who requested the record check.
Section 6. A person commits the crime of providing false information
in connection with a transfer of a firearm if the person knowingly
provides a false name or false information or presents false
identification in connection with a purchase or transfer of a firearm
under ORS 166.412 or under this Act. Providing false information in
connection with a transfer of a firearm is a Class A misdemeanor.
Section 7. A person commits the crime of improperly transferring a
firearm if the person is a gun dealer as defined in ORS 166.412 and
sells, leases, or otherwise transfers a firearm and intentionally
violates ORS 166.412. Improperly transferring a firearm is a Class A
misdemeanor.
Section 8. The Department of State Police shall charge no fee for any
criminal history record checks required under ORS 166.412 or
performed under this Act. The criminal records checks under this Act
and ORS 166.412 shall be funded out of the appropriation for the
Department.
Section 9. The owner of a firearm is immune from civil or criminal
liability for the improper use of the owner’s firearm by someone
other than the owner if the owner did not authorize the use and
stored the firearm in a locked storage device or locked storage area,
or stored the firearm with a locked device in place so as to prevent
the discharge of the firearm. Establishment of this immunity from
civil or criminal liability does not explicitly or implicitly create
any new civil or criminal liability for any person who fails to
qualify for the immunity provided in this section.
Section 10. (1) The following restrictions apply as to records
maintained on firearms background checks, notwithstanding any other
provision of law.
(2) (a) Where a transferee is found to be qualified to complete the
purchase or transfer, the Department of State Police may
maintain information about the firearm and the gun dealer or
other person transferring the firearm, and information about
the purchaser or transferee, that is obtained during a
request for a criminal history record check under this act or
under ORS166.412, until the criminal history check is
completed, the transferor is informed that the check led to a
determination that the transferee was qualified for
completing the purchase or transfer and the department has
mailed the confirmation that the records check was conducted.
Within 24 hours after the department has mailed the
confirmation that the criminal records check was conducted
and that the transferee was qualified for completing the
purchase or transfer, the department shall destroy all
records relating to that criminal records check and shall not
transfer any such records to any other agency or person.
(b) Where a criminal record check resulted in a further
investigation, and the transferee was determined to be
qualified to complete the transfer, the transferee may
request in writing that this record be maintained, as an
exemption to the records destruction requirement, so that the
transferee may be more easily qualified in future
transactions.
This request is voluntary on the part of the transferee.
If such request is made, the department shall maintain the
investigation record so long as the request remains in
effect.
The department shall destroy the record within 24 hours of
receipt of written notice from the transferee that the
transferee withdraws the record-maintenance request.
(3) Any information obtained during a request for a criminal history
record check under ORS 166.412 or this act may be maintained
indefinitely if the purchaser or other transferee was
disqualified from completing the transfer on the basis that the
purchaser or transferee cannot legally possess the firearm.
(4) The record of the information obtained during a request for a
criminal history record check under ORS 166.412 or this Act is
confidential and may not be disclosed except that the
information:
(A) May be disclosed to law enforcement agencies for criminal
investigation purposes;
(B) Concerning specific firearm transactions previously provided
by a gun dealer or other person transferring a firearm or by
a firearm purchaser may be released to the person providing
the information.
(5) A person who discloses information in violation of Subsection (4)
commits a violation. A person who intentionally misuses
information maintained under Subsection (4) or who intentionally
grants unauthorized access to such information, or who
intentionally obtains unauthorized access to such information, or
who intentionally violates the requirements for records
destruction in Subsection (2) and (6) of this Section, commits a
Class A misdemeanor.
(6) By July 15, 2001, all previously-established records relating to
criminal records checks, describing the transferor, the
transferee, and the firearm, where the transferor was informed by
the department that the check led to a determination that the
transferee was qualified for completing the purchase or transfer,
shall be purged from the department’s records system and shall be
destroyed.
Such records shall not be transferred to any other agency or
person.
Section 11:
(1) Every day, the Department of State Police shall purge records of
information retained under ORS 166.412 (7) or this Act in
accordance with the retention periods established in this Act.
(2) Once each calendar year, or more often as necessary, the
Secretary of State shall review the records system of the
Department of State Police to ensure that the Department of State
Police is complying with the requirements of ORS 166.412 (7) and
subsection (1) of this section.
Section 12. Reserve officers, whether active or honorably retired,
have the same authority as sheriffs or police officers to carry
firearms, under the exemption of ORS 166.260(1), if the appointing
authority specifically authorized the reserve officers to carry
concealed handguns while off duty.
Section 13. ORS 161.610 is revised to read:
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who uses or
threatens to use a firearm during the commission of a felony
shall receive an enhanced penalty of imprisonment, as described
herein.
(2) The use or threatened use of a firearm by a person during the
commission of a felony may be pleaded in the accusatory
instrument and proved at trial as an element in aggravation of
the crime as provided in this section. When a crime is so
pleaded, the aggravated nature of the crime may be indicated by
adding the words “with a firearm” to the title of the offense.
The unaggravated crime shall be considered a lesser-included
offense.
(3) The enhanced penalty of imprisonment for a person who uses or
threatens to use a firearm during the commission of a felony
shall be:
(a) Upon the first conviction for such felony, five years.
(b) Upon the second conviction for such felony, ten years.
(c) Upon the third or more conviction for such felony, 30 years.
(4) This enhanced penalty shall be in addition to any penalty that is
imposed for each underlying offense. During the time of the
enhanced penalty of imprisonment, the person is not eligible for
release or post-prison supervision or any form of leave from
custody, and the person is not eligible for any reduction in
sentence below the enhanced penalty of imprisonment, for any
reason. There shall be no suspension of execution of the
sentence, as to this enhanced penalty, for any reason.
(5) For purposes of this section, “firearm” means a weapon, which is
designed to expel a projectile by the action of black powder or
smokeless powder, and includes such device whether operable or
inoperable.
(6) The State Police shall prepare public service announcements
designed to publicize the additional imprisonment for use or
threatened use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and
shall provide such announcements to the publishing and
broadcasting media.
Section 14. When a person is convicted of the crime of felon in
possession of a firearm, under ORS 166.270, the court shall impose,
and the person shall serve, a term of imprisonment of at least two
years. The person is not, during the two year term of imprisonment,
eligible for release or post-prison supervision or any form of leave
from custody, and the person is not eligible for any reduction in
sentence below the two year term of imprisonment for any reason. The
court may impose a greater sentence if otherwise permitted by law.
Section 15. This Act is effective upon passage and is operative as
of July 1, 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEND YOUR COMMENTS ON THE INITIATIVE TO
COMMENTS@OGO.ORG
------------------------------------------------------------------------
