HB 27 - Felon Identification and Police Safety Act; enact
Georgia House of Representatives - 1995/1996 Sessions
HB 27 - Felon Identification and Police Safety Act; enact
Page Numbers - 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5
1. Joyce 1st
House Comm: / Senate Comm: /
House Vote: Yeas Nays Senate Vote: Yeas Nays
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House Action Senate
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Code Sections amended: 16-11-170, 16-11-171, 16-11-172, 16-11-173
HB 27 LC 9 7925
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1- 1 To amend Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official
1- 2 Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to dangerous
1- 3 instrumentalities and practices, so as to provide for a
1- 4 short title; to provide for legislative intent; to provide
1- 5 for definitions; to provide for criminal records checks of
1- 6 applicants for drivers' licenses; to provide for a
1- 7 computerized list of felons; to provide for correction of
1- 8 lists; to provide that firearms shall not be sold to
1- 9 prohibited individuals; to provide for penalties; to provide
1-10 for costs; to provide for related matters; to repeal
1-11 conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
1-13 Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of
1-14 Georgia Annotated, relating to dangerous instrumentalities
1-15 and practices, is amended by adding a new part to read as
1-16 follows:
"Part 5
1-17 16-11-170. (Index)
1-18 (a) This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Felon
1-19 Identification and Police Safety Act.'
1-20 (b) The General Assembly finds that state laws requiring a
1-21 waiting period before the purchase of a firearm have
1-22 endangered the lives of law-abiding Americans by
1-23 preventing them from protecting themselves. A
1-24 point-of-sale instant background check can easily lead to
1-25 a gun owner registration system. Laws requiring a waiting
1-26 period before the purchase of a firearm have not prevented
1-27 crime rates in various states that have enacted such laws
1-28 from increasing far above the national average increase in
1-29 crime rates. Police cannot protect and are not legally
1-30 responsible for protecting individual citizens, only the
1-31 public in general.
-1- (Index)
LC 9 7925
2- 1 16-11-171. (Index)
2- 2 As used in this part, the term:
2- 3 (1) 'Engaged in business' means, as applied to a
2- 4 firearms dealer, a person, firm, partnership, or
2- 5 corporation that devotes time, attention, and labor to
2- 6 dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or
2- 7 business with the principal objective of livelihood and
2- 8 profit through repetitive purchase or resale of
2- 9 firearms, but such term shall not involve a person who
2-10 makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of
2-11 firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or
2-12 for a hobby or who sells all or part of his or her
2-13 personal collection of firearms.
2-14 (2) 'Firearm' means any rifle, shotgun, pistol, or
2-15 similar device which propels a projectile or projectiles
2-16 through the energy of an explosive.
2-17 (3) 'Firearms dealer' means:
2-18 (A) Any person, firm, partnership, or corporation
2-19 engaged in the business of selling firearms at retail;
2-20 (B) Any person, firm, partnership, or corporation
2-21 engaged in the business of making or fitting special
2-22 barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms; or
2-23 (C) Any person, firm, partnership, or corporation that
2-24 is a pawnbroker.
2-25 (4) 'License' means a license or permit to operate a
2-26 motor vehicle on the roads and highways of the state and
2-27 any identification document issued by the department
2-28 solely for purposes of identification.
2-29 16-11-172. (Index)
2-30 (a) Prior to the issuance, reissuance, or reinstatement of
2-31 any license issued by the Department of Public Safety, it
2-32 shall be the duty of the department to conduct a criminal
2-33 records check of the applicant and to determine from
2-34 records furnished to the department pursuant to
2-35 subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section whether the
2-36 applicant has previously been convicted of a felony or
2-37 adjudicated mentally incompetent, without having waited
2-38 five years from the date of his or her restoration to
2-39 capacity by court order. If it is determined that the
2-40 applicant has been convicted of any felony under the laws
2-41 of this state, the United States, or any other state of
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LC 9 7925
3- 1 the United States or has previously been adjudicated
3- 2 mentally incompetent, without having waited five years
3- 3 from the date of his or her restoration to capacity by
3- 4 court order, the license issued by the department shall
3- 5 have a magnetic reader strip indication of such conviction
3- 6 or adjudication. Said indication shall only be determined
3- 7 through the use of the special magnetic code reader and
3- 8 will not appear different to the unaided eye from that of
3- 9 a nonprohibited person. Said magnetic code reader shall
3-10 be a device which is read only and which does not have
3-11 storage or communication capabilities. The magnetic code
3-12 reader shall provide a red or a green light signal. The
3-13 red light will indicate the buyer is a prohibited
3-14 purchaser pursuant to this subsection and the green light
3-15 will indicate the buyer is not a prohibited person
3-16 pursuant to this subsection.
3-17 (b) The Georgia Crime Information Center shall create a
3-18 computerized list of felons pursuant to Title I, Sec.
3-19 103(a) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act which
3-20 the department may consult for information. The Georgia
3-21 Crime Information Center shall achieve, by the end of two
3-22 years after the date of enactment of this Code section, at
3-23 least 80 percent currency of case dispositions in
3-24 computerized criminal history files for all cases in which
3-25 there has been an entry of activity within the last five
3-26 years and continue to maintain such a system.
3-27 (c) The Georgia Crime Information Center shall create a
3-28 computerized list of persons who have been adjudicated
3-29 mentally incompetent and have not waited five years from
3-30 the date of their restoration to capacity by court order.
3-31 This list of names shall be made available for the
3-32 department to consult for information.
3-33 (d) If records established under this Code section
3-34 identify a person as a prohibited person pursuant to
3-35 subsection (a), such person, if he or she believes such
3-36 identification to be erroneous, may request the Georgia
3-37 Bureau of Investigation to supply such person with the
3-38 reasons therefor. Within five days after receipt of such
3-39 a request, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shall
3-40 comply with the request. Such person may submit to the
3-41 Georgia Bureau of Investigation information which may
3-42 correct, clarify, or supplement the records with respect
3-43 to such person. Within five days after the receipt of
3-44 such information, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
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LC 9 7925
4- 1 shall consider such information, investigate the matter
4- 2 further, and correct all erroneous records relating to
4- 3 such person and notify any agency that was the source of
4- 4 such erroneous records of such errors.
4- 5 (e) Any person erroneously identified as a prohibited
4- 6 person, whose records have not been corrected pursuant to
4- 7 subsection (a), may bring an action in any court of
4- 8 original jurisdiction against the State of Georgia or any
4- 9 political subdivision thereof which is the source of the
4-10 erroneous information for damages, including consequential
4-11 damages, injunctive relief, and such other relief as the
4-12 court deems appropriate. If the person prevails in the
4-13 action, the court shall allow the person reasonable
4-14 attorney's fees as part of the costs.
4-15 (f) In performing his or her duties at a traffic stop, a
4-16 police officer may utilize a magnetic code reader
4-17 described in subsection (a) to determine the status of a
4-18 driver for his or her own safety. No police agency shall
4-19 be required to purchase or utilize the designated magnetic
4-20 code reader.
4-21 16-11-173. (Index)
4-22 (a) It shall be unlawful for any federally licensed
4-23 firearms dealer to knowingly and intentionally:
4-24 (1) Sell a firearm to any person not licensed under
4-25 Section 923 of Title 18 of the United States Code,
4-26 unless the firearms dealer has used a magnetic code
4-27 reader as described in Code Section 16-11-172 to read
4-28 the magnetic strip affixed to a license issued to the
4-29 person by the department; or
4-30 (2) Refuse to notify local law enforcement authorities
4-31 within 72 hours of any person attempting to purchase a
4-32 firearm who is identified as a prohibited person through
4-33 the use of such a device.
4-34 (b) Any firearms dealer who violates subsection (a) shall
4-35 be imprisoned not more than one year, fined not more than
4-36 $1,000.00, or both.
4-37 (c) Subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section shall not
4-38 take effect until the department is in full compliance
4-39 with the background check and magnetic strip and reader
4-40 system.
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LC 9 7925
5- 1 (d) A license which is issued by the department and which
5- 2 does not identify a person as a prohibited purchaser shall
5- 3 be considered a permit pursuant to Title I, Sec.
5- 4 102(a)(1)(C) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
5- 5 The department shall reissue such licenses no later than
5- 6 every five years.
5- 7 (e) It shall be unlawful for any prohibited person
5- 8 pursuant to Code Section 16-11-172 to knowingly and
5- 9 intentionally alter, change, modify, or counterfeit a
5-10 driver's license issued pursuant to Chapter 5 of Title 40.
5-11 Any such prohibited person violating the provisions of
5-12 this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and, upon
5-13 conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less
5-14 than one year nor more than ten years or by a fine not to
5-15 exceed $25,000.00 or both.
5-16 (f) Upon becoming a prohibited person pursuant to Code
5-17 Section 16-11-172, a person's license shall be void and
5-18 shall be seized by the trial court. A new license shall,
5-19 if desired by the prohibited person, be issued by the
5-20 department with the new prohibition encoded on the
5-21 magnetic strip.
5-22 (g) All prohibited persons pursuant to Code Section
5-23 16-11-172 shall pay additional court costs upon being
5-24 adjudicated as prohibited persons and shall pay additional
5-25 fees to the department when obtaining a license, which
5-26 fees shall be sufficient to cover the expenses of the
5-27 criminal records checks conducted pursuant to Code Section
5-28 16-11-172.
5-29 (h) Two years after the date of enactment of this part,
5-30 the system of identifying prohibited persons before the
5-31 purchase of a firearm as described in this part shall be
5-32 the only system used in this state for identifying
5-33 prohibited persons before the purchase of a firearm."
SECTION 2.
5-34 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
5-35 repealed.
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Office of the Clerk of the House
Robert E. Rivers, Jr., Clerk of the House
Last Updated on 01/02/97