SB 556 Summary

• Firearm owners must report lost or stolen firearms to local law enforcement within 24 hours of becoming aware of the loss; failure is an infraction punishable by a $1,000 fine, and subsequent violations are class A misdemeanors.

• Concealed carry permit holders who fail to immediately pay fines for unreported lost or stolen firearms must surrender their permit, which is suspended for one calendar year, and those who do not pay become ineligible for a new permit for one year.

• Expands eligible offenses for record expungement to include drug-related felonies and misdemeanors (chapter 195), prostitution, criminal nonsupport, bad checks, and fraudulent use of financial devices, while maintaining 20-year waiting periods for felonies and 10-year periods for misdemeanors.

• Establishes a firearms recovery pilot program administered by the Department of Public Safety that provides grants to law enforcement agencies to offer gift certificates redeemable at grocery stores in exchange for surrendered firearms.

• Creates a dedicated Firearms Recovery Fund with $300,000 appropriated during fiscal years 2015-2017; participants in the buyback program are immune from prosecution for unlawful firearm possession offenses if acting in good faith.