Moody Gun Sales Bill Lets Buyer Data Into State Databases

The text as introduced · 938 words

90R4004 AJZ-D

By: Moody
H.B. No. 659

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to requiring a licensed firearms dealer to report certain

sales or transfers of multiple firearms or firearm magazines to law

enforcement; creating a criminal offense.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Title 6, Business & Commerce Code, is amended by

adding Chapter 205 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 205. REPORTS OF CERTAIN MULTIPLE TRANSFERS

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 205.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety

of the State of Texas.

(2) "Firearm" has the meaning assigned by Section

46.01, Penal Code.

(3) "Licensed firearms dealer" means a person who is

licensed as a firearms dealer under 18 U.S.C. Section 923.

SUBCHAPTER B. REQUIRED REPORTING OF CERTAIN MULTIPLE TRANSFERS

Sec. 205.051. REPORT BY LICENSED FIREARMS DEALER TO

DEPARTMENT. (a) This section applies only to a sale or transfer

that:

(1) is made to the same transferee, other than a

licensed firearms dealer, on a single occasion or on more than one

occasion during a period of five consecutive business days; and

(2) consists of:

(A) two or more firearms; or

(B) four or more detachable firearm magazines,

other than detachable firearm magazines that are originally

packaged with a firearm by the manufacturer and sold or otherwise

transferred in the original packaging.

(b) A licensed firearms dealer shall report to the

department, in the form and manner prescribed by the department

under Section 205.101, the multiple sales or transfers described by

Subsection (a).

(c) Before completing a sale or transfer of any firearm or

any detachable firearm magazine described by Subsection (a)(2)(B),

the licensed firearms dealer making the sale or transfer shall:

(1) review the items in the current sale or transfer

and any recent previous sales and transfers by the dealer to that

transferee to determine whether the reporting duties of this

subchapter apply to the dealer as a result of that sale or transfer;

and

(2) submit a report, if required, under Subsection

(b).

(d) Information in a report submitted by a licensed firearms

dealer to the department under this section:

(1) is confidential and not subject to disclosure

under Chapter 552, Government Code; and

(2) may not be transmitted, used, or preserved for the

purpose of a registry or other database of information relating to

firearm owners, firearms, or firearm magazines.

(e) Subsection (d)(2) does not apply to the transmission,

use, or preservation of report information for inclusion in the

following databases:

(1) the National Instant Criminal Background Check

System; and

(2) a database maintained by the Texas Crime

Information Center or the National Crime Information Center.

Sec. 205.052. REPORT BY DEPARTMENT TO SHERIFF. (a) Not

later than 24 hours after receiving a report from a licensed

firearms dealer under Section 205.051(b), the department shall

transmit the report to:

(1) the sheriff of each county in which the applicable

sales or transfers occurred; and

(2) the sheriff of the county in which the transferee

resides.

(b) Information in a report submitted by the department to a

county sheriff under Subsection (a):

(1) is confidential and not subject to disclosure

under Chapter 552, Government Code; and

(2) may not be transmitted, used, or preserved for the

purpose of a registry or other database of information relating to

firearm owners, firearms, or firearm magazines.

(c) Subsection (b)(2) does not apply to the transmission,

use, or preservation of report information for inclusion in the

following databases:

(1) the National Instant Criminal Background Check

System; and

(2) a database maintained by the Texas Crime

Information Center or the National Crime Information Center.

Sec. 205.053. OFFENSE. (a) A licensed firearms dealer who,

with criminal negligence, violates Section 205.051 commits an

offense.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

SUBCHAPTER C. FORMS

Sec. 205.101. FORM FOR SUBMISSION OF FIREARMS DEALER

REPORT. (a) For purposes of the report required by Section

205.051(b), the department shall require licensed firearms dealers

to use a form prescribed by the department.

(b) The form prescribed under Subsection (a) must:

(1) include:

(A) the dates and locations of the applicable

sales or transfers;

(B) the type and number of firearms or detachable

firearm magazines sold or transferred;

(C) the identity and location of the licensed

firearms dealer, including the locations where each applicable sale

or transfer occurred; and

(D) the identity of the transferee; and

(2) require the licensed firearms dealer to submit a

copy of the identification provided by the transferee for purposes

of the sale or transfer.

(c) The department shall post on the department's publicly

accessible Internet website:

(1) the form required by this section;

(2) an e-mail address or electronic portal that may be

used to submit the form and related documentation; and

(3) instructions for submitting the form and

documentation.

SECTION 2. Not later than September 1, 2027, the Department

of Public Safety shall develop and make available the form for

reporting multiple firearm or firearm magazine sales or transfers,

as required by Section 205.101, Business & Commerce Code, as added

by this Act.

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to the sale or transfer of a firearm or firearm magazine that occurs

on or after the effective date of this Act. A sale or transfer of a

firearm or firearm magazine that occurs before the effective date

of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the

effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for

that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2027.