HB4498 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 16431 RLC 61594 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB4498

Introduced 1/31/2012, by Rep. Deborah Mell

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

720 ILCS 5/24-3

from Ch. 38, par. 24-3

Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that it is a Class 2 felony (rather than a Class 3 felony) to knowingly sell or give a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a felony or to a person under 18 years of age who does not possess a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card. Effective immediately.

CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning criminal law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing Section 24-3 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/24-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 24-3)

Sec. 24-3. Unlawful sale or delivery of firearms.

(A) A person commits the offense of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms when he or she knowingly does any of the following:

(a) Sells or gives any firearm of a size which may be concealed upon the person to any person under 18 years of age.

(b) Sells or gives any firearm to a person under 21 years of age who has been convicted of a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense or adjudged delinquent.

(c) Sells or gives any firearm to any narcotic addict.

(d) Sells or gives any firearm to any person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of this or any other jurisdiction.

(e) Sells or gives any firearm to any person who has been a patient in a mental hospital within the past 5 years.

(f) Sells or gives any firearms to any person who is intellectually disabled.

(g) Delivers any firearm of a size which may be concealed upon the person, incidental to a sale, without withholding delivery of such firearm for at least 72 hours after application for its purchase has been made, or delivers any rifle, shotgun or other long gun, or a stun gun or taser, incidental to a sale, without withholding delivery of such rifle, shotgun or other long gun, or a stun gun or taser for at least 24 hours after application for its purchase has been made. However, this paragraph (g) does not apply to: (1) the sale of a firearm to a law enforcement officer if the seller of the firearm knows that the person to whom he or she is selling the firearm is a law enforcement officer or the sale of a firearm to a person who desires to purchase a firearm for use in promoting the public interest incident to his or her employment as a bank guard, armed truck guard, or other similar employment; (2) a mail order sale of a firearm to a nonresident of Illinois under which the firearm is mailed to a point outside the boundaries of Illinois; (3) the sale of a firearm to a nonresident of Illinois while at a firearm showing or display recognized by the Illinois Department of State Police; or (4) the sale of a firearm to a dealer licensed as a federal firearms dealer under Section 923 of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. 923). For purposes of this paragraph (g), "application" means when the buyer and seller reach an agreement to purchase a firearm.

(h) While holding any license as a dealer, importer, manufacturer or pawnbroker under the federal Gun Control Act of 1968, manufactures, sells or delivers to any unlicensed person a handgun having a barrel, slide, frame or receiver which is a die casting of zinc alloy or any other nonhomogeneous metal which will melt or deform at a temperature of less than 800 degrees Fahrenheit. For purposes of this paragraph, (1) "firearm" is defined as in the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act; and (2) "handgun" is defined as a firearm designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand, and includes a combination of parts from which such a firearm can be assembled.

(i) Sells or gives a firearm of any size to any person under 18 years of age who does not possess a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card.

(j) Sells or gives a firearm while engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail without being licensed as a federal firearms dealer under Section 923 of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. 923). In this paragraph (j):

A person "engaged in the business" means a person who devotes time, attention, and labor to engaging in the activity as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit, but does not include a person who makes occasional repairs of firearms or who occasionally fits special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms.

"With the principal objective of livelihood and profit" means that the intent underlying the sale or disposition of firearms is predominantly one of obtaining livelihood and pecuniary gain, as opposed to other intents, such as improving or liquidating a personal firearms collection; however, proof of profit shall not be required as to a person who engages in the regular and repetitive purchase and disposition of firearms for criminal purposes or terrorism.

(k) Sells or transfers ownership of a firearm to a person who does not display to the seller or transferor of the firearm a currently valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card that has previously been issued in the transferee's name by the Department of State Police under the provisions of the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. This paragraph (k) does not apply to the transfer of a firearm to a person who is exempt from the requirement of possessing a Firearm Owner's Identification Card under Section 2 of the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. For the purposes of this Section, a currently valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card means (i) a Firearm Owner's Identification Card that has not expired or (ii) if the transferor is licensed as a federal firearms dealer under Section 923 of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. 923), an approval number issued in accordance with Section 3.1 of the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act shall be proof that the Firearm Owner's Identification Card was valid.

(l) Not being entitled to the possession of a firearm, delivers the firearm, knowing it to have been stolen or converted. It may be inferred that a person who possesses a firearm with knowledge that its serial number has been removed or altered has knowledge that the firearm is stolen or converted.

(B) Paragraph (h) of subsection (A) does not include firearms sold within 6 months after enactment of Public Act 78-355 (approved August 21, 1973, effective October 1, 1973), nor is any firearm legally owned or possessed by any citizen or purchased by any citizen within 6 months after the enactment of Public Act 78-355 subject to confiscation or seizure under the provisions of that Public Act. Nothing in Public Act 78-355 shall be construed to prohibit the gift or trade of any firearm if that firearm was legally held or acquired within 6 months after the enactment of that Public Act.

(C) Sentence.

(1) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (c), (e), (f), (g), or (h) of subsection (A) commits a Class 4 felony.

(2) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (b) or (i) of subsection (A) commits a Class 3 felony.

(3) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (a), (d), or (i) of subsection (A) commits a Class 2 felony.

(4) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (a), (b), or (i) of subsection (A) in any school, on the real property comprising a school, within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising a school, at a school related activity, or on or within 1,000 feet of any conveyance owned, leased, or contracted by a school or school district to transport students to or from school or a school related activity, regardless of the time of day or time of year at which the offense was committed, commits a Class 1 felony. Any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (a), (b), or (i) of subsection (A) in any school, on the real property comprising a school, within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising a school, at a school related activity, or on or within 1,000 feet of any conveyance owned, leased, or contracted by a school or school district to transport students to or from school or a school related activity, regardless of the time of day or time of year at which the offense was committed, commits a Class 1 felony for which the sentence shall be a term of imprisonment of no less than 5 years and no more than 15 years.

(5) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (a) or (i) of subsection (A) in residential property owned, operated, or managed by a public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development, in a public park, in a courthouse, on residential property owned, operated, or managed by a public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development, on the real property comprising any public park, on the real property comprising any courthouse, or on any public way within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising any public park, courthouse, or residential property owned, operated, or managed by a public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development commits a Class 2 felony.

(6) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (j) of subsection (A) commits a Class A misdemeanor. A second or subsequent violation is a Class 4 felony.

(7) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (k) of subsection (A) commits a Class 4 felony. A third or subsequent conviction for a violation of paragraph (k) of subsection (A) is a Class 1 felony.

(8) A person 18 years of age or older convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (a) or (i) of subsection (A), when the firearm that was sold or given to another person under 18 years of age was used in the commission of or attempt to commit a forcible felony, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, not to exceed the maximum provided for the most serious forcible felony so committed or attempted by the person under 18 years of age who was sold or given the firearm.

(9) (Blank). Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (d) of subsection (A) commits a Class 3 felony.

(10) Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (l) of subsection (A) commits a Class 2 felony if the delivery is of one firearm. Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (l) of subsection (A) commits a Class 1 felony if the delivery is of not less than 2 and not more than 5 firearms at the same time or within a one year period. Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (l) of subsection (A) commits a Class X felony for which he or she shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 6 years and not more than 30 years if the delivery is of not less than 6 and not more than 10 firearms at the same time or within a 2 year period. Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (l) of subsection (A) commits a Class X felony for which he or she shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 6 years and not more than 40 years if the delivery is of not less than 11 and not more than 20 firearms at the same time or within a 3 year period. Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (l) of subsection (A) commits a Class X felony for which he or she shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 6 years and not more than 50 years if the delivery is of not less than 21 and not more than 30 firearms at the same time or within a 4 year period. Any person convicted of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms in violation of paragraph (l) of subsection (A) commits a Class X felony for which he or she shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 6 years and not more than 60 years if the delivery is of 31 or more firearms at the same time or within a 5 year period.

(D) For purposes of this Section:

"School" means a public or private elementary or secondary school, community college, college, or university.

"School related activity" means any sporting, social, academic, or other activity for which students' attendance or participation is sponsored, organized, or funded in whole or in part by a school or school district.

(E) A prosecution for a violation of paragraph (k) of subsection (A) of this Section may be commenced within 6 years after the commission of the offense. A prosecution for a violation of this Section other than paragraph (g) of subsection (A) of this Section may be commenced within 5 years after the commission of the offense defined in the particular paragraph.

(Source: P.A. 96-190, eff. 1-1-10; 97-227, eff. 1-1-12; 97-347, eff. 1-1-12; revised 9-14-11.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.