REPORT TITLE:
Handgun Safety Stand.


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes a handgun safety performance standard commission to
adopt a safety performance standard for manufacture of all
handguns.  Prohibits any handgun not meeting this standard after
12/31/05.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2185
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HANDGUNS.
 


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

 1      SECTION 1.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
 2 a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
 
 3 follows:
 
 4                             "CHAPTER
 
 5                          HANDGUN SAFETY
 
 6      §  -1  Definitions.  For the purposes of this chapter:
 
 7      "Antique firearms" has the same meaning as in section 134-1.
 
 8      "Authorized user" means the person who owns the handgun or a
 
 9 person to whom the owner has given consent to use the handgun.
 
10      "Firearm" means any weapon for which the operating force is
 
11 an explosive.
 
12      "Handgun" means:
 
13      (1)  A firearm that has a short stock and is designed to be
 
14           held and fired by the use of single hand; or
 
15      (2)  Any combination of parts from which a firearm described
 
16           in paragraph (1) can be assembled.
 
17      "Handgun manufacturer" is any person engaged in the business
 
18 of manufacturing handguns for the purpose of sale or
 
19 distribution.
 

 
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 1      "Pawnbroker" is any person whose business or occupation
 
 2 includes the taking or receiving, by way of pledge or pawn, of
 
 3 any firearm as security for the payment or repayment of money.
 
 4      "Person" includes any individual, corporation, company,
 
 5 association, firm, partnership, society, or joint stock company.
 
 6      "Seller" or "dealer" is any person:
 
 7      (1)  Engaged in the business of selling firearms at
 
 8           wholesale or retail;
 
 9      (2)  Engaged in the business of repairing firearms or of
 
10           making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger
 
11           mechanisms to firearms; or
 
12      (3)  Any person who is a pawnbroker.
 
13      §  -2  Creation of the handgun safety performance standard
 
14 commission.(a)  The temporary handgun safety performance
 
15 standard commission, hereinafter commission, is established to
 
16 adopt an appropriate safety performance standard that responds to
 
17 and is consistent with the need for the improved safety of
 
18 handguns.
 
19      (b)  The commission shall be composed of seven members:  the
 
20 attorney general or the attorney general's designee, the director
 
21 of health or the director's designee, a county chief of police or
 
22 the chief's designee, an injury prevention specialist, a handgun
 
23 industry representative, a mechanical engineer, and a citizen-at-
 

 
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 1 large.  The members shall be appointed by the governor before
 
 2 September 1, 2000.  The chairperson of the commission shall be
 
 3 selected from among the members by the governor.
 
 4      (c)  Commission members shall serve without compensation but
 
 5 shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses
 
 6 including travel expenses.
 
 7      (d)  The attorney general's office shall provide staff
 
 8 services for the commission.
 
 9      (e)  The commission shall cease to exist once it has adopted
 
10 the safety performance standard; provided that the governor may
 
11 reestablish the commission for a period of time designated by the
 
12 governor.
 
13      (f)  The commission also shall recommend an existing state
 
14 government agency that will be responsible for administering,
 
15 advertising, implementing, and enforcing the safety performance
 
16 standard.
 
17      §  -3  Adoption of a safety performance standard.(a)
 
18 Before January 1, 2002, the commission shall adopt a handgun
 
19 safety performance standard for all handguns manufactured,
 
20 possessed, sold, offered for sale, traded, transferred, shipped,
 
21 leased, distributed, or acquired within this State.  The standard
 
22 shall require at least the following:
 
23      (1)  Personalization of a handgun so that it can only be
 

 
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 1           fired when operated by that handgun's authorized user;
 
 2      (2)  Incorporation of personalizing technology into the
 
 3           design of the handgun as part of its original equipment
 
 4           and not as an accessory; and
 
 5      (3)  Personalizing and manufacturing technology that shall
 
 6           not permit the personalized characteristics to be
 
 7           readily deactivated.
 
 8      (b)  The commission shall formulate the necessary testing
 
 9 procedure to determine if a handgun complies with the
 
10 commission's safety performance standard.
 
11      (c)  The commission shall designate one or more independent
 
12 laboratories for determining whether handguns comply with the
 
13 commission's safety performance standard.  The laboratories shall
 
14 use the test method formulated by the commission to determine
 
15 compliance.
 
16      (d)  In accordance with the safety performance standard
 
17 adopted by the commission, handgun manufacturers wishing to
 
18 manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or transfer handguns in the
 
19 State shall submit a prototype of the handgun model for testing,
 
20 at the manufacturer's cost, to one of the independent
 
21 laboratories designated by the commission.
 
22      The laboratory shall issue a report directly to the agency
 
23 designated by the commission to oversee the administration and
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2185
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 implementation of the safety performance standard, and a copy to
 
 2 the manufacturer indicating whether the submitted handgun met or
 
 3 did not meet the safety performance standard.  If the submitted
 
 4 handgun did not meet the safety performance standard, the report
 
 5 shall state the reasons.
 
 6      If the handgun model fails to meet the safety performance
 
 7 standard, it shall not be manufactured, possessed, sold, offered
 
 8 for sale, traded, transferred, shipped, leased, distributed, or
 
 9 acquired by anyone in the State, until it has been modified to
 
10 meet the commission's standard and has passed the independent
 
11 laboratory test on resubmission.
 
12      If the handgun model meets the safety performance standard,
 
13 the designated agency shall issue a certificate stating that the
 
14 handgun model meets the commission's standard, and the words,
 
15 "certified personalized handgun" or an equivalent label, as
 
16 established by the commission, shall be imprinted on the approved
 
17 handguns at the manufacturer's expense.
 
18      Once the handgun model is deemed to meet the safety
 
19 performance standard, the manufacturer, seller, or possessor
 
20 shall not alter the design of the handgun in any manner affecting
 
21 the safety of the handgun.
 
22      (e)  In adopting and amending the safety performance
 
23 standard, the procedures as delineated in the administration
 

 
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 1 procedure act shall be followed.
 
 2      (f)  Any rules or orders issued by the agency designated to
 
 3 oversee the administration and implementation of the safety
 
 4 performance standard shall be subject to review in accordance
 
 5 with chapter 91.
 
 6      §  -4  Enforcement.(a)  After December 31, 2005, handguns
 
 7 that do not meet the safety performance standard adopted by the
 
 8 commission pursuant to this chapter shall not be manufactured,
 
 9 sold, offered for sale, traded, transferred, shipped, leased,
 
10 distributed, or acquired in this State.  After December 31, 2005,
 
11 handguns that do not meet the standard adopted by the commission
 
12 shall not be possessed, except as provided in section    -5(2).
 
13      (b)  Any lawfully seized handgun that does not meet the
 
14 commission's safety performance standard as adopted in this State
 
15 shall be forfeited to the State according to chapter 712A and
 
16 shall be destroyed.
 
17      (c)  The attorney general may bring an action on behalf of
 
18 the State against sellers, manufacturers, or possessors of
 
19 handguns to enjoin further violations of this chapter and for any
 
20 other relief as may be appropriate.
 
21      §  -5  Exemptions.  The following handguns are exempt from
 
22 this chapter:
 
23      (1)  Antique firearms legally purchased or acquired in
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2185
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           accordance with chapter 134;
 
 2      (2)  Handguns manufactured and legally purchased or acquired
 
 3           prior to January 1, 2006; provided that the handguns
 
 4           may not be sold, offered for sale, traded, transferred,
 
 5           shipped, leased, or distributed by dealers after
 
 6           December 31, 2005;
 
 7      (3)  Handguns purchased by police departments, sheriffs, law
 
 8           enforcement officers, and members of the armed forces
 
 9           of the State and the United States; handguns possessed
 
10           by law enforcement officers on official assignment in
 
11           this State from any state that by agreement permits
 
12           police officers from this State while on assignment in
 
13           that state to carry firearms without registration; and
 
14      (4)  Handguns that are a part of the official equipment of
 
15           any federal agency.
 
16      §  -6  Penalties.(a)  Any person who violates this
 
17 chapter by manufacturing, possessing, selling, offering for sale,
 
18 trade, transfer, or acquiring a handgun that has not been
 
19 certified by an independent testing laboratory as meeting the
 
20 safety performance standard, and does not fall within the
 
21 exemptions stated in this chapter, shall be guilty of a class C
 
22 felony.
 
23      (b)  Any person who violates this chapter by altering the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2185
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 personalized characteristics of a handgun manufactured,
 
 2 possessed, sold, offered for sale, traded, transferred, shipped,
 
 3 leased, distributed, or acquired after December 31, 2005, shall
 
 4 be guilty of a class C felony.
 
 5      (c)  These penalties shall apply to all public and private
 
 6 manufacturers, possessors, sales, offers for sale, trades,
 
 7 transfers, shipments, leases, distributions, or acquisitions of
 
 8 handguns.
 
 9      §  -7  Liability.(a)  Any person who discharges a handgun
 
10 that does not meet the commission's safety performance standard
 
11 and does not fall within the exemptions stated in this chapter,
 
12 and thereby causes personal injury to any person, shall be
 
13 absolutely liable for any damages that resulted from the handgun
 
14 not meeting the commission's standard.
 
15      (b)  Any person who owns a handgun that does not meet the
 
16 commission's safety performance standard; is discharged by an
 
17 unauthorized person; does not fall within the exemptions stated
 
18 in this chapter; and thereby causes personal injury to any
 
19 person, shall be absolutely liable for any damages that resulted
 
20 from the handgun not meeting the commission's safety performance
 
21 standard.
 
22      (c)  This section shall apply regardless of whether the
 
23 discharge of the handgun was legally justified, except when the
 

 
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 1 discharge of the handgun was by a law enforcement officer in the
 
 2 line of duty or when the discharge is for self-defense as defined
 
 3 by state or federal law.
 
 4      (d)  Compliance with any safety performance standard issued
 
 5 under this chapter shall not exempt any person from liability
 
 6 under common law."
 
 7      SECTION 2.  If any provision of this Act, or the application
 
 8 thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
 
 9 invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of
 
10 the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision
 
11 or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are
 
12 severable.
 
13      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
14 
 
15                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________