Enacting the responsible gun ownership act to establish the crime of unlawful storage of a firearm.
Impact
The introduction of SB133 could significantly influence state laws related to firearm storage and safety, especially concerning minors. By establishing legal repercussions for improper storage practices, the bill aims to promote responsible gun ownership and enhance public safety. This legislation could lead to increased awareness among gun owners about the importance of securing firearms to prevent access by children. Additionally, it positions the state to take a firmer stance on firearm-related incidents involving minors, which has been a growing concern in many communities.
Summary
Senate Bill 133 introduces the Responsible Gun Ownership Act, which aims to address the issue of firearm storage, particularly in households with minors. The bill stipulates that unlawful storage of a firearm occurs when a firearm is left unsecured and subsequently accessed by a minor. It categorizes the consequences of such actions into different levels of misdemeanors and felonies based on the severity of the harm caused by the minor's access to the firearm. If the firearm is used by a minor to cause bodily harm, the penalties increase accordingly, with classifications ranging from a class C person misdemeanor to severity level 5 person felony, depending on the outcome of the access incident.
Contention
While SB133 aims to improve firearm safety, it also raises potential points of contention among various stakeholders. Opponents may argue that the bill imposes undue restrictions on responsible gun owners and could create legal complications for parents or guardians who may be unaware of the nuances of the storage requirements. There may also be debates regarding the definitions of 'secure' storage and the balance between individual rights and public safety. As the discussions around this bill unfold, these issues are likely to be focal points for lawmakers, advocacy groups, and the general public.
Creating the crime of unlawful storage of any firearm including a rifle, shotgun or machine gun or stun guns and the crime of unlawful storage of a large magazine capacity rifle or shotgun or machine gun where a minor has access.
Requiring firearms and stun guns to be stored in locked containers, establishing crimes for failure to store such weapons where a person under 18 years of age has access to such weapons and creating more severe penalties for firearms with large-capacity magazines.
Requiring the Kansas bureau of investigation to establish a Kansas voluntary do-not-sell firearms list to prevent the purchase of firearms by any person who voluntarily registers to be placed on the list.
Increasing the criminal penalties for battery of a healthcare provider, adding the placing of controlled substances into pills into the definition of manufacture, increasing the criminal penalties for manufacturing fentanyl and for manufacturing or distributing any controlled substances that are likely to be attractive to minors because of their appearance or packaging, creating a special sentencing rule to make sentences for distributing fentanyl presumptive imprisonment, excluding materials used to detect the presence of fentanyl, ketamine or gamma hydroxybutyric acid from the definition of drug paraphernalia, adding domestic battery and violation of a protection order to the crimes that a person can have the intent to commit when committing burglary or aggravated burglary, increasing criminal penalties for the crime of interference with law enforcement when the violation involves fleeing from a law enforcement officer and authorizing the attorney general to prosecute certain crimes that are part of an alleged course of criminal conduct that occurred in two or more counties.
Adding possession or using a firearm during the commission of certain drug crimes to the crime of criminal use of weapons and creating a special sentencing rule of presumptive imprisonment for violations thereof.