99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB1868
 
Introduced 2/20/2015, by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:



New Act

 Creates the Firearm Dealer Licensing Act. Provides for the regulation of firearm dealers through licensure by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Provides that no person may sell or otherwise transfer, expose for sale or transfer, or have in his or her possession with the intent to sell or transfer any firearm without being licensed under the Act. Provides, however, that the prohibition does not apply to a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or as a hobby, or who sells all or part of his or her personal collection of firearms. Sets forth provisions concerning application, fees, duration of licensure, license retention requirements, submissions to the Department, penalties, revocation, and suspension. Grants rulemaking authority to the Department and provides that for the purpose of determining compliance with the Act, the Act may be enforced by any municipality in which a licensee is located or, if a licensee is not located in a municipality, by the county in which a licensee is located.



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A BILL FOR
 


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1 AN ACT concerning regulation.


2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

3represented in the General Assembly:



4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 
5Firearm Dealer Licensing Act.

6 Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7 "Department" means the Department of Financial and 
8Professional Regulation.

9 "Firearm dealer" means any person who is: 
10  (1) engaged in the business of selling firearms at 
11 wholesale or retail; 
12  (2) engaged in the business of repairing firearms or 
13 making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger 
14 mechanisms to firearms; or 
15  (3) a pawnbroker whose business or occupation includes 
16 the taking or receiving, by way of pledge or pawn, of any 
17 firearm as security for the payment or repayment of money.
18 
"Licensed dealer" means any firearms dealer who is 
19licensed under both this Act and Section 923 of the federal Gun 
20Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. 923).
21 
"Person" means an individual, firm, association, society, 
22partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or other 
23entity.

 
 
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1 "Engaged in the business" means the devotion of time, 
2attention, and labor to engaging in the activity as a regular 
3course of trade or business with the principal objective of 
4livelihood and profit. "Engaged in the business" does not 
5include the making of occasional repairs of firearms, or the 
6occasional fitting of special barrels, stocks, or trigger 
7mechanisms to firearms.

8 "Firearm" has the meaning given to that term in the Firearm 
9Owners Identification Card Act.

10 "Transfer" means the actual or attempted transfer of a 
11firearm or firearm ammunition, with or without consideration. 
12"Transfer" does not include the lease of a firearm, or the 
13provision of ammunition specifically for that firearm, if the 
14firearm and the ammunition are to be used on the lessor's 
15premises, and does not include any transfer of possession when 
16the transferor maintains supervision and control over the 
17firearm or ammunition.

18 "With the principal objective of livelihood and profit" 
19means that the intent underlying the sale or disposition is 
20predominantly one of obtaining livelihood and pecuniary gain, 
21as opposed to other intents, such as improving or liquidating a 
22personal firearms collection; however, proof of profit shall 
23not be required as to a person who engages in the regular and 
24repetitive purchase and disposition of firearms for criminal 
25purposes or terrorism.


 
 
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1 Section 10. Unlicensed dealing; exemption. 
2 (a) No person may sell or otherwise transfer, expose for 
3sale or transfer, or have in his or her possession with the 
4intent to sell or transfer any firearm without being licensed 
5under this Act. 
6 (b) This Section does not apply to a person who makes 
7occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the 
8enhancement of a personal collection or as a hobby, or who 
9sells all or part of his or her personal collection of 
10firearms.

11 Section 15. License application; fees; penalty.
12 (a) The Department may grant a firearm dealer license to an 
13applicant who satisfies the following requirements:

14  (1) he or she is at least 21 years of age;
15  (2) he or she possesses a valid Firearm Owner's 
16 Identification Card; and
17  (3) he or she submits to a background check conducted 
18 by the Department that includes the initiation and 
19 completion of an automated search of its criminal history 
20 record information files and those of the Federal Bureau of 
21 Investigation, including the National Instant Criminal 
22 Background Check System, and of the files of the Department 
23 of Human Services relating to mental health and 
24 developmental disabilities to obtain any felony conviction 
25 or patient hospitalization information that would 
 
 
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1 disqualify a person from obtaining licensure under this 
2 Act.
3 (b) An application for a firearm dealer license must be 
4made on forms prescribed by the Department. The application 
5must be verified by the applicant under oath and must be 
6accompanied by the required fee.
7 (c) The applicant must submit to the Department a license 
8fee of $300, payable at the time of application, and an 
9additional $300 payable every 3 years thereafter for so long as 
10the license is in effect.
11 (d) The applicant must submit to fingerprinting in 
12accordance with rules adopted by the Department and must pay a 
13fingerprint processing fee in the amount set by the Department 
14by rule.
15 (e) A person who knowingly makes a false statement or 
16knowingly conceals a material fact or uses false information or 
17identification in any application for a license under this Act 
18commits a Class A misdemeanor.


19 Section 20. Duration of licensure. A license granted under 
20this Act remains in effect until it is revoked, suspended, or 
21otherwise withdrawn by the Department or until it is 
22surrendered by the licensee.

23 Section 25. License retention requirements. A license 
24granted under this Act is subject to all of the following 
 
 
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1requirements:

2  (1) A licensed dealer may only transact business under 
3 this Act at an address that has a zoning classification 
4 that permits the operations of a retail establishment.

5  (2) A licensed dealer may not transact business in any 
6 place other than the premises specified on his or her 
7 license, except that a licensed dealer may display, sell, 
8 or transfer firearms at a gun show open to the general 
9 public or at any regular meeting of an incorporated 
10 collectors club in accordance with this Act and federal 
11 law.

12  (3) A licensed dealer may not violate any provision of 
13 any federal or State law pertaining to the possession, use, 
14 sale, or delivery of firearms.

15  (4) A licensed dealer must strictly adhere to the 
16 provisions of all applicable federal and State laws and 
17 local ordinances and local business license requirements.

18  (5) A separate license must be obtained for each 
19 separate place of business. Before a licensed dealer moves 
20 his or her place of business, he or she must promptly apply 
21 to the Department for an amended license.

22  (6) The license, or a copy of the license certified by 
23 the Department, must be conspicuously displayed at the 
24 business premises.

25  (7) Every firearm must be unloaded when delivered.

26  (8) A licensee must obtain a certificate of 
 
 
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1 registration issued under the Retailers' Occupation Tax 
2 Act.

3  (9) The licensee must take reasonable precautions to 
4 ensure that all firearms that the licensee sells will not 
5 be used illegally. These precautions include, but are not 
6 limited to, the following: 
7   (A) the refusal to sell a firearm to a person the 
8 licensee knows or has reason to know is purchasing the 
9 firearm on behalf of another person who could not 
10 legally purchase the firearm; 
11   (B) the refusal to sell a firearm to a person who 
12 has provided a home address in a municipality or county 
13 in which possession of that type of firearm is illegal, 
14 unless the transferee presents reasonably satisfactory 
15 evidence that the firearm will not be used or possessed 
16 unlawfully in that municipality or county; and 
17   (C) the refusal to sell a firearm to a person who 
18 has provided a home address in a municipality or county 
19 that requires registration of the firearm, unless the 
20 purchaser presents satisfactory evidence of compliance 
21 with the registration requirement.

22  (10) A licensee must make his or her records relating 
23 to the sale of firearms available to any officer or 
24 employee of the Department or of any unit of local 
25 government in this State whenever the officer or employee 
26 is authorized to enforce laws or ordinances pertaining to 
 
 
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1 firearms, provided that no officer or employee may conduct 
2 any search or seizure other than an inspection of a 
3 licensee's records relating to firearms sales without a 
4 warrant and that nothing in this Section shall authorize 
5 any search or seizure forbidden by the United States 
6 Constitution or the Illinois Constitution.


7 Section 30. Submission to Department. 
8 (a) A licensed dealer must, within 24 hours after making a 
9sale or transfer of a firearm to a person who is not licensed 
10as a firearm dealer, submit a report concerning that sale to 
11the Department. The report must contain the following 
12information: 
13  (1) the date of the sale or transfer; 
14  (2) the identity and address of the dealer; 
15  (3) the name, address, age, and occupation of the 
16 transferee; 
17  (4) the price of the firearm; and 
18  (5) the type, description, and number of the firearm. 
19 (b) All records of the reports submitted under this Section 
20must be maintained by the Department on a computer database 
21capable of allowing the retrieval of information for each 
22dealer and each transferee. The computer database must also 
23contain a listing of each county or municipality that prohibits 
24one or more types of firearm, and the type or types of firearms 
25that are prohibited in that county or municipality. Information 
 
 
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1in the database must be made available to any law enforcement 
2agency responsible for the enforcement of any federal, State, 
3or local law or ordinance relating to firearms, and to any 
4licensed dealer who requests information relating to a person 
5who is seeking to purchase one or more firearms from that 
6dealer. Except as specifically provided in this Section, 
7information in the database is deemed the confidential record 
8of the Department and is not subject to disclosure under any 
9other law.
10 (c) Any licensee who is required to keep a record of 
11transfer under subsection (b) of Section 3 of the Firearm 
12Owners Identification Card Act must report any transfer of a 
13firearm that occurred within the 24-month period immediately 
14preceding the effective date of this Act to the Department no 
15later than 30 days after the effective date of this Act. The 
16report must contain that information required by subsection (b) 
17of Section 3 of the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. The 
18Department must include this report in the computer database 
19required to be maintained under this Section.

20 Section 35. Penalty. Any person who sells, or who possesses 
21with intent to sell, trade, or transfer, any firearm without 
22being licensed under this Act is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

23 Section 40. Enforcement; rulemaking. 
24 (a) This Act must be enforced by the Department, and may be 
 
 
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1enforced, for the purpose of determining compliance with this 
2Act, by any municipality in which the licensee is located or, 
3if the licensee is not located in a municipality, by the county 
4in which the licensee is located.
5 (b) The Department shall adopt rules necessary for the 
6implementation and administration of this Act.

7 Section 45. Revocation; suspension. The Department, after 
8due notice to the licensee and reasonable opportunity for the 
9licensee to be heard, may revoke a license or may suspend a 
10license for a period of time that the Department may deem 
11proper upon satisfactory proof that the licensee has violated 
12or permitted a violation of any requirement of this Act or is 
13no longer eligible to obtain a license under this Act. A person 
14whose license has been revoked by the Department is 
15disqualified from receiving a license under this Act for 10 
16years after the revocation. Any person who has substantially 
17participated in the operation or management of a licensee that 
18has had a license revoked may not be employed by or participate 
19in the business of any other licensee for 10 years after the 
20revocation. Proceedings for revocation or suspension under 
21this Section may be initiated by the Department or by any 
22municipality or county.