HB 514-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

19Mar2019... 0421h

05/23/2019 1959s

2019 SESSION

19-0220

04/06

HOUSE BILL 514-FN

AN ACT imposing a waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm.

SPONSORS: Rep. Rogers, Merr. 28; Rep. Abbott, Ches. 1; Rep. Josephson, Graf. 11; Rep. Muscatel, Graf. 12; Rep. Chretien, Hills. 42; Rep. Mombourquette, Hills. 5; Rep. Bunker, Rock. 18; Rep. Conley, Straf. 13

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a waiting period for the delivery of a firearm.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

19Mar2019... 0421h

05/23/2019 1959s 19-0220

04/06

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen

AN ACT imposing a waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Chapter; Purchase and Delivery of a Firearm. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 159-D the following new chapter:

CHAPTER 159-E

PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF A FIREARM

159-E:1 Purchase and Delivery of a Firearm.

I. No licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector shall transfer, sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver a firearm to any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector until a waiting period of 3 days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, has expired. "Licensed importer," "licensed manufacturer," "licensed dealer," "licensed collector," and "firearm" shall have the same meaning as in 18 U.S.C. section 921.

II. A licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector shall make available records of firearm sales for inspection by any state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency, during normal business hours.

III. The waiting period shall not apply in the following circumstances:

(a) To the trade-in of a firearm to a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector.

(b) To the purchase of a rifle or shotgun, upon a person's successfully completing a minimum of a 16-hour hunter education course offered by the department of fish and game. A person who is exempt from the hunter education course offered by the fish and game department and holds a valid New Hampshire hunting license shall be exempt from the waiting period under this section for the purchase of a rifle or shotgun.

(c) When a rifle or shotgun is being purchased by a state, county, or municipal law enforcement officer, state or county correctional officer, or an active duty member of the armed forces as defined in RSA 21:50, III.

159-E:2 Penalty. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a class B felony.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.

LBAO

19-0220

Amended 3/28/19

HB 514-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT #2019-0421h)

AN ACT imposing a waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ X ] County [ ] Local [ ] None


	Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE:	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023
Appropriation	$0	$0	$0	$0
Revenue	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Expenditures	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Funding Source:	[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ X ] Other - Fish and Game Fund

COUNTY:
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase

METHODOLOGY:

This bill establishes a waiting period of seven days for the purchase and delivery of firearms. The Fish and Game Department reports this bill may increase the likelihood of students enrolling into hunter education classes by an indeterminable amount. However, Fish and Game reports the hunter education course typically takes multiple days to schedule and complete both the class and required field time, so any increase in hunter education class enrollment to avoid the waiting period would mostly benefit someone participating in multiple firearm transactions overtime. The Department of Safety states this bill will have no impact on current background check processes or expenditures, since the current process strives to perform a background check within three days, which is within the waiting period time frame required in this bill.

This bill contains penalties that may have an impact of the New Hampshire judicial and correctional system. There is no method to determine how many charges may be brought as a result of changes contained in this bill to determine the fiscal impact on expenditures. However, entities impacted have provided the potential costs associated with these penalties below:

Judicial Branch	FY 2020	FY 2021
Routine Criminal Felony Case	$481	$486
Appeals	Varies	Varies
It should be noted that average case cost estimates for FY 2020 and FY 2021 are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types. An unspecified misdemeanor can be either class A or class B, with the presumption being a class B misdemeanor.
Judicial Council
Public Defender Program	Has contract with State to provide services.	Has contract with State to provide services.
Contract Attorney – Felony	$825/Case	$825/Case
Assigned Counsel – Felony	$60/Hour up to $4,100	$60/Hour up to $4,100
It should be noted that a person needs to be found indigent and have the potential of being incarcerated to be eligible for indigent defense services. The majority of indigent cases (approximately 85%) are handled by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned counsel (1%).
Department of Corrections
FY 2018 Average Cost of Incarcerating an Individual	$40,615	$40,615
FY 2018 Annual Marginal Cost of a General Population Inmate	$4,620	$4,620
FY 2018 Average Cost of Supervising an Individual on Parole/Probation	$571	$571
NH Association of Counties
County Prosecution Costs	Indeterminable	Indeterminable
Estimated Average Daily Cost of Incarcerating an Individual	$105 to $120	$105 to $120

Many offenses are prosecuted by local and county prosecutors. When the Department of Justice has investigative and prosecutorial responsibility or is involved in an appeal, the Department would likely absorb the cost within its existing budget. If the Department needs to prosecute significantly more cases or handle more appeals, then costs may increase by an indeterminable amount.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Fish and Game Department, Department of Safety, Judicial Branch, Departments of Corrections and Justice, Judicial Council, and New Hampshire Association of Counties