GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 563

 

 

Short Title:        Strengthen Firearms Background Checks.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives Schaffer, Faircloth, Burr, and Cleveland (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Judiciary I.

April 6, 2015

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to strengthen firearms background checks by requiring that additional information be collected and reported to the national instant criminal background check system (NICS) and by making the reporting of that information more efficient.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 122C‑54(d1) is repealed.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 122C‑54.1 is recodified as G.S. 14‑409.42.

SECTION 3.  G.S. 14‑404(c1) is repealed.

SECTION 4.  Article 53B of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

"§ 14‑409.43.  Reporting of certain disqualifiers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

(a)        Excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, not later than 48 hours after receiving notice of any of the following judicial determinations or findings, the clerk of superior court in the county where the determination or finding was made shall work through the Administrative Office of the Courts to cause a record of the determination or finding to be transmitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS):

(1)        A determination that an individual shall be involuntarily committed to a facility for inpatient mental health treatment upon a finding that the individual is mentally ill and a danger to self or others.

(2)        A determination that an individual shall be involuntarily committed to a facility for outpatient mental health treatment upon a finding that the individual is mentally ill and, based on the individual's treatment history, in need of treatment in order to prevent further disability or deterioration that would predictably result in a danger to self or others.

(3)        A determination that an individual shall be involuntarily committed to a facility for substance abuse treatment upon a finding that the individual is a substance abuser and a danger to self or others.

(4)        A finding that an individual is not guilty by reason of insanity.

(5)        A finding that an individual is mentally incompetent to proceed to criminal trial.

(6)        A finding that an individual lacks the capacity to manage the individual's own affairs due to marked subnormal intelligence or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease.

(7)        A determination to grant a petition to an individual for the removal of disabilities pursuant to G.S. 14‑409.42 or any applicable federal law.

The 48‑hour period for transmitting a record of a judicial determination or finding to the NICS under subsection (a) of this section begins upon receipt by the clerk of a copy of the judicial determination or finding. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall adopt rules to require clerks of court to transmit information to the NICS in a uniform manner.

(b)        Excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, not later than 48 hours after receiving notice of the issuance of a felony warrant, indictment, criminal summons, or order for arrest, the Administrative Office of the Courts shall transmit any unserved felony warrants, indictments, criminal summons, or order for arrests to the NCIC (or National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)).

(c)        Excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, not later than 48 hours after service by the sheriff of an order issued by a judge pursuant to Chapter 50B of the General Statutes and pursuant to G.S. 50B‑3(d) the sheriff shall cause a record of the order to be transmitted to the National Instant Criminal Information System."

SECTION 5.  G.S. 122C‑54(d2) reads as rewritten:

"(d2)    The record of involuntary commitment for inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment or for substance abuse treatment required by subsection (d1) of this section to be reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) by G.S. 14‑409.43 shall be accessible only by an entity having proper access to NICS the sheriff or the sheriff's designee for the purposes of conducting background checks under G.S. 14‑404 and shall remain otherwise confidential as provided by this Article. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall adopt rules to require clerks of court to transmit information to the NICS as required by subsection (d1) of this section in a uniform manner."

SECTION 6.  G.S. 14‑404(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       Upon application, and such application must be provided by the sheriff electronically, the sheriff shall issue the permit to a resident of that county, unless the purpose of the permit is for collecting, in which case a sheriff can issue a permit to a nonresident, when the sheriff has done all of the following:

…."

SECTION 7.  G.S. 14‑415.13(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       A person shall apply to the sheriff of the county in which the person resides to obtain a concealed handgun permit. The applicant shall submit to the sheriff all of the following:

(1)        An application, completed under oath, on a form provided by the sheriff.sheriff, and such application form must be provided by the sheriff electronically.

…."

SECTION 8.  G.S. 15A‑502 reads as rewritten:

"§ 15A‑502.  Photographs and fingerprints.

(a)        A person charged with the commission of a felony or a misdemeanor may be photographed and his fingerprints may be taken for law‑enforcement records only when he has been:

(1)        Arrested or committed to a detention facility, or

(2)        Committed to imprisonment upon conviction of a crime, or

(3)        Convicted of a felony.

(a1)      It shall be the duty of the arresting law‑enforcement agency to cause a person charged with the commission of a felony to be fingerprinted and to forward those fingerprints to the State Bureau of Investigation.

(a2)      It shall be the duty of the arresting law enforcement agency to cause a person charged with the commission of any of the following misdemeanors to be fingerprinted, for the purposes of reporting these offenses to the National Criminal Instant Background Check System (NICS), and to forward those fingerprints to the State Bureau of Investigation:

(1)        G.S. 14‑134.3 (Domestic criminal trespass), G.S. 15A‑1382.1 (Offense that involved domestic violence), or G.S. 50B‑4.1 (Violation of a valid protective order).

(2)        G.S. 20‑138.1 (Impaired driving), G.S. 20‑138.2 (Impaired driving in commercial vehicle), G.S. 20‑138.2A (Operating a commercial vehicle after consuming alcohol), and G.S. 20‑138.2B (Operating various school, child care, EMS, firefighting, or law enforcement vehicles after consuming alcohol).

(3)        G.S. 90‑95(d) (Possession of a controlled substance).

(a3)      It shall be the duty of the arresting law enforcement agency to cause a person charged with a crime to provide to the magistrate as much of the following information as possible for the person arrested:

(1)        Name including first, last, middle, maiden, and nickname or alias.

(2)        Address including street, city, and state.

(3)        Drivers license number and state of issuance.

(4)        Date of birth.

(5)        Gender.

(6)        Race.

(7)        Social Security number.

(8)        Relationship to the alleged victim and whether it is a "personal relationship" as defined by G.S. 50B‑1(b).

(a4)      It shall be the duty of the arresting law enforcement agency to cause a person who has been charged with a misdemeanor offense of assault, stalking, or communicating a threat and held under G.S. 15A‑534.1, to be fingerprinted for the purposes of reporting these offenses to the National Criminal Instant Background Check System (NICS) and to forward those fingerprints to the State Bureau of Investigation.

(a5)      It shall be the duty of the magistrate to enter into the court information system all information provided by the arresting law enforcement agency on the person arrested.

(a2)(a6)      If the person cannot be identified by a valid form of identification, it shall be the duty of the arresting law‑enforcement agency to cause a person charged with the commission of:

(1)        Any offense involving impaired driving, as defined in G.S. 20‑4.01(24a), or

(2)        Driving while license revoked if the revocation is for an Impaired Driving License Revocation as defined in G.S. 20‑28.2

to be fingerprinted and photographed.

(b)        This section does not authorize the taking of photographs or fingerprints when the offense charged is a Class 2 or 3 misdemeanor under Chapter 20 of the General Statutes, "Motor Vehicles." Notwithstanding the prohibition in this subsection, a photograph may be taken of a person who operates a motor vehicle on a street or highway if:

(1)        The person is cited by a law enforcement officer for a motor vehicle moving violation, and

(2)        The person does not produce a valid drivers license upon the request of a law enforcement officer, and

(3)        The law enforcement officer has a reasonable suspicion concerning the true identity of the person.

As used in this subsection, the phrase "motor vehicle moving violation" does not include the offenses listed in the third paragraph of G.S. 20‑16(c) for which no points are assessed, nor does it include equipment violations specified in Part 9 of Article 3 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes.

(b1)      Any photograph authorized by subsection (b) of this section and taken by a law enforcement officer or agency:

(1)        Shall only be taken of the operator of the motor vehicle, and only from the neck up.

(2)        Shall be taken at either the location where the citation is issued, or at the jail if an arrest is made.

(3)        Shall be retained by the law enforcement officer or agency until the final disposition of the case.

(4)        Shall not be used for any purpose other than to confirm the identity of the alleged offender.

(5)        Shall be destroyed by the law enforcement officer or agency upon a final disposition of the charge.

(c)        This section does not authorize the taking of photographs or fingerprints of a juvenile alleged to be delinquent except under Article 21 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.

(d)        This section does not prevent the taking of photographs, moving pictures, video or sound recordings, fingerprints, or the like to show a condition of intoxication or for other evidentiary use.

(e)        Fingerprints or photographs taken pursuant to subsection (a), (a1), or (a2) of this section may be forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or other law‑enforcement agencies."

SECTION 9.  The Administrative Office of the Courts shall use funds available from the Court Technology Fund to comply with Section 4 of this bill and to provide all of the following historical records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) by May 31, 2019:

(1)        Involuntary commitments for in‑patient and out‑patient mental health and substance abuse treatment from all counties.

(2)        Findings of not guilty by reason of insanity or mentally incompetent to stand trial from all counties.

(3)        Findings that an individual lacks the capacity to manage the individual's own affairs due to marked subnormal intelligence or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease from all counties.

(4)        Convictions for misdemeanor possession of controlled substances under G.S. 90‑95(d) from all counties from January 1, 2009.

(5)        Convictions for all misdemeanors as identified in G.S. 14‑134.3, 15A‑1382.1, or 50B‑4.1 from all counties.

(6)        Convictions for all misdemeanors as identified in G.S. 20‑138.1, 20‑138.2, 20‑138.2A, and 20‑138.2B or convicted and sentenced under G.S. 20‑179(f3) for more than two years from all counties.

(7)        Active and unserved felony warrants, indictments, criminal summons, and orders for arrest from all counties.

SECTION 10.  G.S. 14‑404(g) reads as rewritten:

"(g)       An applicant shall not be ineligible to receive a permit under subdivision (c)(4) of this section because of involuntary commitment to mental health services if the individual's rights have been restored under G.S. 122C‑54.1.G.S. 14‑409.42."

SECTION 11.  G.S. 14‑415.3(c) reads as rewritten:

"(c)       The provisions of this section shall not apply to a person whose rights have been restored pursuant to G.S. 122C‑54.1.G.S. 14‑409.42."

SECTION 12.  G.S. 14‑415.12(c) reads as rewritten:

"(c)       An applicant shall not be ineligible to receive a concealed carry permit under subdivision (6) of subsection (b) of this section because of an adjudication of mental incapacity or illness or an involuntary commitment to mental health services if the individual's rights have been restored under G.S. 122C‑54.1.G.S. 14‑409.42."

SECTION 13.  G.S. 122C‑54.1(a), recodified as G.S. 14‑409.42(a) by Section 2 of this act, reads as rewritten:

"(a)       Any individual over the age of 18 may petition for the removal of the disabilities pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(4) and (g)(4), G.S. 14‑415.3, and G.S. 14‑415.12 arising out of a determination or finding required to be transmitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by subdivisions (1) through (6) of subsection (d1) of G.S. 122C‑54. of subsection (a) of G.S. 14‑409.43. The individual may file the petition with a district court judge upon the expiration of any current inpatient or outpatient commitment."

SECTION 14.  G.S. 15A‑534(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       In determining conditions of pretrial release a judicial official must impose at least one of the following conditions:

(1)        Release the defendant on his written promise to appear.

(2)        Release the defendant upon his execution of an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the judicial official.

(3)        Place the defendant in the custody of a designated person or organization agreeing to supervise him.

(4)        Require the execution of an appearance bond in a specified amount secured by a cash deposit of the full amount of the bond, by a mortgage pursuant to G.S. 58‑74‑5, or by at least one solvent surety.

(5)        House arrest with electronic monitoring.

If condition (5) is imposed, the defendant must execute a secured appearance bond under subdivision (4) of this subsection. If condition (3) is imposed, however, the defendant may elect to execute an appearance bond under subdivision (4). If the defendant is required to provide fingerprints pursuant to G.S. 15A‑502(a1) or (a2), (a5), or a DNA sample pursuant to G.S. 15A‑266.3A or G.S. 15A‑266.4, and (i) the fingerprints or DNA sample have not yet been taken or (ii) the defendant has refused to provide the fingerprints or DNA sample, the judicial official shall make the collection of the fingerprints or DNA sample a condition of pretrial release. The judicial official may also place restrictions on the travel, associations, conduct, or place of abode of the defendant as conditions of pretrial release. The judicial official may include as a condition of pretrial release that the defendant abstain from alcohol consumption, as verified by the use of a continuous alcohol monitoring system, of a type approved by the Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety, and that any violation of this condition be reported by the monitoring provider to the district attorney."

SECTION 15.  Sections 6, 7, 8, and 14 of this act become effective on October 1, 2015. Sections 1, 4, and 13 of this act become effective on January 1, 2016. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.