The Senate Judiciary Committee heard HB 1651 sponsored by Sen. Houchin regarding judicial evaluation of dangerous individuals, otherwise known as the Jake Laird law. This bill requires the Office of Judicial Administration to collect, monitor, and publish certain statistics related to the confiscation and retention of firearms taken from dangerous individuals. The bill requires a court to wait until after the conclusion of certain hearings before providing findings related to a person’s dangerousness to the Office of Judicial Administration. The bill further provides that a dangerous person is not a proper person for the purpose of applying for or receiving a license to carry a handgun and provides that a dangerous person who knowingly or intentionally rents, purchases, receives transfer of, owns, or possesses a firearm commits dangerous possession of a firearm as a Class A misdemeanor. A person who knowingly or intentionally rents, transfers, sells, or offers for sale a firearm to a person that a court has found to be dangerous or prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm commits dangerous transfer of a firearm, a Level 5 felony. The bill also details the procedure for a law enforcement officer that seizes a firearm from a dangerous person without a warrant and the court procedure when the State petitions for seizure of firearms from a dangerous person and the court finds, or does not find, the person to be dangerous.
Four amendments were passed by the committee. The first amendment eliminated certain reporting requirements for individuals not yet afforded an opportunity to be heard and raised the burden of proof for the State by changing the definition of “dangerous.” The second amendment allows qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry a weapon without a permit. The third amendment provides waiting periods for children alleged to be delinquents–a child alleged to be delinquent that commits the equivalent of a Level 6, 5, 4, and 3 felony must wait until age 26 to possess a handgun and a child alleged to be delinquent that commits the equivalent of a Level 1 or 2 felony or murder must wait 10 years from conviction to possess a handgun. The fourth amendment allows a person to legally possess a handgun on school property if they are participating in a worship service and eliminates the fee for five-year handgun permits.
Testifying in favor of the bill was the mother of Jake Laird; the Hamilton County Prosecutor; a Second Amendment attorney; two citizens; and Everytown for Gun Safety. The amended bill passed committee 5-4 and is recommitted to the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee.
Read the bill at: http://www.iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1651.