The Washington State House of Representatives Has Passed a Bill to Create a State Registry of Serious Firearm Crime Offenders

On Tuesday March 21, 2013, the Washington State House of Representatives passed a bill that would create a state registry of serious firearm law violators. The bill would add statutory law that would create a state registry of people who have committed serious gun crimes that would be similar to the state sex offender registry in many ways. The firearms offender registry would not be a public list like the sex offender registry though. The bill would still need to pass the state Senate in order to become law. The Bill is:

Washington State Legislature

SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1612

In the bill, the concept of "firearm offender" appears to apply only to violent or serious crimes committed with a firearm, not to minor misdemeanor offenses not related to violent crime that may violate a portion of RCW Chapter 9.41, for example. The definition does however include theft of a firearm pursuant to -  RCW 9A.56.300, a Class B felony, meaning that it is a very serious crime. The relevant portion of the statutory amendment to RCW 9.41.010 that the bill creates states:

(8) "Firearm offender" means a person who has previously been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in this state of any firearm offense. A person is not a firearm offender under this chapter if any and all qualifying offenses have been the subject of an expungement, pardon, annulment, certificate, or rehabilitation, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of the rehabilitation of the person convicted or a pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of innocence.
(9) "Firearm offense" means:
     (a) Any felony offense that is a violation of chapter 9.41 RCW;
     (b) A violation of RCW 9A.36.045;
     (c) A violation of RCW 9A.56.300;
     (d) A violation of RCW 9A.56.310;
     (e) Any felony offense if the offender was armed with a firearm in the commission of the offense.

The bill requires the criminal offenders described in the definition above to register with the state in a manner that is similar to the requirements placed upon registered sex offenders. The registry period is does last for a lifetime though, the firearms offender registry only requires the people on it to remain on it for four years after their release from prison. Like the sex offender registry though, the bill also creates a crime of failure to register. The apparent intent of the bill is to closely track and monitor people who have committed serious crimes with firearms after they have been released from prison. Below is the complete text of the bill, hopefully in the form that passed the state House of Representatives. 

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By House Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representatives Hope, Pedersen, Hayes, Buys, Dahlquist, Hargrove, O'Ban, Holy, Goodman, Fagan, Smith, Magendanz, Orcutt, Klippert, Kretz, Warnick, Roberts, Moscoso, Ryu, and Bergquist)
READ FIRST TIME 02/22/13.


     AN ACT Relating to firearm offenders; amending RCW 42.56.240; reenacting and amending RCW 9.41.010; adding new sections to chapter 9.41 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.43 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1   RCW 42.56.240 and 2012 c 88 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The following investigative, law enforcement, and crime victim information is exempt from public inspection and copying under this chapter:
     (1) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy;
     (2) Information revealing the identity of persons who are witnesses to or victims of crime or who file complaints with investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies, other than the commission, if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical safety, or property. If at the time a complaint is filed the complainant, victim, or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints filed with the commission about any elected official or candidate for public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant under oath;
     (3) Any records of investigative reports prepared by any state, county, municipal, or other law enforcement agency pertaining to sex offenses contained in chapter 9A.44 RCW or sexually violent offenses as defined in RCW 71.09.020, which have been transferred to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs for permanent electronic retention and retrieval pursuant to RCW 40.14.070(2)(b);
     (4) License applications under RCW 9.41.070; copies of license applications or information on the applications may be released to law enforcement or corrections agencies;
     (5) Information revealing the identity of child victims of sexual assault who are under age eighteen. Identifying information means the child victim's name, address, location, photograph, and in cases in which the child victim is a relative or stepchild of the alleged perpetrator, identification of the relationship between the child and the alleged perpetrator;
     (6) The statewide gang database referenced in RCW 43.43.762;
     (7) Data from the electronic sales tracking system established in RCW 69.43.165;
     (8) Information submitted to the statewide unified sex offender notification and registration program under RCW 36.28A.040(6) by a person for the purpose of receiving notification regarding a registered sex offender, including the person's name, residential address, and e-mail address; and
     (9) Personally identifying information collected by law enforcement agencies pursuant to local security alarm system programs and vacation crime watch programs. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted so as to prohibit the legal owner of a residence or business from accessing information regarding his or her residence or business; and
     (10) The central registry of firearm offenders established in section 6 of this act.
Sec. 2   RCW 9.41.010 and 2009 c 216 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
     (1) "Antique firearm" means a firearm or replica of a firearm not designed or redesigned for using rim fire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898, including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.
     (2) "Barrel length" means the distance from the bolt face of a closed action down the length of the axis of the bore to the crown of the muzzle, or in the case of a barrel with attachments to the end of any legal device permanently attached to the end of the muzzle.
     (3) "Crime of violence" means:
     (a) Any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter amended: Any felony defined under any law as a class A felony or an attempt to commit a class A felony, criminal solicitation of or criminal conspiracy to commit a class A felony, manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second degree, indecent liberties if committed by forcible compulsion, kidnapping in the second degree, arson in the second degree, assault in the second degree, assault of a child in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, residential burglary, and robbery in the second degree;
     (b) Any conviction for a felony offense in effect at any time prior to June 6, 1996, which is comparable to a felony classified as a crime of violence in (a) of this subsection; and
     (c) Any federal or out-of-state conviction for an offense comparable to a felony classified as a crime of violence under (a) or (b) of this subsection.
     (4) "Dealer" means a person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail who has, or is required to have, a federal firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a). A person who does not have, and is not required to have, a federal firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a), is not a dealer if that person makes only occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or sells all or part of his or her personal collection of firearms.
     (5) "Family or household member" means "family" or "household member" as used in RCW 10.99.020.
     (6) "Felony" means any felony offense under the laws of this state or any federal or out-of-state offense comparable to a felony offense under the laws of this state.
     (7) "Firearm" means a weapon or device from which a projectile or projectiles may be fired by an explosive such as gunpowder.
     (8) "Firearm offender" means a person who has previously been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in this state of any firearm offense. A person is not a firearm offender under this chapter if any and all qualifying offenses have been the subject of an expungement, pardon, annulment, certificate, or rehabilitation, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of the rehabilitation of the person convicted or a pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of innocence.
     (9) "Firearm offense" means:
     (a) Any felony offense that is a violation of chapter 9.41 RCW;
     (b) A violation of RCW 9A.36.045;
     (c) A violation of RCW 9A.56.300;
     (d) A violation of RCW 9A.56.310;
     (e) Any felony offense if the offender was armed with a firearm in the commission of the offense.
     (10) "Law enforcement officer" includes a general authority Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020, or a specially commissioned Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020. "Law enforcement officer" also includes a limited authority Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020 if such officer is duly authorized by his or her employer to carry a concealed pistol.
     (((9))) (11) "Lawful permanent resident" has the same meaning afforded a person "lawfully admitted for permanent residence" in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(20).
     (((10))) (12) "Loaded" means:
     (a) There is a cartridge in the chamber of the firearm;
     (b) Cartridges are in a clip that is locked in place in the firearm;
     (c) There is a cartridge in the cylinder of the firearm, if the firearm is a revolver;
     (d) There is a cartridge in the tube or magazine that is inserted in the action; or
     (e) There is a ball in the barrel and the firearm is capped or primed if the firearm is a muzzle loader.
     (((11))) (13) "Machine gun" means any firearm known as a machine gun, mechanical rifle, submachine gun, or any other mechanism or instrument not requiring that the trigger be pressed for each shot and having a reservoir clip, disc, drum, belt, or other separable mechanical device for storing, carrying, or supplying ammunition which can be loaded into the firearm, mechanism, or instrument, and fired therefrom at the rate of five or more shots per second.
     (((12))) (14) "Nonimmigrant alien" means a person defined as such in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(15).
     (((13))) (15) "Pistol" means any firearm with a barrel less than sixteen inches in length, or is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.
     (((14))) (16) "Rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.
     (((15))) (17) "Sell" refers to the actual approval of the delivery of a firearm in consideration of payment or promise of payment of a certain price in money.
     (((16))) (18) "Serious offense" means any of the following felonies or a felony attempt to commit any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter amended:
     (a) Any crime of violence;
     (b) Any felony violation of the uniform controlled substances act, chapter 69.50 RCW, that is classified as a class B felony or that has a maximum term of imprisonment of at least ten years;
     (c) Child molestation in the second degree;
     (d) Incest when committed against a child under age fourteen;
     (e) Indecent liberties;
     (f) Leading organized crime;
     (g) Promoting prostitution in the first degree;
     (h) Rape in the third degree;
     (i) Drive-by shooting;
     (j) Sexual exploitation;
     (k) Vehicular assault, when caused by the operation or driving of a vehicle by a person while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or by the operation or driving of a vehicle in a reckless manner;
     (l) Vehicular homicide, when proximately caused by the driving of any vehicle by any person while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug as defined by RCW 46.61.502, or by the operation of any vehicle in a reckless manner;
     (m) Any other class B felony offense with a finding of sexual motivation, as "sexual motivation" is defined under RCW 9.94A.030;
     (n) Any other felony with a deadly weapon verdict under RCW ((9.94A.602)) 9.94A.825; or
     (o) Any felony offense in effect at any time prior to June 6, 1996, that is comparable to a serious offense, or any federal or out-of-state conviction for an offense that under the laws of this state would be a felony classified as a serious offense.
     (((17))) (19) "Short-barreled rifle" means a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any weapon made from a rifle by any means of modification if such modified weapon has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.
     (((18))) (20) "Short-barreled shotgun" means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun by any means of modification if such modified weapon has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.
     (((19))) (21) "Shotgun" means a weapon with one or more barrels, designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) On or after the effective date of this section, whenever a defendant in this state is convicted of a firearm offense or found not guilty by reason of insanity of any firearm offense, the court must consider whether to impose a requirement that the person comply with the registration requirements of section 4 of this act and may, in its discretion, impose such a requirement.
     (2) In determining whether to require the person to register, the court shall consider all relevant factors including, but not limited to:
     (a) The person's criminal history;
     (b) Whether the person has previously been found not guilty by reason of insanity of any offense in this state or elsewhere; and
     (c) Evidence of the person's propensity for violence that would likely endanger persons.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Any adult or juvenile residing, whether or not the person has a fixed residence, in this state who has been required by a court to comply with the registration requirements of this section shall personally register with the county sheriff for the county of the person's residence.
     (2) A person required to register under this section must provide the following information when registering:
     (a) Name and any aliases used;
     (b) Complete and accurate residence address or, if the person lacks a fixed residence, where he or she plans to stay;
     (c) Identifying information of the gun offender, including a physical description;
     (d) The offense for which the person was convicted;
     (e) Date and place of conviction; and
     (f) The names of any other county where the offender has registered pursuant to this section.
     (3) The county sheriff may require the offender to provide documentation that verifies the contents of his or her registration.
     (4) The county sheriff may take the offender's photograph or fingerprints for the inclusion of such record in the registration.
     (5) Firearm offenders shall register with the county sheriff not later than forty-eight hours after:
     (a) The date of release from custody, as a result of the firearm offense, of the state department of corrections, the state department of social and health services, a local division of youth services, or a local jail or juvenile detention facility; or
     (b) The date the court imposes the firearm offender's sentence, if the offender receives a sentence that does not include confinement.
     (6)(a) Except as described in (b) of this subsection, the firearm offender shall register with the county sheriff not later than twenty days after each twelve-month anniversary of the date the offender is first required to register, as described in subsection (5) of this section.
     (b) If the firearm offender is confined to any correctional institution, state institution or facility, or health care facility throughout the twenty-day period described in (a) of this subsection, the offender shall personally appear before the county sheriff not later than forty-eight hours after release to verify and update, as appropriate, his or her registration.
     (7) If the firearm offender changes his or her residence address and his or her new residence address is within this state, the offender shall personally register with the county sheriff for the county of the person's residence not later than forty-eight hours after the change of address. If the offender's residence address is within the same county as the offender's immediately preceding address, the offender shall update the contents of his or her current registration.
     (8) The duty to register shall continue for a period of four years from the date the offender is first required to register, as described in subsection (5) of this section.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A person commits the crime of failure to register as a firearm offender if the person has a duty to register under section 4 of this act and knowingly fails to comply with any of the requirements of section 4 of this act.
     (2) Failure to register as a firearm offender is a gross misdemeanor.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 43.43 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The county sheriff shall forward registration information, photographs, and fingerprints obtained pursuant to section 4 of this act to the Washington state patrol within five working days.
     (2) Upon implementation of this act, the Washington state patrol shall maintain a central registry of firearm offenders required to register under section 4 of this act and shall adopt rules as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.
     (3) Upon expiration of the person's duty to register, as described in section 4(8) of this act, the Washington state patrol shall automatically remove the person's name and information from the registry.
     (4) The central registry of firearm offenders shall be used only for law enforcement purposes and is not subject to public disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
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