CHAPTER 152
HB 1494-FN - FINAL VERSION
24feb00....3394h
2000 SESSION
09/01
HOUSE BILL 1494-FN
AN ACT establishing penalties for attempts to purchase firearms illegally.
SPONSORS: Rep. Pepino, Hills 40; Rep. Welch, Rock 18; Rep. Hunter, Hills 7; Rep. Knowles, Straf 11; Rep. Flora, Hills 15; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill makes it a class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a class B felony for a subsequent offense for a person to attempt to purchase a firearm when such person knows the purchase is illegal because he or she is subject to a protective order.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24feb00....3394h
00-2319
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand
AN ACT establishing penalties for attempts to purchase firearms illegally.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
152:1 New Section; Penalties for Attempts to Purchase Firearms Illegally. Amend RSA 159-D by inserting after section 2 the following new section:
159-D:3 Penalties for Attempts to Purchase Firearms Illegally. A person who completes and signs an application for purchase of a firearm and who knows that such purchase is illegal because he or she is subject to a protective order shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a class B felony for a second or subsequent offense.
152:2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.
(Approved: May 23, 2000)
(Effective Date: January 1, 2001)
LBAO
00-2319
12/16/99
HB 1494-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing a penalty for attempt to purchase a firearm illegally.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council, and the Department of Corrections have determined this bill may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2001 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or on state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Administrative Office of the Courts stated this bill creates a new category of class B felony offense for attempt to purchase a firearm illegally. The Office has determined the legislation will have little, if any, fiscal impact on the Branch, as it will not significantly impact caseload.
The Judicial Council assumed that any cases arising from the enactment of this law for which the Indigent Defense Fund may be liable, will, in the first instance be handled by the Public Defender or contract attorneys who accept these cases on a fixed fee basis of $687.50 for each felony charge. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60, with a fee cap of $3,000 for felony cases will apply. If a motion to exceed the fee cap is approved and/or "services other than counsel" are approved, these will also be chargeable to the Indigent Defense Fund. The Council is unable to predict the number of cases or trials which may arise as a result of the passage of this legislation, therefor, they are unable to estimate the dollar amount of the anticipated costs of such representation.
The Department of Corrections is unable to predict how many, if any, individuals would be incarcerated as result of this legislation. The average cost of incarceration for FY 1999 was $19,358 per inmate. The average cost of probation/parole supervision was $842 per inmate.
The Department of Justice has stated this bill will have no fiscal impact on the Department.