18apr01...0540h

6/7/01...1503s

2001 SESSION

01-0020

04/10

HOUSE BILL 659-FN

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill provides that a convicted felon who attempts to purchase a firearm shall be guilty of a class B felony. The bill also requires that the administrative office of the courts notify a plaintiff of a failed attempt by a defendant to purchase or obtain 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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

18apr01...0540h

6/7/01...1503s

01-0020

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

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

189:1 New Paragraph; Convicted Felons; Attempt to Purchase Firearm. Amend RSA 159:3 by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:

I-a. A person is guilty of a class B felony if such person completes and signs an application for purchase of a firearm and the person is a convicted felon under the provisions of paragraph I.

189:2 New Paragraph; Protection from Domestic Violence; Relief; Notice Requirement Inserted. Amend RSA 173-B:5 by inserting after paragraph IX the following new paragraph:

IX-a. If a criminal records check conducted by the department of safety indicates that a potential buyer or transferee is prohibited from receipt or possession of a firearm pursuant to a protective order issued under this chapter, the department of safety shall notify the administrative office of the courts of the denial. The administrative office of the courts shall immediately notify the plaintiff that the defendant has attempted to purchase or obtain a firearm in violation of the protective order.

189:3 Protection of Persons From Domestic Violence; Orders Enforceable. Amend RSA 173-B:13, IV to read as follows:

IV. A person entitled to protection under a foreign protective order, as defined in paragraph II, may file such order in any district or superior court by filing with the court a certified copy of the order. Such person shall swear under oath in an affidavit to the best of such person's knowledge that the order is presently in effect as written. Such filing shall be without fee or cost. The clerk of the district or superior court shall forward such order to the [state police who] administrative office of the courts which shall enter such order in the state database. Such filing shall not be a precondition to arrest or enforcement of a foreign order.

189:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2002.

(Approved: July 5, 2001)

(Effective Date: January 1, 2002)