BILL REQ. #:  H-1233.1 

Read first time 02/01/11.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to minimum standards for firearms safety devices and gun safes used by governmental agencies that purchase, receive, possess, use, or issue firearms and government agents who receive, possess, or use a firearm issued to the agent by the agency; adding a new chapter to Title 42 RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   This act may be known and cited as the Eddie Ryan public safety act of 2011.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1)(a) A governmental agency that purchases, receives, possesses, uses, or issues a firearm must ensure that the firearm includes or is accompanied with a firearms safety device or gun safe that is identified as appropriate for that firearm by reference to either the manufacturer or the model of the firearm.
     (b) A government agent who receives, possesses, or uses a firearm issued to the agent by the agency must ensure that the firearm includes or is accompanied with a firearms safety device or gun safe that is identified as appropriate for that firearm by reference to either the manufacturer or the model of the firearm.
     (c) A governmental agency or government agent has until July 31, 2014, to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
     (2) All firearms safety devices and gun safes acquired under subsection (1) of this section must meet the minimum standards for firearms safety devices and gun safes as determined by the attorney general.
     (3)(a) The attorney general shall certify laboratories to verify compliance with standards for firearms safety devices and gun safes. The attorney general may charge any laboratory that is seeking certification to test firearms safety devices or gun safes a fee not exceeding the costs of certification.
     (b) The certified laboratory shall, at the manufacturer's or dealer's expense, test the firearms safety device or gun safe and submit a copy of the final test report directly to the attorney general along with the firearms safety device or gun safe. The attorney general shall notify the manufacturer or dealer of its receipt of the final test report and the attorney general's determination as to whether the firearms safety device or gun safe tested may be sold or transferred in this state for use by any governmental agency or government agent in this state.
     (c) By July 1, 2012, the attorney general shall compile, publish, and thereafter maintain a roster listing all of the firearms safety devices and gun safes that have been tested by a certified testing laboratory, and have been determined to meet the attorney general's standards for firearms safety devices or gun safes that may be sold in this state for possession or use in this state by a governmental agency or a government agent as issued by the agency. The roster shall list, for each firearms safety device or gun safe, the manufacturer, model number, and model name.
     (d) The attorney general may randomly retest samples obtained from sources other than directly from the manufacturer of the firearms safety device or gun safe listed on the roster to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section.
     (4) Firearms safety devices and gun safes used for random sample testing and obtained from sources other than the manufacturer shall be in new, unused condition and still in the manufacturer's original and unopened package.
     (5) A gun safe must:
     (a) Be able to fully contain firearms and provide for their secure storage;
     (b) Be capable of repeated use;
     (c) Have a locking system consisting of at minimum a mechanical or electronic combination lock. The mechanical or electronic combination lock utilized by the safe shall have at least ten thousand possible combinations consisting of a minimum three numbers, letters, or symbols. The lock shall be protected by a case-hardened (Rc 60+) drill-resistant steel plate, or drill-resistant material of equivalent strength;
     (d) Have boltwork that consists of a minimum of three steel locking bolts of at least half an inch thickness that intrude from the door of the safe into the body of the safe or from the body of the safe into the door of the safe, which are operated by a separate handle and secured by the lock;
     (e) Have exterior walls constructed of a minimum twelve gauge thick steel for a single-walled safe, or the sum of the steel walls add up to at least .100 inches for safes with two walls, and have doors constructed of a minimum of two layers of twelve gauge steel, or one layer of seven gauge steel compound construction;
     (f) Have door hinges that prevent the removal of the door, and protective features that include, but are not limited to: Hinges not exposed to the outside, interlocking door designs, dead bars, jeweler's lugs, and active or inactive locking bolts.
     (6) For purposes of this section:
     (a) "Firearms safety device" means a device other than a gun safe that locks and is designed to prevent children and unauthorized users from firing a firearm. The device may be installed on a firearm, be incorporated into the design of the firearm, or prevent access to the firearm.
     (b) "Gun safe" means a locking container that fully contains and secures one or more firearms, and that meets the standards for gun safes in subsection (5) of this section.
     (7) A violation of subsection (1) of this section is a class C felony.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   Section 2 of this act constitutes a new chapter in Title 42 RCW.