BILL REQ. #:  S-0509.1 

Read first time 01/31/13.   Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing a process for voluntary temporary safekeeping of firearms with law enforcement agencies; and adding a new section to chapter 9.41 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The chief of police of a municipality or the sheriff of a county are authorized to receive and take into custody, for the purposes of temporary safekeeping, any firearm of a person who voluntarily requests to surrender a firearm, if the person appears in person to surrender the firearm and provides written attestation of the voluntary surrender.
     (b) The chief of police of a municipality or the sheriff of a county are authorized to receive and take into custody for the purposes of temporary safekeeping any firearm of a person whose family member, friend, or mental health professional appears in person and provides written attestation, that the owner of the firearm voluntarily surrenders his or her firearm for temporary safekeeping. The family member, friend, or mental health professional must sign under penalty of perjury that the owner of the firearm has voluntarily surrendered the firearm. A person who knowingly makes a false statement regarding the voluntariness of the firearm surrender is guilty of false swearing under RCW 9A.72.040.
     (c) A law enforcement agency may inquire into and require the provision of identifying information regarding the owner of the firearm before taking the firearm into custody including, but not limited to, the owner's name, driver's license or state identicard information, residential address, and phone number.
     (2) Any firearm surrendered under this section may be held by the law enforcement agency for a period of up to and including thirty days. It is in the discretion of the law enforcement agency whether and when to return a firearm surrendered under this section sooner than thirty days.
     (3) A law enforcement agency must provide notice to any person surrendering their firearm that the firearm may be held for up to thirty days, after which a person must retrieve the firearm or make a new attestation of surrender for temporary safekeeping. If a person other than the owner of the firearm surrenders the firearm pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section, the law enforcement agency must make a good faith effort to send written notice to the legal owner.
     (4) A firearm may only be reclaimed by the legal owner of the firearm. A firearm not claimed within sixty days after the completion of the last thirty-day safekeeping period may be disposed of in accordance with agency policy for disposition of firearms.
     (5) Before returning any firearm surrendered under this section, the chief of police of a municipality or the sheriff of a county must conduct a criminal history background check in accordance with agency policy regarding return and transfer of firearms, to determine whether the applicant is ineligible under RCW 9.41.040 or 9.41.045 to possess a firearm, or is prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law. The issuing authority must not return a firearm to anyone who is found to be prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal or state law.
     (6) The chief of police of a municipality or the sheriff of a county has the authority to collect a nonrefundable fee of up to fifty dollars for the background check, which must be paid upon return of the firearm. Payment must be made by cash, check, or money order, or other methods of payment at the discretion of the agency.
     (7) The chief of police of a municipality or the sheriff of a county, their employees, or units of local government and its employees, are immune from civil liability for damages for any discretionary decision to take or refuse to take into custody any firearm, or to return or refuse to return any firearm as provided in this section.