General Assembly

 

Proposed Bill No. 6301

 

January Session, 2015

 

LCO No. 1579

 

*01579*

Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY

 

Introduced by:

 

REP. CARTER, 2nd Dist.

 

AN ACT CREATING A DATABASE OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PROHIBITED FROM PURCHASING OR POSSESSING A FIREARM DUE TO PSYCHIATRIC OR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

That chapters 528 and 529 of the general statutes be amended to (1) authorize the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection to establish a database of the names, addresses, dates of birth and last four digits of the Social Security numbers of persons identified to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection by licensed psychiatrists or psychologists as "at risk" due to psychiatric or psychological disorder; (2) provide that a person so identified in said database shall be ineligible to possess or purchase a firearm; (3) provide that information contained in said database shall be accessed only by (A) licensed psychiatrists and psychologists, who shall have authority to delete information stored in said database based upon their medical judgment, and (B) state police officers; (4) provide that information contained in said database shall not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or pursuant to a subpoena issued in connection with any legal action against an individual or agency; (5) require an applicant for a firearm permit or certificate to acknowledge that the application may be denied if such applicant is identified in said database; and (6) require that any firearm in a home with a family member identified in said database that is not in use be stored in a firearm safe that, at a minimum, is made with ten-gauge steel and has an Underwriters Laboratories "Residential Security Container" rating, provided nothing herein shall prevent the owner of such firearm from keeping such firearm on his or her person.

Statement of Purpose:

To protect the public by creating a system that identifies individuals who should not be permitted to possess or purchase firearms due to psychiatric or psychological disorder.