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History for SB541 (Regular Session 2008)
Date
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Amend/Subst
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Matter
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Committee
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Nay
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Yea
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Abs
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Vote
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03/25/2008 Read for the first time and referred to the Senate committee on Judiciary JUDY
04/10/2008 Read for the second time and placed on the calendar 3 4 0
Pending third reading on day 20 Favorable from Judiciary
Sponsors for SB541 (Regular Session 2008)
Sponsors
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Co-Sponsors
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Smitherman
Fiscal Notes for SB541 (Regular Session 2008)
SB541 for Judiciary - Dated 04/02/2008
Committee: Judiciary Sponsor: Smitherman
Analyst: Sharon Bivens Date: 04/02/2008
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FISCAL NOTE
Senate Bill 541 as introduced will increase by an undetermined amount the obligations of the Department of Public Safety as a result of a provision of this bill to require that the Department establish and maintain an Ammunition Coding Database (ACD) to be used for the registration of manufacturers and vendors of handgun ammunition and for the entering of identifying information of all coded ammunition and of information regarding the purchase of handgun ammunition. This bill also imposes a consumer fee of up to 0.005 cents for each bullet or round of ammunition sold to be used to fund the ACD. Revenues from that fee shall be deposited into the Coded Ammunition Fund, created by this bill, in the State Treasury. This bill would reduce income tax receipts to the Education Trust Fund by an undetermined amount dependent upon the one-time corporate income tax credit allowed to ammunition manufacturers based in Alabama for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009. This bill could increase receipts to the State General Fund and municipal general funds from fines; increase receipts to the State General Fund, county general funds, municipal general funds, and other funds to which court costs are deposited; and could increase the obligations of local jails by an amount dependent upon the number of persons charged with and convicted of the offenses provided by this bill and the penalties imposed.
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Rodger Smitherman, Chairperson
Judiciary
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Page 0
SB541 1
96647-1 2
By Senator Smitherman 3
RFD: Judiciary 4
First Read: 25-MAR-08 5
Page 1
96647-1:n:03/24/2008:DA/aw LRS2008-162 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, there is no requirement 8
that ammunition manufactured or sold in this state 9
be coded. 10
This bill would require, commencing January 11
1, 2009, that handgun ammunition be coded. This 12
bill would require by January 1, 2011, the disposal 13
of all non-coded ammunition owned by private 14
citizens or retail outlets. 15
This bill would require the Department of 16
Public Safety to establish and maintain an 17
ammunition coding database. This bill would require 18
ammunition vendors and manufacturers to register 19
with the Department of Public Safety. 20
This bill would require certain information 21
in connection with handgun ammunition transactions 22
be recorded, transmitted to the Department of 23
Public Safety, and maintained by the vendor and 24
manufacturer. 25
This bill would provide for a fee not to 26
exceed 0.005 cent per bullet or round of ammunition 27
Page 2
to establish and maintain the ammunition code 1
database. 2
This bill would provide penalties for 3
violations. 4
Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama 5
of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the 6
Official Recompilation of the Constitution of 7
Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general 8
law whose purpose or effect would be to require a 9
new or increased expenditure of local funds from 10
becoming effective with regard to a local 11
governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote 12
unless: it comes within one of a number of 13
specified exceptions; it is approved by the 14
affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates 15
funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to 16
the entity for the purpose. 17
The purpose or effect of this bill would be 18
to require a new or increased expenditure of local 19
funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, 20
the bill does not require approval of a local 21
governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to 22
become effective because it comes within one of the 23
specified exceptions contained in the amendment. 24
25
A BILL 26
TO BE ENTITLED 27
Page 3
AN ACT 1
2
Relating to firearms and ammunition; to require 3
handgun ammunition to be coded; to require, under certain 4
conditions, the disposal of all non-coded ammunition owned by 5
private citizens or retail outlets; to require the Department 6
of Public Safety to establish a statewide database to track 7
coded ammunition manufactured and sold for handguns; to 8
require ammunition vendors and manufacturers to register with 9
and provide information to the Department of Public Safety; to 10
provide for a fee to establish and maintain an ammunition 11
coding database; to establish the Code Ammunition Fund in the 12
State Treasury; to provide for civil and criminal penalties; 13
and in connection therewith would have as its purpose or 14
effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of 15
local funds within the meaning of Amendment 621 of the 16
Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 17
111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of 18
Alabama of 1901, as amended. 19
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA: 20
Section 1. The Legislature of Alabama finds all of 21
the following: 22
(1) Each year in the United States, more than 30 23
percent of all homicides that involve a gun go unsolved. 24
(2) Handgun ammunition accounts for 80 percent of 25
all ammunition sold in the United States. 26
Page 4
(3) Current technology for matching a bullet used in 1
a crime to the gun that fired it has worked moderately well 2
for years, but presupposes that the weapon was recovered by 3
law enforcement. 4
(4) Bullet coding is a new and effective way for law 5
enforcement to quickly identify persons of interest in gun 6
crime investigations. 7
Section 2. As used in this act, the following words 8
shall have the following meanings: 9
(1) CODED AMMUNITION. A bullet carrying a unique 10
identifier that has been applied by etching onto the base of 11
the bullet projectile. 12
(2) HANDGUN. Any firearm with a barrel less than 16 13
inches in length, or is designed to be held and fired by the 14
use of a single hand. 15
(3) HANDGUN AMMUNITION. All ammunition principally 16
for use in pistols, notwithstanding that the ammunition may 17
also be used in other firearms, including bullets used for 18
reloading or handloading pistol ammunition. 19
Section 3. (a) All handgun ammunition manufactured 20
or sold in the state after January 1, 2009, shall be coded by 21
the manufacturer. 22
(b) No later than January 1, 2011, all non-coded 23
ammunition used in a handgun, whether owned by private 24
citizens or retail outlets, shall be disposed of. 25
Section 4. (a) The Department of Public Safety shall 26
be responsible for establishing and maintaining an Ammunition 27
Page 5
Coding Database (ACD) containing the names of manufacturers 1
and vendors and the data the manufacturers and vendors are 2
required to record pursuant to subsections (b) and (c). 3
(b) Manufacturers of handgun ammunition offered for 4
sale in this state shall register with the department in a 5
manner prescribed by the department through rule. 6
Manufacturers shall maintain records specifying the unique 7
identifier for all coded ammunition for all sales, loans, and 8
transfers of ammunition, to, from, or within the state, shall 9
transmit the information to the department within 10 business 10
days, and shall retain the information on the business 11
premises for seven years. 12
(c) Vendors of handgun ammunition in this state 13
shall register with the department in a manner prescribed by 14
the department through rule. Vendors shall record the 15
following information for each caliber of coded ammunition in 16
a form prescribed by the department: 17
(1) The date of the transaction. 18
(2) The name of the transferee. 19
(3) The purchaser's driver's license number or other 20
government issued identification card number. 21
(4) The date of birth of the purchaser. 22
(5) The unique identifier of all handgun ammunition 23
transferred. 24
(6) All other information prescribed by the 25
department. 26
Page 6
(d) A vendor of handgun information in this state 1
shall maintain the records required by subsection (b) on the 2
business premises for a period of three years from the date of 3
the recorded purchase and shall remit the information on each 4
transaction collected pursuant to this subsection to the 5
department within 10 business days. 6
(e) The ACD shall be built within the framework of 7
existing firearms databases. The ACD shall be operational no 8
later than January 1, 2009. 9
(f) Privacy of individuals shall be of the utmost 10
importance. Access to information in the ACD shall be reserved 11
for key law enforcement personnel and shall be released only 12
in connection with a criminal investigation. 13
Section 5. (a) Any vendor that willfully fails to 14
comply with, or falsifies the records required to be kept by 15
this act shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. 16
(b) Any manufacturer that fails to comply with this 17
section shall be liable for a civil fine of not more than one 18
thousand dollars ($1,000) for a first violation, not more than 19
five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a second violation, and not 20
more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for a third or 21
subsequent violation. 22
(c) Any person who willfully destroys, obliterates, 23
or otherwise renders unreadable, the serialization required 24
pursuant to this act, on any bullet or assembled ammunition is 25
punishable by imprisonment not to exceed one year, and a fine 26
of one thousand dollars ($1,000). 27
Page 7
Section 6. (a) Establishing and maintaining the ACD 1
shall be funded by an end-user fee not to exceed five 2
thousandths cent (0.005) per bullet or round of ammunition. 3
(b) There is hereby established in the State 4
Treasury the Coded Ammunition Fund for deposit of the end-user 5
fees pursuant to subsection (a). Moneys in the fund, upon 6
appropriation, shall be available to the department for 7
infrastructure, implementation, operational, enforcement, and 8
future development costs of this act. 9
(c) Ammunition manufacturers based within this state 10
shall be allowed a one-time corporate income tax credit for 11
the cost of purchasing ammunition coding equipment. All 12
applications on the credit shall be submitted to the 13
Department of Revenue by January 1, 2009. The State Department 14
of Revenue shall adopt rules to provide for the one-time tax 15
credit pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. 16
Section 7. This act shall become effective on the 17
first day of the third month following its passage and 18
approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law. 19
