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Committee advances bill letting certain officials buy service handguns at cost and lowers age for carrying firearm to 18
Summary
The committee reported House Bill 3181 to the full Senate after adopting a committee strike-and-insert; the bill allows chief executives and certain law-enforcement officers to purchase their service handgun at cost on honorable separation and removes the provisional firearms-license requirement for 18–21-year-olds under the amendment.
The Senate Government Organization Committee voted to report House Bill 3181 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.
Committee counsel explained the bill allows chief executives, law-enforcement officers, and law-enforcement officials to purchase their service handgun upon honorable separation from employment with certain exceptions. The weapon must be purchased at cost, and exceptions bar purchase by persons prohibited from owning a firearm or those "mentally incapacitated or a danger to any person or the community," counsel said. The bill also clarifies it does not supersede other code sections that permit awarding a service weapon upon retirement.
Counsel told the committee a committee "strike and insert" amendment removes provisions that had required 18- to 21-year-olds to hold a provisional firearms license and instead permits a person to carry a firearm at 18 in the same manner as at 21.
There was no extended debate. After the committee adopted the strike-and-insert amendment on a voice vote, the vice chair moved to report the bill to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass. The chair announced the motion adopted by voice vote and the bill will be reported to the Senate for further action.
The committee record shows the amendment and passage recommendation were adopted without a roll-call tally recorded in the transcript.
