Senate amends House Bill 12-25 to narrow "other dangerous weapons" language, refers to appropriations panel

Senator Randall Bridal presented House Bill 12-25 on the floor and explained the judiciary committee's proposed amendments, saying the bill responds to an increase in drive‑by shootings and related reckless uses of firearms.

The committee reported that the House version had added the phrase "or other dangerous weapons" to a new offense. Bridal said the phrase could include items ranging from vehicles to other objects already defined elsewhere in the criminal code, making the language "too broad" for the intended offense. The judiciary committee removed the phrase to limit the statute to use of a firearm.

The committee also struck statutory language that would have converted out‑of‑state misdemeanor convictions into felonies for purposes of repeat-offender sentencing. Bridal said that change could unfairly upgrade past misdemeanors committed in other states to felonies in North Dakota and that the committee removed that provision to avoid that outcome.

The Senate adopted the proposed amendments by voice vote and re-referred House Bill 12-25 to the Appropriations Committee for further consideration.

What was decided: The amendments described above were adopted on the floor. No final passage vote on the underlying bill is recorded in the transcript; the bill was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

Context: Bridal said the amendments emerged from the judiciary committee and that they passed out of committee unanimously. The changes aim to keep the new statutory language focused on firearms and to avoid unintentional cross‑state sentencing consequences.

Next steps: The bill will be considered by the Appropriations Committee, as stated on the floor.