Special committee advances HB1588 after removing binary-trigger exclusion, adds higher-education exception

A special meeting of the legislature's Special Gun Committee voted Thursday to send House Bill 1588 to the full committee with a due-pass recommendation after agreeing to several amendments, including removal of language that would have excluded a so-called "binary trigger" from the bill's definition of prohibited devices and a new carve-out for buildings and property under the control of the State Board of Higher Education.

The changes, approved in separate motions during the meeting, also replace enumerations such as "city, county, township" with the broader term "political subdivision," specify schools' leased or rented property, add exemptions for the governor and retired judges, and set noncriminal penalties for certain violations at $100 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses.

The committee's action matters because HB1588 would create several new sections restricting possession of firearms or dangerous weapons in specified public places and grant rulemaking authority to the State Board of Higher Education over campus possession. That grant of authority was the focus of a discussion with university-system counsel, who asked for language clarifying when campus possession is allowed so…