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Committee hears bill limiting courts’ ability to bar firearm possession during misdemeanor probation
Summary
House Bill 1301 would restrict courts from imposing a condition that a probationer not possess a firearm for most misdemeanors and all infractions, while preserving existing presumptions for certain assault and domestic‑violence related offenses. Law enforcement and state's attorneys raised safety and sentencing concerns and asked for clarifying,
Representative Ben Koppelman, sponsor of House Bill 1301, told the committee he intended the measure to prevent courts from using probation conditions to strip firearm possession rights for many nonviolent misdemeanors and all infractions while retaining the existing presumptions for assault, domestic violence and similar violent offenses.
Koppelman described the bill as narrowly scoped: the current statute already identifies violent misdemeanors and certain offenses (assault, domestic violence, menacing, harassment, stalking) where courts may provide a probation condition prohibiting firearm possession; his amendment would prevent courts from imposing a firearm prohibition for other misdemeanors and for infractions unless the offense involved violence against an individual.
Witnesses from law enforcement organizations opposed the original draft and said they had not yet reviewed the sponsor’s amendments. Kelvin Benson of the North Dakota Peace Officers Association said the association opposed the bill as filed and asked for time to review proposed changes. Jonathan Byers of the North Dakota State’s Attorneys Association said the original text as circulated appeared to remove felony‑probation restrictions inadvertently and warned that the bill, as originally drafted, would prevent courts from imposing firearm prohibitions even when public‑safety considerations counsel otherwise. Byers highlighted several misdemeanor offenses (hindering a judicial proceeding, hindering law enforcement, physical obstruction of a government function, engaging in a riot) that prosecutors and probation officers might want to pair with a firearm prohibition for officer safety.
Committee members asked for a clean, consolidated amendment from legislative counsel to resolve drafting issues. Representative Koppelman said he would provide an LC (legislative council) clean copy of his amendment to the committee for review.
Ending: The hearing closed without a vote after testimony from the sponsor and opposition from law‑enforcement and prosecutors’ representatives; the sponsor agreed to provide a cleaned‑up amendment to legislative council for the committee’s consideration.
