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Committee approves bill to authorize voluntary firearm-hold agreements with liability protections
Summary
House Bill 1067 allows firearm owners to enter contracts with licensed dealers to temporarily hold firearms (for example, during a mental-health crisis); the bill provides liability protection for licensees who accept firearms under such agreements, and the committee passed it by voice vote.
Representative Ricky Hill presented House Bill 1067, which would authorize voluntary firearm-hold agreements between firearm owners and federally licensed firearm dealers. Under the proposal, an owner who is concerned about self-harm or imminent risk could contract with a licensee to have the dealer hold the firearms for a mutually agreed period.
Sponsor testimony framed the bill as a suicide-prevention and crisis-response tool; Representative Hill said several local dealers already perform this service for military personnel and others and the legislation would provide civil-liability coverage for licensees who accept firearms under such contracts. Committee members asked clarifying questions about who could place firearms into a hold (the owner must be the one to request the hold under the bill) and what would happen to firearms if the owner died or otherwise could not take possession again; the sponsor said those matters would be handled under the terms of the private contract between the owner and the licensee.
No federal involvement was described in the committee record; the sponsor emphasized the arrangement would be a private contract between a licensee and an owner. The committee moved to pass the bill and recorded a voice vote in favor.
