Committee holds straw poll on H606 amid split views over third‑party firearm relinquishment

A member moved to concur with the Senate proposal to H606, a bill that implements a model policy for firearm surrender and compliance. The motion was placed for discussion and the committee took an informal straw poll rather than a recorded roll-call vote.

Members and guests debated whether the statute should more fully enable third‑party relinquishment of firearms and whether requiring a background check to retrieve a relinquished firearm would impose an undue burden on owners. One committee member noted third‑party transfer can "help facilitate the quicker... transfer of firearms to other people" in urgent situations, while others warned it can create practical problems and a false sense of security.

Representative concerns included the administrative and ownership risks of transferring firearms temporarily to a shop or private third party, and whether a post‑relinquishment background check to get a firearm back is appropriate. A committee member summed a principal objection: third‑party arrangements could effectively transfer ownership if paperwork is not carefully designed.

Another member said the bill as presented imposed an added hurdle: "the secondary, background check, to get the relinquished firearm back... I simply can't support [that] in the rule making process," and said they could not support the measure in its current form.

The committee reported an informal, approximately even split in the straw poll (about five in favor and five opposed). No final roll-call vote on concurrence was recorded in the committee transcript; committee leadership asked staff to prepare a report and to follow up on outstanding concerns.

Next steps: staff will bring back revised language or clarifications addressing third-party transfer mechanics and background-check concerns before any final recorded concurrence vote.