CHAIRMAN ROBIN TAYLOR called the Judiciary Committee meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. He introduced SB 237 (WEAPONS POSSESSION/SALE BY/TO MINORS) as the first order of business and directed attention to a draft Judiciary CS. SENATOR HALFORD moved that CSSB 237(JUD) be adopted. Hearing no objection, the motion carried. SENATOR LOREN LEMAN, prime sponsor of SB 237, said he introduced the legislation after it came to his attention that the Anchorage Police Department could not arrest juveniles who had weapons and were brandishing them until they otherwise used them in some way and broke the law. SB 237 provides that juveniles have parental permission to have those weapons, with certain exceptions such as marksmanship and hunter safety classes. The legislation also contains changes to the procedures regarding juveniles who commit crimes with firearms. Senator Leman said he believes these are important changes to Alaska's juvenile weapons statutes, and he pointed out that the states of Florida and Utah have recently passed similar legislation. Number 050 SENATOR TAYLOR referred to Section 5 which provides that a minor will not be treated as a juveniles if a firearm is used and the minor has been previously adjudicated as a delinquent. SENATOR LEMAN clarified that would be the automatic waiver to be tried as an adult. SENATOR DONLEY referred to Section 5, which, he said, parallels SB 209, and one of the concerns he had with that legislation was with the language "the minor is alleged to have used a firearm in commission of the offense." He asked if this brings into the scope the mere possession of a firearm, and does this move them into adult jurisdiction. SENATOR LEMAN answered that would not be his intent if the juvenile just had possession of the weapon. SENATOR TAYLOR suggested the record should clearly reflect that the words "used as a firearm in the commission of the offense" would not encompass the mere possession which is already provided for. Number 163 SENATOR DONLEY, using the example of juveniles bringing firearms to school, said the first offense doesn't necessarily result in very serious ramifications, because the juvenile isn't treated as an adult for the first offense, and he suggested discussion on drawing a harder line warning the juvenile that if he does it again, it will trigger a serious penalty as an adult. The question should be if the triggering offense include mere status crimes such as possession of firearms and not utilization of firearms. Number 280 KATHY TIBBLES, Division of Family & Youth Services, Department of Health & Social Services, stated the division is opposed to lowering an automatic waiver age down to the age of 14 years for such offenses, because the division believes that at age 14 children still generally are amenable to treatment, and that those who commit offenses of a serious enough nature can still be waived under the current process that is available. Ms. Tibbles said the division also has a technical concern with language in the bill that refers to adjudication of delinquency in another jurisdiction. She pointed out that there is currently no national network that would make that kind of information available to them, so there are a lot of instances where they wouldn't know whether a juvenile has been adjudicated in another state. Number 310 JUANITA HENSLEY, Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Public Safety, directed attention to language on page 6 in Section 6, which relates to revoking a driver's license for one year on the first offense of these juveniles. If an individual is convicted of a drunk driving offense, their license is only going to be revoked for 90 days on the first offense. If they are driving drunk and they kill someone and they are charged with manslaughter, etc., the court is only required to revoke their license for a period of 30 days. She recommended on line 9 changing the one year to 90 days, and on line 11 changing the two years to one year, which would be consistent with the other areas of statute on license revocation periods. Number 390 SENATOR TAYLOR moved that on page 6, line 9, change "one year" to "90 days" and on line 11 change "two years" to "one year." He also modified the amendment on line 8, after the words "license for a period of" to include the words "no less than." Hearing no objection, the Chairman stated the amendment was adopted. Number 415 SENATOR DONLEY said because the amendment reduces the minimum time of suspension, he would like to see the requirement that they pay the $100 fee for reinstatement of their license. He then proposed the $100 reinstatement fee as a conceptual amendment. Hearing no objection, the amendment was adopted. Number 490 SENATOR HALFORD moved that CSSB 237(JUD) be passed out of committee with individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was ordered.