03/08/1996 09:15 AM Senate FIN

                                                                               
       HOUSE BILL NO. 419                                                      
                                                                               
       "An  Act  relating  to  the  disposal of  firearms  and                 
  ammunition     by the state or a municipality."                              
                                                                               
  Mr.  Roger  Poppe,  aide  to  Representative Pete  Kott  was                 
  invited to join the committee and  testified on behalf of HB
.    Up   until  a   year  ago  the   Governor  and   the                 
  administration  took  all  guns   which  were  surplused  or                 
  obtained through criminal behaviour and  sold them at public                 
  auction.  Last  October, due to  a change in the  Governor's                 
                                                                               
                                                                               
  policy, in that  he felt handguns  were inappropriate to  be                 
  sold at public  auction, destroyed some  fifty of them at  a                 
  cost of  $12,000.   Consequently, there  were some  lawsuits                 
  filed and then  this bill along  with companion bill SB  219                 
  were filed to  try and stop this  practice.  As a  result of                 
  the  bill  filing  it  appears   the  Governor  amended  his                 
  procedures and is no  longer destroying the guns and  so the                 
  bill's  position   and  the  Governor's  position  are  more                 
  similar,  but there is  still an important  difference.  The                 
  basic difference is that  now under both the bill's  and the                 
  Governor's  policy the  guns would  be sold  to a  federally                 
  licensed  firearm  dealer  and   the  only  real  difference                 
  remaining  is that he would prefer  to see those sold to law                 
  enforcement agencies and personnel, whereas  this bill would                 
  have the guns sold  to the public.  It would  go back to the                 
  auctioneer/sale procedure.    The advantage  of taking  this                 
  approach is by going through a federally licensed dealer the                 
  public  safety  issue  is  maintained  because  there  is  a                 
  background  check  they would  have  to make  on  the person                 
  purchasing  the weapon  to make  sure it was  not sold  to a                 
  felon  and  used for  a possible  crime.   The  other public                 
  safety feature is that the department maintains the right to                 
  still  destroy any  guns that  are deemed unsafe  because of                 
  mechanical  problems.    By passing  this  bill  the revenue                 
  stream  would  be maintained  for  selling the  guns  to the                 
  public and the  public would get  access to them instead  of                 
  just  law   enforcement  agencies.      The  CS   eliminated                 
  municipalities from the bill because  there was some concern                 
  that it was a local issue  and so municipalities remain able                 
  to dispose of all their guns at sale or auction.                             
                                                                               
  Co-chairman Halford said that the effect of the bill is that                 
  you can buy the exact same weapon at K-Mart, Wal-Mart or any                 
  other Fred Meyer store and the  State will not be destroying                 
  them to make a political statement at the cost of the people                 
  of the State.  Mr. Poppe concurred.                                          
                                                                               
  Senator Phillips said that we  have been selling the weapons                 
  since  1959  and  there has  not  been  a  crime, felony  or                 
  misdemeanor  charged  back  to that  weapon  in  the State's                 
  history.                                                                     
                                                                               
  Mr. Dugan Petty, Director,  General Services, Department  of                 
  Administration  was invited to join the  committee.  He said                 
  that Commissioners  Boyer  and Otte  had  set out  a  policy                 
  governing disposal of  firearms.  If  the bill is passed  it                 
  would  present  an  opportunity  to  untangle  multiple  and                 
  confusing  statutes  regarding the    disposal of  seized or                 
  forfeited firearms.  It is also Commissioners Boyer and Otte                 
  policy to make  available to  certified gun safety  programs                 
  firearms for  the use  in gun  safety training.   This  bill                 
  would prevent that provision as well.  It is the position of                 
  the administration that the bill is unnecessary.                             
                                                                               
                                                                               
  Senator Phillips MOVED CSHB  419(STA) and without  objection                 
  the  bill was REPORTED  OUT with  individual recommendations                 
  and  fiscal   notes  of   $10.04  (revenue)   Department  of                 
  Administration; zero from the Department of Public Safety.