101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB3460
 
Introduced 2/13/2020, by Sen. Ram Villivalam
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:



New Act

 Creates the Personalized Firearms Act. Establishes within the Illinois State Police the Personalized Firearm Authorization Commission. Provides that the Commission shall be responsible for establishing performance standards for personalized firearms and maintaining a roster of personalized firearms authorized for sale to the public. Provides that the Personalized Firearm Authorization Commission shall maintain a roster of all personalized firearms for retail sales to the public by the Commission as meeting the personalized firearm performance standards and qualifying criteria established under the Act. Provides that within 12 months of the first personalized firearm being included on the roster established under the Act, each licensed firearms retail dealer shall: (1) only make available for purchase personalized firearms approved by the Commission and listed on the roster as eligible for sale; (2) post in one or more locations in the dealer's place or places of business in a conspicuous manner that makes them easily visible and accessible to customers: (A) copies of the personalized firearm roster; and (B) a sign that includes a clear and conspicuous statement disclosing the features of personalized firearms that are not offered by traditional firearms and advising customers that those firearms may be purchased through the licensed retail dealer; and (3) accept and process orders to enable customers to purchase through the licensed retail dealer any of the personalized firearms included in the roster.



LRB101 19842 RLC 69362 b


FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
 
 
A BILL FOR
 


SB3460LRB101 19842 RLC 69362 b



1 AN ACT concerning safety.


2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

3represented in the General Assembly:



4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 
5Personalized Firearms Act.

6 Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7 "Authorized user" means the lawful owner of a personalized 
8firearm or person to whom the owner has given consent to use 
9the personalized firearm.
10 "Personalized firearm" means a firearm that incorporates 
11within its design a permanent programmable feature as part of 
12its manufacture that cannot be deactivated and renders the 
13personalized firearm reasonably resistant to being fired 
14except when activated by the lawful owner or other user 
15authorized by the lawful owner. No make or model of a firearm 
16shall be deemed to be a personalized firearm unless the 
17Personalized Firearm Authorization Commission has determined 
18the personalized firearm meets the standards established in 
19Section 20. 

20 Section 10. Personalized Firearm Authorization Commission. 
21 (a) There is established within the Illinois State Police, 
22a Commission which shall be known as the Personalized Firearm 
 
 
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1Authorization Commission. The Commission shall be responsible 
2for establishing performance standards for personalized 
3firearms and maintaining a roster of personalized firearms 
4authorized for sale to the public under this Act. The 
5Personalized Firearm Authorization Commission shall maintain a 
6roster of all personalized firearms for retail sales to the 
7public by the Commission as meeting the personalized firearm 
8performance standards and qualifying criteria established 
9under this Section. The roster of approved personalized 
10firearms shall be published on a website maintained by the 
11Illinois State Police and shall be updated as necessary. A copy 
12of the roster shall be made available every 6 months to 
13registered and licensed firearms dealers in this State.
14 (b) The Commission shall consist of 7 members as follows:
15  (1) Three ex officio members:
16   (A) the Attorney General, or the Attorney 
17 General's designee;
18   (B) the Director of the Illinois State Police, or 
19 the Director's designee; and
20   (C) the Secretary of Human Services, or the 
21 Secretary's designee.
22  (2) The following public members appointed by the 
23 Governor:
24   (A) one member of the American Academy of 
25 Pediatrics;
26   (B) one member who shall be a resident of this 
 
 
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1 State who is a licensed firearms wholesaler, 
2 manufacturer, or retail dealer;
3   (C) one member who shall be a representative of an 
4 organization that advocates against firearm violence; 
5 and
6   (D) one member with substantial experience in 
7 radio frequency identification or biometric reading 
8 technology.
9 (c) All appointments to the Commission shall be made within 
106 months after the effective date of this Act. The chair of the 
11Commission shall be selected from among its members by the 
12Governor. Members of the Commission shall serve a term of 4 
13years from the date of their appointment and until their 
14successors are appointed. Vacancies in the membership of the 
15Commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original 
16appointments were made.
17 (d) Members of the Commission shall serve without 
18compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses 
19incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the 
20Commission, and within the limits of funds appropriated or 
21otherwise made available to the Commission for its purpose.
22 (e) The Commission shall be entitled to call to its 
23assistance and avail itself of the services of any employees of 
24any State department, board, bureau, Commission, or agency or 
25unit of local government as it may require and as may be 
26available to it for its purposes.
 
 
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1 (f) During the first year following the establishment of 
2the Commission, it shall meet once every 6 months or at the 
3call of the chair of the Commission or the majority of its 
4members. 

5 Section 15. Roster of all personalized firearms. 
6 (a) The Personalized Firearm Authorization Commission 
7shall maintain a roster of all personalized firearms for retail 
8sales to the public by the Commission as meeting the 
9personalized firearm performance standards and qualifying 
10criteria established under this Section. The roster of approved 
11personalized firearms shall be published on a website 
12maintained by the Illinois State Police and shall be updated as 
13necessary. A copy of the roster shall be made available every 6 
14months to registered and licensed firearms dealers in this 
15State.
16 (b) Within one year of organizing, the Commission shall 
17develop personalized firearm performance standards and 
18qualifying criteria that a personalized firearm shall meet in 
19order to be placed on the personalized firearm roster. The 
20personalized firearm performance standards and qualifying 
21criteria shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
22  (1) the firearm shall be reasonably resistant to being 
23 fired by anyone other than the firearm's authorized user;
24  (2) the personalized technology shall be incorporated 
25 into the design of the personalized firearm and shall be a 
 
 
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1 permanent, irremovable part of the firearm and any device 
2 or object necessary for the authorized user to fire the 
3 firearm;
4  (3) the personalized firearm shall not be manufactured 
5 so as to permit the personalized characteristics of the 
6 firearm to be readily deactivated; and
7  (4) the personalized firearm shall meet any other 
8 reliability standards generally used in the industry for 
9 other commercially available firearms.
10 (c) The Commission shall recommend to the Attorney General 
11any rule, guideline, or revision thereto, or legislation which 
12it deems necessary to establish a process by which firearm 
13manufactures may request that their firearms be added to the 
14roster established under this Section.

15 Section 20. Approved personalized firearm roster.
16 (a) A manufacturer or other entity seeking to include a 
17firearm on the approved personalized firearm roster 
18established under this Act, may apply to the Commission for a 
19determination of whether the make and model of a firearm 
20proposed by the applicant would meet the personalized firearm 
21performance standards established under this Act. The 
22Commission's determination shall be based upon testing 
23conducted by an independent laboratory proposed by the 
24applicant which has been accredited for the testing of firearms 
25by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program or 
 
 
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1other national certifying body approved by the Commission or, 
2if the applicant does not propose an independent laboratory or 
3if one is not approved or available, by the Illinois State 
4Police.
5 (b) The Commission shall approve an independent laboratory 
6proposed by an applicant to perform the determination under 
7subsection (a) if the Commission is clearly convinced that the 
8laboratory is capable of performing the determination and will 
9be sufficiently objective making the determination; provided 
10that the laboratory shall not be owned or operated by a firearm 
11manufacturer or any other organization that seeks to promote or 
12restrict firearm ownership.
13 (c) The application for approval of an independent 
14laboratory to perform the determination under subsection (a) 
15shall be in a form prescribed by the Attorney General, in 
16consultation with the Commission, and shall provide 
17information regarding the laboratory's capabilities and 
18objectivity.
19 If the Commission approves the application, the laboratory 
20shall utilize testing methods formulated by the Commission to 
21determine whether a firearm meets the personalized firearm 
22performance standards and qualifying criteria established 
23under this Act.
24 (d) The independent laboratory or Division of the Illinois 
25State Police, as the case may be, shall issue a final test 
26report to the Commission at the conclusion of the test. The 
 
 
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1report shall state whether the firearm meets the performance 
2standards and qualifying criteria established by the 
3Commission.
4 (e) The Commission shall review the final test report and 
5based on the report's findings shall issue, within 45 days of 
6receiving the report, a final decision by majority vote as to 
7whether the firearm should be included on the roster.
8 (f) Upon making a final determination under subsection (d), 
9the Commission shall notify, in writing, the applicant as to 
10whether the firearm has been approved or denied for inclusion 
11on the roster. A notification informing the applicant that a 
12firearm has been denied shall be provided along with a written 
13description of the reasons for which a firearm failed to meet 
14the performance standards and qualifying criteria established 
15by the Commission as documented in the independent laboratory's 
16report. Any alteration to the design of a make and model of 
17firearm that has been approved for addition on the roster shall 
18require a determination that the firearm continues to meet the 
19performance standards and qualifying criteria established by 
20the Commission in accordance with the requirements of this 
21Section in order to include the altered design model of the 
22firearm on the roster. 

23 Section 25. Retail sale of firearms. 
24 (a) Within 12 months of the first personalized firearm 
25being included on the roster established under this Act, each 
 
 
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1licensed firearms retail dealer shall:
2  (1) only make available for purchase personalized 
3 firearms approved by the Commission and listed on the 
4 roster as eligible for sale;
5  (2) post in one or more locations in the dealer's place 
6 or places of business in a conspicuous manner that makes 
7 them easily visible and accessible to customers:
8   (A) copies of the personalized firearm roster; and
9   (B) a sign that includes a clear and conspicuous 
10 statement disclosing the features of personalized 
11 firearms that are not offered by traditional firearms 
12 and advising customers that those firearms may be 
13 purchased through the licensed retail dealer; and
14  (3) accept and process orders to enable customers to 
15 purchase through the licensed retail dealer any of the 
16 personalized firearms included in the roster.
17 (b) A personalized firearm offered for sale by a licensed 
18retail dealer under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be 
19displayed in conspicuous manner that makes it easily 
20distinguishable from other traditional firearms. 
21 (c) A licensed retail dealer shall post a sign in 
22accordance paragraph (2) of subsection (a) in close proximity 
23to each personalized firearm.
24 If a licensed retail dealer's inventory of personalized 
25firearms is depleted and there are no personalized firearms 
26available for purchase on the premises, the licensed retail 
 
 
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1dealer shall:
2  (1) place an order for at least one personalized 
3 firearm within 21 days of the sale of the last personalized 
4 firearm;
5  (2) maintain written records of the retail dealer's 
6 efforts to place an order and maintain those records on the 
7 premises and allow them to be open for inspection at all 
8 times; and
9  (3) post a sign on the premises indicating that 
10 personalized firearms are routinely sold on the retail 
11 dealer's premises and will soon be available for purchase.
12 (d) A licensed firearms retail dealer shall not make any 
13claim that a firearm has been approved by the Commission as 
14meeting the performance standards or qualifying criteria for 
15personalized firearms if that firearm is not included on the 
16roster established under this Act.
17 (e) The Director of the Illinois State Police shall 
18designate officers to inspect the personalized firearm 
19inventory and records of all licensed firearms retailers. The 
20inspections shall be conducted at least once every 2 years at 
21any time during normal business hours of the firearm retailer's 
22business.

23 Section 30. Exemption certificate. Upon application by a 
24licensed firearms retail dealer demonstrating that offering a 
25personalized firearm for sale, the Illinois State Police may 
 
 
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1issue a certificate exempting the licensed retail dealer from 
2the requirement to offer a personalized firearm for sale 
3established under this Act. In determining whether an exemption 
4shall be granted, the Director of the Illinois State Police may 
5consider factors including, but not limited to, the retail 
6dealer's inventory size and annual sales revenue or income 
7generated from customer purchases.

8 Section 35. Penalties. A licensed retail dealer who 
9violates this Act shall be guilty of a petty offense and shall 
10be subject to the following penalties:
11 (1) for a first offense, a fine not to exceed $500;
12 (2) for a second offense, a fine not to exceed $1,000; and
13 (3) for a third or subsequent offense, a fine not to exceed 
14$2,000 and a 6 month license suspension following notice to the 
15licensed retail dealer and an opportunity to be heard.
16 Each firearm sold in violation of this Act shall be deemed 
17a distinct and separate offense.