State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HB0223

 
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 1        AN ACT in relation to firearms, amending a named Act.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

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

 6        Section 5.  Cause of action.
 7        (a)  Whenever any  person  intentionally  or  negligently
 8    delivers  or  causes  to  be  delivered  a  firearm,  firearm
 9    ammunition,  or  silencer  to:   (1)  any  person  who is not
10    legally authorized to possess that item; (2) a person who  is
11    purchasing  the  item on behalf of another person; or (3) any
12    other person the deliverer knows or has reason to  know  will
13    use  the item unlawfully; the deliverer is civilly liable for
14    the  commission  of  any  subsequent  tortious  conduct  that
15    directly or indirectly involves the  use,  attempted  use  or
16    threatened use of the item by any person.
17        (b)  The  civil  liability created by this Section is not
18    dependent upon any causal relationship that is required to be
19    established in order to create liability under common law.

20        Section 10.   Punitive  damages.  A  person  bringing  an
21    action  under  this  Act  may be entitled to recover punitive
22    damages if the conduct of the defendant that gave rise to the
23    cause of action was either intentional, reckless, or  grossly
24    negligent.

25        Section   15.   Joint  and  several  liability.   Persons
26    subject to liability under this Act are jointly and severally
27    liable.

28        Section  20.   Stay  of  proceedings.   The   prosecuting
 
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 1    attorney  of  any  government  or governmental subdivision or
 2    agency may move for a stay of any  proceeding  brought  under
 3    this Act, to include all discovery, pending the completion of
 4    an investigation or prosecution of a criminal case related to
 5    the subject matter of a suit brought under this Act.

 6        Section  25.   Other  remedies.  The remedies provided by
 7    this Act are in addition to any  other  remedies  allowed  by
 8    law.

 9        Section  30.  Liability  insurance.   Any  firearm dealer
10    required to be licensed under Section 923 of the federal  Gun
11    Control  Act  of  1968  (18  U.S.C.  923)  or  any  successor
12    provision   must  have  in  effect  at  all  times  liability
13    insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000  that  insures
14    the  payment of any judgment against the dealer.  A violation
15    of this Section is a business offense punishable by a fine of
16    up to $50,000.

17        Section 50.  The Firearm Owners Identification  Card  Act
18    is  amended by changing Section 1.1 and adding Section 3.2 as
19    follows:

20        (430 ILCS 65/1.1) (from Ch. 38, par. 83-1.1)
21        Sec. 1.1. For purposes of this Act:
22        "Firearm" means any device, by whatever name known, which
23    is designed to expel  a  projectile  or  projectiles  by  the
24    action  of  an  explosion, expansion of gas or escape of gas;
25    excluding, however:
26             (1)  any pneumatic gun, spring gun, paint  ball  gun
27        or   B-B  gun  which  either  expels  a  single  globular
28        projectile not exceeding .18 inch in diameter  and  which
29        has  a  maximum muzzle velocity of less than 700 feet per
30        second  or  breakable  paint  balls  containing  washable
 
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 1        marking colors;
 2             (2)  any device used exclusively for  signalling  or
 3        safety  and  required or recommended by the United States
 4        Coast Guard or the Interstate Commerce Commission; or
 5             (3)  any device used exclusively for the  firing  of
 6        stud  cartridges,  explosive rivets or similar industrial
 7        ammunition; and
 8             (4)  an antique firearm (other than  a  machine-gun)
 9        which,  although  designed as a weapon, the Department of
10        State  Police  finds  by  reason  of  the  date  of   its
11        manufacture,  value, design, and other characteristics is
12        primarily a collector's item and is not likely to be used
13        as a weapon.
14        "Firearm ammunition" means any  self-contained  cartridge
15    or  shotgun  shell, by whatever name known, which is designed
16    to be used or adaptable  to  use  in  a  firearm;  excluding,
17    however:
18             (1)  any  ammunition  exclusively  designed  for use
19        with a device used exclusively for signalling  or  safety
20        and  required  or  recommended by the United States Coast
21        Guard or the Interstate Commerce Commission; and or
22             (2)  any ammunition  designed  exclusively  for  use
23        with  a  stud or rivet driver or other similar industrial
24        ammunition.
25        "Transfer"  includes   the   actual,   constructive,   or
26    attempted  transfer  of a firearm or firearm ammunition, with
27    or without consideration.
28    (Source: P.A. 86-349; 86-1265; revised 10-31-98.)

29        (430 ILCS 65/3.2 new)
30        Sec. 3.2.  Submission to Department.  Every person  must,
31    within  24 hours after making a sale or transfer of a firearm
32    to another person,  report  that  sale  or  transfer  to  the
33    Department  of  State  Police.   The  report must contain the
 
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 1    following information:  the date of the sale or transfer; the
 2    identity and address of the transferor;  the  name,  address,
 3    age,  and  occupation  of  the  transferee;  the price of the
 4    firearm; the kind, description, and number  of  the  firearm;
 5    and  the  purpose  for  which  the firearm is obtained.  Each
 6    record of the report must be maintained by the Department  on
 7    a  computer  database  capable  of  allowing the retrieval of
 8    information  for  each  transferor   and   each   transferee.
 9    Information in the database must be made available to any law
10    enforcement  agency  responsible  for  the enforcement of any
11    federal,  State  or  local  law  or  ordinance  relating   to
12    firearms,  and  to any federally licensed dealer who requests
13    information relating to a person who is seeking  to  purchase
14    one or more firearms from that dealer.

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