HF 2609

Conference Committee Report - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 05/16/2024 02:19pm

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT ON H. F. No. 2609

A bill for an act
relating to public safety; requiring a report on gun trafficking investigations and
firearm seizures by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Violent Crime
Enforcement Teams; amending the definition of trigger activator; increasing
penalties for transferring firearms to certain persons who are ineligible to possess
firearms; amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 624.7141; Minnesota Statutes
2023 Supplement, sections 299A.642, subdivision 15; 609.67, subdivision 1.

May 16, 2024
The Honorable Melissa Hortman
Speaker of the House of Representatives

The Honorable Bobby Joe Champion
President of the Senate

We, the undersigned conferees for H. F. No. 2609 report that we have agreed upon the
items in dispute and recommend as follows:

That the Senate recede from its amendments and that H. F. No. 2609 be further amended
as follows:

Delete everything after the enacting clause and insert:

"Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 299A.642, subdivision 15, is
amended to read:

Subd. 15.

Required reports.

new text begin (a) new text end By February 1 of each year, the commissioner of public
safety shall submit the following reports to the chairs and ranking minority members of the
senate and house of representatives committees and divisions having jurisdiction over
criminal justice policy and funding:

(1) a report containing a summary of all audits conducted on multijurisdictional entities
under subdivision 4;

(2) a report on the results of audits conducted on data submitted to the criminal gang
investigative data system under section 299C.091;

(3) a report on the activities and goals of the coordinating council; and

(4) a report on how funds appropriated for violent crime reduction strategies were used.

new text begin (b) The report submitted under paragraph (a), clause (4), must include the following
information regarding actions taken by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Violent
Crime Enforcement Teams receiving funding under this section:
new text end

new text begin (1) the number of firearms seized;
new text end

new text begin (2) the number of gun trafficking investigations conducted; and
new text end

new text begin (3) a summary of the types of investigations conducted.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 609.67, subdivision 1, is amended
to read:

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

(a) "Machine gun" means any firearm designed to discharge,
or capable of discharging automatically more than once by a single function of the trigger.

(b) "Shotgun" means a weapon designed, redesigned, made or remade which is intended
to be fired from the shoulder and uses the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell
to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each
single pull of the trigger.

(c) "Short-barreled shotgun" means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than 18
inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun if such weapon as modified has an
overall length less than 26 inches.

(d) "Trigger activator" means:

(1) a removable manual or power driven trigger activating device constructed and
designed so that, when attached to a firearm, the rate at which the trigger may be pulled
increases and the rate of fire of the firearm increases to that of a machine gun; deleted text begin or
deleted text end

(2) a device that allows a semiautomatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a
single pull of the trigger or by harnessing the recoil of energy of the semiautomatic firearm
to which it is affixed so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical
manipulation of the trigger deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ; or
new text end

new text begin (3) a device that allows a firearm to shoot one shot on the pull of the trigger and a second
shot on the release of the trigger without requiring a subsequent pull of the trigger.
new text end

(e) "Machine gun conversion kit" means any part or combination of parts designed and
intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts
from which a machine gun can be assembled, but does not include a spare or replacement
part for a machine gun that is possessed lawfully under section 609.67, subdivision 3.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective January 1, 2025.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 624.7141, is amended to read:

624.7141 TRANSFER TO INELIGIBLE PERSON.

Subdivision 1.

Transfer prohibited.

new text begin (a) new text end A person is guilty of a deleted text begin gross misdemeanor who deleted text end new text begin
felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years and to payment of a fine
of not more than $10,000 if the person new text end intentionally transfers a deleted text begin pistol or semiautomatic
military-style assault weapon deleted text end new text begin firearm new text end to another deleted text begin if deleted text end new text begin and new text end the person knows new text begin or reasonably
should know new text end that the transferee:

(1) has been denied a permit to carry under section 624.714 because the transferee is
not eligible under section 624.713 to possess a pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault
weapon new text begin or any other firearm new text end ;

(2) has been found ineligible to possess a pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault
weapon by a chief of police or sheriff as a result of an application for a transferee permit
or a transfer report; or

(3) is disqualified under section 624.713 from possessing a pistol or semiautomatic
military-style assault weapon new text begin or any other firearm new text end .

new text begin (b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to the transfer of a firearm other than a pistol or
semiautomatic military-style assault weapon to a person under the age of 18 who is not
disqualified from possessing any other firearm.
new text end

Subd. 2.

deleted text begin Felony deleted text end new text begin Aggravated offense new text end .

A deleted text begin violation of this section is a felony deleted text end new text begin person who
violates this section may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years and to payment
of a fine of not more than $20,000 new text end if the transferee possesses or uses the weapon within one
year after the transfer in furtherance of a felony crime of violence.

Subd. 3.

Subsequent eligibility.

This section is not applicable to a transfer to a person
who became eligible to possess a pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon
under section 624.713 after the transfer occurred but before the transferee used or possessed
the weapon in furtherance of any crime.

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Affirmative defense. new text end

new text begin (a) As used in this subdivision, "family or household
member" has the meaning given in section 518B.01, subdivision 2, paragraph (b).
new text end

new text begin (b) If proven by clear and convincing evidence, it is an affirmative defense to a violation
of this section that the defendant was a family or household member of the transferee and
committed the violation only under compulsion by the transferee who, by explicit or implicit
threats or other acts, created a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the defendant that
the refusal of the defendant to participate in the violation would result in the transferee
inflicting substantial bodily harm or death on the defendant or a family or household member
of the defendant.
new text end

new text begin (c) The fact finder may consider any evidence of past acts that would constitute domestic
abuse, domestic or nondomestic assault, criminal sexual conduct, sexual extortion, sex
trafficking, labor trafficking, harassment or stalking, or any other crime that is a crime of
violence as defined in section 624.712, subdivision 5, or threats to commit any of these
crimes by the transferee toward the defendant or another when determining if the defendant
has proven the affirmative defense. Past prosecution is not required for the fact finder to
consider evidence of these acts. Nothing in this paragraph limits the ability of the fact finder
to consider other relevant evidence when determining if the defendant has proven the
affirmative defense.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective August 1, 2024, and applies to crimes
committed on or after that date. new text end "

We request the adoption of this report and repassage of the bill.
House Conferees: .
.		.
Kaela Berg		Kelly Moller
.
Jeff Witte
Senate Conferees: .
.		.
Heather Gustafson		Kari Dziedzic
.
Tou Xiong