Bill Text: IL SB1255 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the unlawful use of weapons.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2015-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1255 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-SB1255-Amended.html

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Sen. Dan Kotowski

Filed: 4/15/2013

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1255
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1255 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Unsafe Handgun Act.
Section 5. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:
"Department" means the Department of State Police.
"Director" means the Director of State Police.
"Firearm" has the meaning provided in Section 1.1 of the
Firearm Owners Identification Card Act.
"Firing requirement for handguns" means a test fulfilling
the requirements of Section 15 in which the manufacturer
provides 3 handguns of the make and model for which
certification is sought to an independent testing laboratory
certified by the Director under Section 35.
"Handgun" means any firearm, including, but not limited to,

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a pistol or a revolver, capable of being concealed upon the
person.
"Magazine disconnect mechanism" means a mechanism that
prevents a semiautomatic pistol that has a detachable magazine
from operating to strike the primer of ammunition in the firing
chamber when a detachable magazine is not inserted in the
semiautomatic pistol.
"Pistol" means any handgun that is not a revolver.
"Revolver" means a handgun that has a rotating cylinder
containing multiple chambers for loading and firing
ammunition.
Section 10. Drop safety requirement for handguns. At the
conclusion of the firing requirements for handguns described in
Section 15, the same certified independent testing laboratory
shall subject the same 3 handguns of the make and model for
which certification is sought, to the following test:
(1) A primed case (no powder or projectile) shall be
inserted into the chamber. For a pistol, the slide shall be
released, allowing it to move forward under the impetus of the
recoil spring, and an empty magazine shall be inserted. For
both a pistol and a revolver, the weapon shall be placed in a
drop fixture capable of dropping the pistol from a drop height
of 1 meter + 1 centimeter (39.4 + 0.4 inches) onto the largest
side of a slab of solid concrete having minimum dimensions of

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7.5 x 15 x 15 centimeters (3 x 6 x 6 inches). The drop distance
shall be measured from the lowermost portion of the weapon to
the top surface of the slab. The weapon shall be dropped from a
fixture and not from the hand. The weapon shall be dropped in
the condition that it would be in if it were dropped from a
hand (cocked with no manual safety applied). If the pistol is
designed so that upon leaving the hand a "safety" is
automatically applied by the pistol, this feature shall not be
defeated. An approved drop fixture is a short piece of string
with the weapon attached at one end and the other end held in
an air vise until the drop is initiated.
(2) The following 6 drops shall be performed:
(A) Normal firing position with barrel horizontal.
(B) Upside down with barrel horizontal.
(C) On grip with barrel vertical.
(D) On muzzle with barrel vertical.
(E) On either side with barrel horizontal.
(F) If there is an exposed hammer or striker, on the
rearmost point of that device, otherwise on the rearmost
point of the weapon.
(3) The primer shall be examined for indentations after
each drop. If indentations are present, a fresh primed case
shall be used for the next drop.
(4) The make and model of handgun shall pass this test if
each of the 3 test guns does not fire the primer.

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Section 15. Firing requirement for handguns.
(a) The handguns of the make and model for which
certification is sought, and which are to be tested under this
Section, may not be refined or modified in any way from those
that would be made available for retail sale if certification
is granted. The magazines of a tested handgun shall be
identical to those that would be provided with the handgun to a
retail customer.
(b) The firing requirement for handguns test shall be
conducted as follows:
(1) The laboratory shall fire 600 rounds from each gun,
stopping after each series of 50 rounds has been fired for
5 to 10 minutes to allow the weapon to cool, stopping after
each series of 100 rounds has been fired to tighten any
loose screws and clean the gun in accordance with the
manufacturer's instructions, and stopping as needed to
refill the empty magazine or cylinder to capacity before
continuing.
(2) The ammunition used shall be of the type
recommended by the handgun manufacturer in the user manual,
or if none is recommended, any standard ammunition of the
correct caliber in new condition that is commercially
available.
(c) A handgun shall pass this test if each of the 3 test
guns meets both of the following:
(1) Fires the first 20 rounds without a malfunction

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that is not due to ammunition that fails to detonate.
(2) Fires the full 600 rounds with no more than 6
malfunctions that are not due to ammunition that fails to
detonate and without any crack or breakage of an operating
part of the handgun that increases the risk of injury to
the user.
(d) If a handgun fails the requirements of either paragraph
(1) or (2) of subsection (c) of this Section due to ammunition
that fails to detonate, the handgun shall be retested from the
beginning of the "firing requirement for handguns" test. A new
model of the handgun that failed the test due to ammunition
that fails to detonate may be submitted for the test to replace
the handgun that failed.
(e) As used in this Section, "malfunction" means a failure
to properly feed, fire, or eject a round, or failure of a
handgun to accept or eject the magazine, or failure of a
handgun's slide to remain open after the magazine has been
expended.
Section 20. Unsafe handguns. Any handgun is an unsafe
handgun when any of the following is true:
(a) For a revolver:
(1) It does not have a safety device that, either
automatically in the case of a double-action firing
mechanism, or by manual operation in the case of a
single-action firing mechanism, causes the hammer to

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retract to a point where the firing pin does not rest upon
the primer of the cartridge.
(2) It does not meet the firing requirement for
handguns.
(3) It does not meet the drop safety requirement for
handguns.
(b) For a pistol:
(1) It does not have a positive manually operated
safety device, as determined by standards relating to
imported guns adopted by the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
(2) It does not meet the firing requirement for
handguns.
(3) It does not meet the drop safety requirement for
handguns.
(4) For all center fire semiautomatic pistols, it does
not have a chamber load indicator and, if it has a
detachable magazine, a magazine disconnect mechanism.
(5) For all rimfire semiautomatic pistols, it does not
have a magazine disconnect mechanism, if it has a
detachable magazine.
Section 25. Penalty; exceptions.
(a) Commencing January 1, 2015, any person in this State
who manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the
State for sale, keeps for sale, offers or exposes for sale,

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gives, or lends any unsafe handgun shall be guilty of a petty
offense for a first violation, a Class A misdemeanor for a
second violation, and Class 4 felony for a third or subsequent
violation.
(b) This Section shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) The manufacture in this State, or importation into
this State, of any prototype handgun, when the manufacture
or importation is for the sole purpose of allowing an
independent laboratory certified by the Department under
Section 35 to conduct an independent test to determine
whether that handgun is prohibited by this Act, and, if
not, allowing the Department to add the firearm to the
roster of handguns that may be sold in this State under
Section 40.
(2) The importation or lending of a handgun by
employees or authorized agents of entities determining
whether the weapon is prohibited by this Section.
(3) Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in
Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.
(4) The sale or purchase of any handgun, if the handgun
is sold to, or purchased by, any federal, State or local
law enforcement agency, any State's Attorney's office, or
the armed forces of this State or of the United States for
use in the discharge of their official duties. Nor shall
anything in this Section prohibit the sale to, or purchase

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by, sworn members of these agencies of any handgun.
(c) Violations of subsection (a) of this Section are
cumulative with respect to each handgun and shall not be
construed as restricting the application of any other law.
Section 30. Certification by manufacturers and sellers
that handguns are not unsafe.
(a) Every person who is licensed as a manufacturer of
firearms under Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of
Title 18 of the United States Code and who manufactures
firearms in this State shall certify under penalty of perjury
and any other remedy provided by law that every model, kind,
class, style, or type of handgun that the person manufactures
is not an unsafe handgun as prohibited by this Act.
(b) Every person who imports into the State for sale, keeps
for sale, or offers or exposes for sale any handgun shall
certify under penalty of perjury and any other remedy provided
by law that every model, kind, class, style, or type of handgun
that the person imports, keeps, or exposes for sale is not an
unsafe handgun as prohibited by this Act.
Section 35. Testing requirement; certification of
laboratories; test report.
(a) Any handgun manufactured in this State, imported into
the State for sale, kept for sale, or offered or exposed for
sale, shall be tested within a reasonable period of time by an

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independent laboratory certified under subsection (b) of this
Section to determine whether that handgun meets or exceeds the
standards defined in Section 20.
(b) On or before October 1, 2014, the Department shall
certify laboratories to verify compliance with the standards
defined in Section 20. The Department may charge any laboratory
that is seeking certification to test any handgun as provided
in this Act, a fee not exceeding the costs of certification.
(c) The certified testing laboratory shall, at the
manufacturer's or importer's expense, test the handgun and
submit a copy of the final test report directly to the
Department along with a prototype of the handgun to be retained
by the Department. The Department shall notify the manufacturer
or importer of its receipt of the final test report and the
Department's determination as to whether the handgun tested may
be sold in this State.
(d) No center-fire semiautomatic pistol may be submitted
for testing as provided in this Act if it does not have a
chamber load indicator and, if it has a detachable magazine, a
magazine disconnect mechanism. No rimfire semiautomatic pistol
may be submitted for testing as provided in this Act if it has
a detachable magazine and does not have a magazine disconnect
mechanism.
Section 40. Roster of firearms determined not to be unsafe;
fee for maintenance of roster.

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(a) On and after January 1, 2015, the Department shall
compile, publish, and thereafter maintain on its website a
roster listing all of the handguns that have been tested by a
certified testing laboratory, have been determined not to be
unsafe handguns, and may be sold in this State under this Act.
The roster shall list, for each handgun, the manufacturer,
model number, and model name.
(b)(1) The Department may charge every person in this
State who is licensed as a manufacturer of firearms under
Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the
United States Code, and any person in this State who
manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the
State for sale, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for
sale any handgun in this State, an annual fee not exceeding
the costs of preparing, publishing, and maintaining the
roster under subsection (a) of this Section and the costs
of research and development, report analysis, firearms
storage, and other program infrastructure costs necessary
to implement this Act.
(2) Any handgun that is manufactured by a manufacturer
who manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into
the State for sale, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes
for sale any handgun in this State, and who fails to pay
any fee required under paragraph (1) of this subsection,
may be excluded from the roster.
(3) If a purchaser has initiated a transfer of a

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handgun that is listed on the roster as not unsafe, and
prior to the completion of the transfer, the handgun is
removed from the roster of not unsafe handguns because of
failure to pay the fee required to keep that handgun listed
on the roster, the handgun shall be deliverable to the
purchaser, if the purchaser is not otherwise prohibited
from purchasing or possessing the handgun. However, if a
purchaser has initiated a transfer of a handgun that is
listed on the roster as not unsafe, and prior to the
completion of the transfer, the handgun is removed from the
roster under subsection (d) of Section 45, the handgun
shall not be deliverable to the purchaser.
Section 45. Retesting of handguns on roster.
(a) The Director may annually retest up to 5 percent of the
handgun models that are listed on the roster described in
subsection (a) of Section 40.
(b) The retesting of a handgun model under subsection (a)
of this Section shall conform to the following:
(1) The Director shall obtain from retail or wholesale
sources, or both, 3 samples of the handgun model to be
retested.
(2) The Director shall select the certified laboratory
to be used for the retesting.
(3) The ammunition used for the retesting shall be of a
type recommended by the manufacturer in the user manual for

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the handgun. If the user manual for the handgun model makes
no ammunition recommendation, the Director shall select
the ammunition to be used for the retesting. The ammunition
shall be of the proper caliber for the handgun,
commercially available, and in new condition.
(c) The retest shall be conducted in the same manner as the
testing prescribed in Sections 10 and 15.
(d) If the handgun model fails retesting, the Director
shall remove the handgun model from the roster maintained under
subsection (a) of Section 40.
Section 50. Removal of handgun from roster.
(a) A handgun model removed from the roster under
subsection (d) of Section 45 may be reinstated on the roster if
all of the following are met:
(1) The manufacturer petitions the Director for
reinstatement of the handgun model.
(2) The manufacturer pays the Department for all of the
costs related to the reinstatement testing of the handgun
model, including the purchase price of the handguns, prior
to reinstatement testing.
(3) The reinstatement testing of the handguns shall be
in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of Section 45.
(4) The 3 handgun samples shall be tested only once for
reinstatement. If the sample fails it may not be retested.
(5) If the handgun model successfully passes testing

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for reinstatement, and if the manufacturer of the handgun
is otherwise in compliance with this Act, the Director
shall reinstate the handgun model on the roster maintained
under subsection (a) of Section 40.
(6) The manufacturer shall provide the Director with
the complete testing history for the handgun model.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of Section 45, the
Director may at any time, in his or her discretion, further
retest any handgun model that has been reinstated to the
roster.
Section 55. Listing of handguns differing only
cosmetically from handguns on roster.
(a) A handgun shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements
of subsection (a) of Section 40 if another handgun made by the
same manufacturer is already listed and the unlisted handgun
differs from the listed handgun only in one or more of the
following features:
(1) Finish, including, but not limited to, bluing,
chrome-plating, oiling, or engraving.
(2) The material from which the grips are made.
(3) The shape or texture of the grips, so long as the
difference in grip shape or texture does not in any way
alter the dimensions, material, linkage, or functioning of
the magazine well, the barrel, the chamber, or any of the
components of the firing mechanism of the handgun.

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(4) Any other purely cosmetic feature that does not in
any way alter the dimensions, material, linkage, or
functioning of the magazine well, the barrel, the chamber,
or any of the components of the firing mechanism of the
handgun.
(b) Any manufacturer seeking to have a handgun listed under
this Section shall provide to the Department all of the
following:
(1) The model designation of the listed handgun.
(2) The model designation of each handgun that the
manufacturer seeks to have listed under this Section.
(3) A statement, under oath, that each unlisted handgun
for which listing is sought differs from the listed handgun
only in one or more of the ways identified in subsection
(a) of this Section and is in all other respects identical
to the listed handgun.
(c) The Department may, in its discretion and at any time,
require a manufacturer to provide to the Department any model
for which listing is sought under this Section, to determine
whether the model complies with the requirements of this
Section.
Section 60. Exceptions for certain revolvers and pistols.
(a) This Act shall not apply to a single-action revolver
that has at least a 5-cartridge capacity with a barrel length
of not less than 3 inches, and meets any of the following

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specifications:
(1) Was originally manufactured prior to 1900 and is a
curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of
the Code of Federal Regulations, or is a replica of such a
revolver.
(2) Has an overall length measured parallel to the
barrel of at least 7 and one-half inches when the handle,
frame or receiver, and barrel are assembled.
(3) Has an overall length measured parallel to the
barrel of at least 7 and one-half inches when the handle,
frame or receiver, and barrel are assembled and that is
currently approved for importation into the United States
under the provisions of paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of
Section 925 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(b) This Act shall not apply to a single-shot pistol with a
barrel length of not less than 6 inches and that has an overall
length of at least 10 and one-half inches when the handle,
frame or receiver, and barrel are assembled.
Section 65. Exception for pistols designed for Olympic
target shooting.
(a) The General Assembly finds a significant public purpose
in exempting pistols that are designed expressly for use in
Olympic target shooting events. Therefore, those pistols that
are sanctioned by both the International Olympic Committee and
USA Shooting (the national governing body for international

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shooting competition in the United States), that are used for
Olympic target shooting purposes, and that fall within the
definition of "unsafe handgun" under paragraph (3) of
subsection (b) of Section 20 shall be exempt from the
provisions of this Act, as provided in subsection (b) of this
Section.
(b) The Department shall create a program that is
consistent with the purpose stated in subsection (a) of this
Section to exempt specific models of competitive firearms from
this Act, and shall publish on its website a list of those
specific models. The exempt competitive firearms may be based
on recommendations by USA Shooting consistent with the
regulations contained in the USA Shooting Official Rules or may
be based on the recommendation or rules of any other
organization that the Department deems relevant.
Section 70. Exception for certain sales, loans, and
transfers. This Act shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) The sale, loan, or transfer of any handgun described in
subsection (b) of Section 25, for the purposes set forth in
that Section.
(2) The sale, loan, or transfer of any handgun listed as a
curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the
Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) The sale, loan, or transfer of any handgun that is to
be used solely as a prop during the course of a motion picture,

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television, or video production by an authorized participant
therein in the course of making that production or event or by
an authorized employee or agent of the entity producing that
production or event.
(4) The sale, loan, or transfer of any handgun that has
been altered to render it permanently inoperable.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.".