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91_HB0223
LRB9100565RCks
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.