DONNA'S LAW

Model Bill

Voluntary Do Not Sell Firearms Act aka “Donna’s Law”

BE IT ENACTED BY [XXX]:

SECTION 1.

(a) This Act is known and may be cited as the "Voluntary Do Not Sell Firearms Act.”

(b) For purposes of this Act, the “List” is the state record of current participants.

(d) For purposes of this Act, "health care provider"means a person who provides health

care or professional services related to health care and is acting within the scope of the

person’s license, certification, practice, education, or training.

(e) A person may submit a form requesting to be added to the List to the clerk of the

[appropriate court] in the county of the person’s residence, which has the effect of prohibiting

the person from receiving or possessing a firearm while the person is on the List. The clerk

must request valid government-issued photo identification to verify the person's identity prior to

accepting the form. By the end of the business day on which the form was received, the clerk

must transmit the accepted form to the [agency responsible for transmitting records to NICS]

(“Agency”).

(f) A person may submit a form requesting to be added to the List to any health care

provider. The health care provider shall verify the person’s identity before accepting the form

and may not accept a form from someone other than the person named on the form. By the

end of the business day on which the form was received, the provider shall electronically deliver

the person’s completed form to the Agency.

(f1) A person may submit by mail a form requesting to be added to the List to the

Agency. The form must be accompanied by a photocopy of a government-issued form of

identification to verify the person's identity prior to accepting the form.

(f2) A person may submit by mail a form requesting to be added to the List electronically

to the Agency by short message service or multimedia messaging service with a copy of a

government-issued photo identification and a photographic portrait of the person that contains

exchangeable image file format data proving that the photographic portrait was taken within one

hour prior to transmission to the Agency.

(g) The Agency must enter the person requesting to be added to the List into the

national instant criminal background check system and other federal or state computer-based

systems used by law enforcement agencies to identify prohibited purchasers and possessors of

firearms within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of the form.

(h) Normal Removal. No sooner than seven (7) calendar days after submitting a form,

the person may submit a form requesting to be removed from the List by any of the methods set

forth above. Unless the person is otherwise prohibited from possessing or purchasing a firearm

under state or federal law, twenty-one (21) calendar days after receipt of the request for

removal:

(1) the Agency shall remove the person and all of their information from the national

instant criminal background check system and other federal or state computer-based

systems used by law enforcement to identify prohibited possessors and purchasers

of firearms in which the person's information was entered; and

(2) the Agency shall destroy all records related to the person being added and

removed from the List.

(i) Expedited Removal. At any time, a person on the List may file a signed expedited

removal request form with the [appropriate court]. There shall be no filing fees for such a

request. The court within forty-eight (48) hours of receipt shall hold a hearing with adequate

notice to the person. The court shall determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether

the request is voluntary, knowing, and intelligent. No later than twenty-four (24) hours after the

conclusion of the hearing, the court shall inform the person of the court’s determination and, if

the court determines that the request is voluntary, knowing, and intelligent, the court shall

instruct the Agency to immediately remove the person from the List, unless the person is

otherwise prohibited from possessing or purchasing a firearm under state or federal law. If the

court determines that the request is not voluntary, knowing, and intelligent, the person may

nonetheless request removal using the normal removal process outlined in Subsection (h).

(j) A person who knowingly makes a false statement regarding the person's addition to

or removal commits the offense of perjury under [appropriate perjury/false statements statute].

(k) A person’s being added to the List, being on the List, or being removed from the List

shall not be considered by a court in a legal proceeding in which the person executing the form

is a party, except a civil proceeding under Subsection 3(b) or a criminal prosecution under

Subsection 3(a).

(l) Records obtained and produced under this section are confidential and are not an

open record pursuant to [appropriate open records act], except that such information may be

disclosed to a law enforcement officer acting in the performance of the officer’s official duties, to

the parties in the course of a criminal prosecution, or to the applicant with respect to the

applicant’s own information.

(m) The Agency shall develop a form requesting to be added to the List, a form

requesting to be removed from the List, and a form requesting to be removed from the List on

an expedited basis. The forms must contain a signature line for the requesting person and state

that the form is signed under penalty of perjury. The forms must include all information

necessary for identification and entry of the person into the national instant criminal background

check system to identify prohibited possessors or purchasers of firearms. The forms must be

made available to the public on the Agency’s official website, [the official websites of the Health,

Public Health, Mental Health departments, the state courts, and the [appropriate court] in every

county, or their equivalents]. The forms must be distributed to all [appropriate court] clerks and

to all facilities in which health care providers provide health care or professional services related

to health care within the scope of the provider’s license, certification, practice, education, or

training.

(n) The Agency shall ensure that the form requesting to be added to the List provides an

email notification option that allows the person, at the time of the request to be added or

thereafter, to provide one or more email addresses of another person or persons to be notified

by the Agency within 24-hours if the person on the List subsequently requests removal.

Providing an email address under this subsection constitutes an express authorization of the

use of the email address for purposes of this subsection only.

(o) The Agency may promulgate rules necessary to effectuate the purposes of this

section pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in [appropriate

statute].

SECTION 2.

(a) An insurer as defined in [appropriate statute], may not inquire as to whether a person

is on the List. An insurer also may not modify the terms of any insurance policy of any individual

due to that person being on the list or having requested to be added to or removed from the list.

(b) An employer may not inquire whether an employee or applicant is on the List unless

possession of a firearm is a requirement of the employment position. An employer also may not

dismiss, discharge, demote, deny employment, or otherwise alter the terms of employment of

any employee or applicant due to the employee or applicant being on the List or having

requested to be added to or removed from the List, unless possession of a firearm is a

requirement of the employment position.

(c)(1) A person may not conduct any unlawful discriminatory housing practice as

provided in the [State Fair Housing statute] against any person who is on the List or has

requested to be added to or removed from the list.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, a person being on the List or having requested to be

added to or removed from the list shall be considered a "handicap" as defined in [State Fair

Housing statute. May have to replace “handicap” with a different word, like “disability” or

“protected class.”].

(d) The State, its agencies, or political subdivisions may not condition or alter any

governmental benefits due to a person being on the List or having requested to be added to or

removed from the List.

(e) An educational institution or state educational institution as defined in [appropriate

State Education statute], may not inquire whether an individual is on the list unless it is acting as

an employer and is in compliance with Subsection 2(b).

(f) A health care provider may not deny any service to an individual due to that individual

being on the list or having requested to be added to or removed from the List.

(g) A violation of this subsection is a [appropriate misdemeanor class] punishable by a

fine of up to six thousand dollars ($6,000) [or other penalty consistent with State

Antidiscrimination laws].

SECTION 3.

(a) It shall be an [appropriate class of felony] to sell or transfer a firearm to a person

knowing that the person is on the List.

(b) A person on the List who knowingly receives or possesses a firearm shall be subject

to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) or four (4) hours of community service.

themselves from the List.

SECTION 4.

(a) The Board of Examiners in Counseling, Board of Medical Examiners, Board of

Nursing, and Board of Examiners in Psychology [correct board names, if needed] shall adopt

rules to encourage licensees to inform the public about the List.

(b) It shall be a non-binding best practice for health care providers to explain the List and

to offer the List as an option to any recipient of their services whom the health care provider

knows has attempted suicide or is at elevated risk of suicide for another reason or reasons.

SECTION 5.

For purposes of developing forms and promulgating rules, this Act takes effect upon

becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, this act takes effect on [a

later date that gives the state enough time to comply with the requirements

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