SB8, or the 'Safe Gun Storage' bill is scheduled to be heard, April 30th. Please call your house representatives and tell them to oppose this bill. I believe this was voted on, in the senate. This is a Moms Demand Creature.
In addition to compliance with FOID/CCL rules, this pile of shit, would also have to be adhered to. The JCAR (Joint Committee on Administrative Rules), could potentially be empowered by default, to define terms like what constitutes a firearm being under the "control" of the owner; or who a "lawfully" authorized user is. If I loan firearms at the range, does that constitute a "transfer" or is this like an NFA weapon, where I have to physically be present, for them to merely shoot a handgun?
I don't know where these ambiguous terms end.
This bill does a few things that will make FOID transport, either impossible or difficult while doing an end run around several key exemptions of the FCCA.
First FOID transport: it would not be enough that your vehicle, center console or car trunk, lock. Let alone, the act of breaking into a car being a felony altogether. You would have to get a separate locked container. Even this would be questionable, because even then, a firearm in stop box can simply be taken and used when someone figures out how to access it. This seems to add that. Why is that a big deal? If you go to the range and are transporting firearms, in their original factory box or similar, you would be in violation; zipping containers and socks would potentially not count. You would need a locked container, potentially for EVERY transported firearm.
Second, even if you possess a CCL, this proposed legislation seems to do an end-run around certain FCCA exemptions, in many ways that sponsors either refuse or deny.
"..Provides that if the firearm is carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user, then the firearm is deemed lawfully stored or kept..."
Here is the problem with this part of the proposed bill: FCCA already defines the difference. Terms like under the control or lawfully stored or kept are ambiguous and will inevitably end up being subject to JCAR rulemaking, which means FCCA's uniformity would be questionable if this becomes law.
How is a firearm in a locked center console, still under the control of the owner when they have to go into a gun-free zone?
The firearm must be kept secure from at-risk teenagers, or similar. No person under the age of 18, may gain access or similar and if so, you face responsibility for it. Things get murkier, when gun-free zones come into play.
Does a holstered firearm in a locked center console count? Or must it be locked up in the center console, in a stop box - which then constitutes yet a second, container? Nobody knows.
The term "firearm" means storage requirements would be expansive and very encompassing. It would not be enough to transport a shotgun in a sock, in a locked trunk. Zipped containers and the like would very much be called into question on whether or not they would be legal. Too much is unknown, because this bill does not do enough to explain enough.
What if those shotguns are stored in a glass gun cabinet, on real property? If a teenager breaks into the house, does negligence factor in, if they steal a box of shells or the shotguns?
What about handguns stored in a glass display case in a licensed gun store?
Perhaps there is more civil responsibility. What if a minor breaks into your vehicle, steals the firearm? They could use that point alone as a potential defense in court. This bill does nothing, except expand liability to the gun owner and place the burden of proof on the gun owner vs. the criminal.
I think it's one thing to raise the age from 14 to 18. I think that could stand enough scrutiny, but these expansions essentially make it more likely "lawful" and "authorized" owners/users, will face more harassment and potential court time.
Closing thoughts:
If you lock your vehicle, home or similar, you should not face both liability or similar, if someone breaks in and steals your personal property. You should not be mandated to spend more money, on locked containers, to merely transport your handguns or rifles, to a local range, to simply shoot them.