OLR AMENDED BILL ANALYSIS
HB 6003 (as amended by House "A" and "C")*
AN ACT CONCERNING POSSESSION OF WEAPONS IN SCHOOLS
SUMMARY: The bill makes it a criminal offense to
possess a firearm on school grounds, unless exempt.
Violation is a class D felony. (A class D felony is
punishable by one to five years imprisonment, a fine of
up to $5,000, or both.) But if the violation is
committed by anyone under age 16, it is a serious
juvenile offense.
The bill increases the drug free zone around school
grounds from 1,000 to 1,500 feet. The bill applies to
public and private elementary and secondary schools.
*House Amendment "A" substitutes a class D felony for
the original bill's mandatory two-year prison term;
limits application of the prohibition to school grounds
instead of within 1,500 of school property; applies the
prohibition to possessing any firearm instead of only
handguns, machine guns, and sawed-off shotguns;
specifies and expands the exemptions beyond just people
with a legal right to possess firearms under state or
federal law; makes violation by a child a serious
juvenile offense; changes the effective date from July
1, 1992 to October 1, 1992; and removes a specific
provision requiring illegally possessed weapons to be
confiscated immediately by a "lawful" authority.
*House Amendment "C" increases the drug free zone
around schools from 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1992
FURTHER EXPLANATION
Exemptions
The bill exempts the following from the prohibition
against firearms on school grounds:
1. the holder of a valid permit to carry a
firearm;
2. anyone who uses the firearm on the school
property as part of a program approved by the
school;
3. a person with whom, or with whose employer,
the school has an agreement that allows the
firearms;
4. a peace officer in his official capacity; and
5. a person with an unloaded firearm crossing
school property for hunting or other lawful
purposes, provided entry to the school
property is not prohibited.
Drug Free School Zone
Current law imposes an additional penalty when someone
who is not an enrolled student possesses certain
illegal drugs within 1,000 feet of school grounds or
uses, distributes, possesses, or manufactures drug
paraphernalia within such distance from the school. The
bill increases the distance to 1,500 feet.
BACKGROUND
The Federal Gun Free School Zones Act
The Gun-Free School Zones Act (18 USC Sec.922 (q))
prohibits the possession or discharge of a firearm on
or within 1,000 feet of private, parochial, or public
school grounds. Violation is punishable by imprisonment
for up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
Imprisonment is in addition to and must run
consecutively to any other jail term.
The act exempts the following, among others, from
prosecution: people who possess firearms properly
stored (unloaded and locked in gun racks) in motor
vehicles or on private property that is not part of
school grounds and law enforcement officers acting in
their official capacities. The act also exempts people
who use the firearms in school-approved programs.
The act states that federal, state, and local
authorities should encourage the posting of signs
around school zones warning that firearm possession in
a school zone is prohibited.
Serious Juvenile Offenses
The statutes define a "serious juvenile offense" (SJO)
as one of a list of specific criminal acts, most of
which to a certain degree involve violence or drugs.
Crimes that are SJOs include murder, the more serious
degrees of assault and sexual assault, kidnapping,
arson, larceny, and various weapons charges. Juveniles
charged with SJOs are subject to more rigorous
procedures and consequences in the criminal justice
system than those accused of other offenses. For
example, when a detention center is at or above maximum
population capacity, a juvenile charged with a SJO will
be admitted and held and one charged with a regular
offense will be released.