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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1769
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BRATTIN.
7488S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapters 571 and 650, RSMo, by adding thereto three new sections relating to the
acquisition of machine guns.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapters 571 and 650, RSMo, are amended by 1
adding thereto three new sections, to be known as sections 2
571.600, 650.4000, and 650.4005, to read as follows:3
571.600. 1. An applicant for the acquisition of a 1
machine gun shall demonstrate knowledge of machine gun 2
safety training. This requirement shall be fully satisfied 3
if the applicant for a machine gun acquisition: 4
(1) Submits a photocopy of a certificate of machine 5
gun safety training course completion; or 6
(2) Submits a photocopy of a certificate that shows 7
the applicant completed a machine gun safety course given by 8
or under the supervision of any state, county, municipal, or 9
federal law enforcement agency. 10
2. A certificate of machine gun safety training course 11
completion may be issued to any applicant by any qualified 12
machine gun safety instructor. On the certificate of course 13
completion, the qualified machine gun safety instructor 14
shall affirm that the individual receiving instruction has 15
taken and passed a machine gun safety course of at least 16
eight hours in length taught by the instructor that included: 17
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(1) Machine gun safety in the classroom, at home, on 18
the firing range, and while carrying the firearm; 19
(2) A physical demonstration performed by the 20
applicant that demonstrated his or her ability to safely 21
load and unload the machine gun and demonstrated his or her 22
marksmanship; 23
(3) The basic principles of marksmanship; 24
(4) Care and cleaning of machine guns; 25
(5) Safe storage of machine guns at home; 26
(6) The requirements of this state for obtaining a 27
machine gun; 28
(7) The laws relating to machine guns as prescribed in 29
this chapter; 30
(8) The laws relating to the justifiable use of force 31
as prescribed in chapter 563; 32
(9) A live firing exercise of sufficient duration for 33
each applicant to fire a machine gun, from a standing 34
position or its equivalent, a minimum of twenty rounds from 35
the machine gun at a distance of seven yards from a B-27 36
silhouette target or an equivalent target; and 37
(10) A live-fire test administered to the applicant 38
while the instructor was present of twenty rounds from a 39
machine gun, from a standing position or its equivalent, at 40
a distance from a B-27 silhouette target, or an equivalent 41
target, of seven yards. 42
650.4000. 1. As used in sections 650.4000 and 1
650.4005, the following terms mean: 2
(1) "Machine gun", any weapon which shoots, is 3
designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, more 4
than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single 5
function of the trigger; 6
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(2) "Person", any individual, corporation, company, 7
association, firm, trust, partnership, society, or joint 8
stock company; 9
(3) "Qualified person", any person who: 10
(a) Is eligible to purchase and possess firearms under 11
Missouri and federal law; and 12
(b) Has completed a machine gun safety course under 13
section 571.600. 14
2. To carry out the provisions of this section and 15
section 650.4005, there is hereby created and established an 16
"Office of Public Defense" within the department of public 17
safety. 18
3. The director of the department of public safety 19
shall be the director of the office. 20
4. The office of public defense, through its director, 21
shall have the following powers and duties: 22
(1) To qualified persons, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 23
Section 922(o)(2)(A), machine guns for the defense of the 24
state and its people. Machine guns acquired and transferred 25
by the office under this section shall be the same as, or of 26
like kind to, those machine guns currently in use by law 27
enforcement or the United States Armed Forces, and shall 28
include but not be limited to AR-15/M16-platform, M249-type, 29
and MP5-type machine guns. The director may, in his 30
discretion, acquire pursuant to this section, section 31
571.600, and section 650.4005 additional types of machine 32
guns beyond those identified in this section, which are in 33
common use by the military or law enforcement, and which the 34
director finds are useful to protecting the security of a 35
free state. In acquiring machine guns pursuant to this 36
section, the office shall, to the extent practicable, 37
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prioritize purchases of machine guns from manufacturers and 38
dealers located within Missouri; 39
(2) To establish, maintain, and operate a warehouse 40
and distribution station, using to the extent possible 41
existing department, infrastructure, and barracks, and in 42
the operation thereof to purchase, transport, store, sell, 43
and transfer machine guns to qualified persons. Machine 44
guns shall be made available for sale and transfer at the 45
state highway patrol general headquarters located in 46
Jefferson City; 47
(3) To verify the eligibility of qualified persons to 48
purchase machine guns through the same background check 49
process used by federal firearms licensee dealers; 50
(4) To report to the governor annually, and at such 51
other times as he may require, concerning the condition, 52
management, and financial transactions of the office; 53
(5) To do all things necessary and incidental to its 54
powers and duties under this section. 55
5. The director of the office of public defense shall 56
have the following powers and duties: 57
(1) To exercise general supervision of the conduct and 58
business of the office; 59
(2) To promulgate such rules and regulations as are 60
necessary to direct and control the exercise of the 61
governmental and proprietary powers and duties of the 62
office; and 63
(3) To expend funds from the public defense fund to 64
offset operational costs incurred administering this section 65
and section 650.4005. 66
6. The following provisions shall apply to records 67
created under this section and section 650.4005: 68
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(1) Upon transfer of a machine gun to a qualified 69
person under this section, the director or his designee 70
shall prepare two original copies of a signed and dated 71
certificate, bearing the seal of the state of Missouri, and 72
identifying the qualified person to whom the machine gun was 73
transferred, as well as identifying the machine gun's make, 74
model, and serial number. The office of public defense 75
shall issue one copy to the qualified person, and the office 76
shall retain the second copy in perpetuity. Such 77
certificate shall constitute proof of compliance with this 78
section; 79
(2) No information contained within any application, 80
registration, or records submitted or created in compliance 81
with this section shall be used for any purpose other than 82
to determine eligibility for, or to record, a transfer under 83
this section. Such information shall be exempt from 84
disclosure or inspection under chapter 610; 85
(3) Aside from the original certificate of transfer 86
kept by the office, all other records associated with the 87
transfer of any machine gun, which contain personally 88
identifiable information, shall be destroyed by the office 89
five years after the machine gun transfer was made. 90
7. Neither the state of Missouri, the office of public 91
defense, the director, nor any of the officers or employees 92
of the office shall be liable for damages sustained by any 93
person because of any act or omission done in the 94
performance of their respective duties under this section. 95
Neither the state of Missouri, the office of public defense, 96
the director, nor any of the officers or employees of the 97
office shall have any criminal or civil liability for any 98
criminal, unlawful, negligent, or accidental acts or 99
omissions committed by transferees or others related to any 100
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machine gun acquired and transferred pursuant to this 101
section. 102
8. The director shall add a five hundred dollar 103
surcharge to the total price of each machine gun sold and 104
transferred under this section. The first two hundred fifty 105
dollars of each surcharge shall be deposited into the public 106
defense fund, and remaining two hundred fifty dollars of 107
such surcharge shall be deposited into the crime victims' 108
compensation fund. 109
9. (1) There is hereby created in the state treasury 110
the "Public Defense Fund", which shall consist of moneys 111
collected under this section. The state treasurer shall be 112
custodian of the fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 113
and 30.180, the state treasurer may approve disbursements. 114
The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appropriation, 115
moneys in this fund shall be used solely as provided in this 116
section. 117
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080 118
to the contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end 119
of the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the 120
general revenue fund. 121
(3) The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the 122
fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any 123
interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be 124
credited to the fund. 125
650.4005. 1. All transfers of machine guns to 1
qualified persons under this section, section 571.600, and 2
section 650.4000 shall be deemed to have been made by the 3
state of Missouri, and such transfers are made under the 4
authority of the state of Missouri, for purposes of 18 5
U.S.C. Section 922(o)(2)(A). 6
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2. Any transferee of a machine gun under the 7
provisions of this section, section 571.600, and section 8
650.4000 shall be deemed to possess a machine gun that was 9
transferred by the state, and which was transferred under 10
the authority of the state of Missouri, for purposes of 18 11
U.S.C. Section 922(o)(2)(A). 12
3. Should a person to whom a machine gun has been 13
transferred under this section, section 571.600, and section 14
650.4000 later become prohibited from possessing firearms 15
under Missouri or federal law, such person shall return the 16
machine gun to the office within seven days of learning of 17
his or her prohibited status. In the case of a corporation, 18
company, association, firm, trust, partnership, society, or 19
joint stock company where only one responsible person of 20
such entity has become prohibited, but not the entity 21
itself, such entity may continue to own and possess the 22
transferred machine gun, provided that the prohibited person 23
is no longer a responsible person of such entity, and the 24
entity has at least one responsible person who remains 25
eligible to possess firearms under Missouri and federal 26
law. A person who relocates outside of this state shall, 27
prior to relocation, return the machine gun to the office in 28
exchange for the reasonable value of such machine gun. Any 29
machine gun returned under this subsection shall be made 30
available for sale to other qualified persons, and shall be 31
discounted in price by such nonzero dollar amount as the 32
director may decide. 33
4. In the case of a transfer of a machine gun to an 34
heir or other beneficiary of an estate following the death 35
of the machine gun's original owner, the representative of 36
the estate shall present the machine gun to the office and 37
the office shall transfer such machine gun to the heir, if 38
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they are a qualified person, the fee for such transfer to 39
any heir or other beneficiary shall be free of cost. 40
5. The office of public defense shall not destroy any 41
machine gun acquired by it pursuant to this section, section 42
571.600, and section 650.4000, except in cases where a 43
machine gun returned under this section is unserviceable. 44
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