Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1172 By Senator Book 32-01448-21 20211172__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 790.065, F.S.; expanding an existing exemption from 4 public records requirements to include records 5 containing certain information pertaining to a buyer 6 or transferee who is not found to be prohibited from 7 receipt or transfer of ammunition; providing for 8 future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 9 providing a statement of public necessity; providing a 10 contingent effective date. 11 12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 14 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 15 790.065, Florida Statutes, as amended by SB ____, 2021 Regular 16 Session, is amended to read: 17 790.065 Sale and delivery of firearms and ammunition.— 18 (4)(a) Any records containing any of the information set 19 forth in subsection (1) pertaining to a buyer or transferee who 20 is not found to be prohibited from receipt or transfer of a 21 firearm or ammunition by reason of Florida and federal law which 22 records are created by the Department of Law Enforcement to 23 conduct the criminal history record check shall be confidential 24 and exempt fromthe provisions ofs. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), 25 Art. I of the State Constitution and may not be disclosed by the 26 Department of Law Enforcement or any officer or employee thereof 27 to any person or to another agency. The Department of Law 28 Enforcement shall destroy any such records forthwith after it 29 communicates the approval and nonapproval numbers to the 30 licensee and, in any event, such records shall be destroyed 31 within 48 hours after the day of the response to the licensee’s 32 request. 33 Section 2. The amendments to s. 790.065(4)(a), Florida 34 Statutes, made by this act are subject to the Open Government 35 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15, Florida 36 Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution and 37 shall stand repealed on October 2, 2026, and the text of this 38 paragraph shall revert to that in existence on July 1, 2021, 39 except that any amendments to such text enacted other than by 40 this act shall be preserved and continue to operate to the 41 extent that such amendments are not dependent upon the portions 42 of text which expire pursuant to this section, unless reviewed 43 and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 44 Section 3. The Legislature finds that it is a public 45 necessity that the information pertaining to an individual who 46 is a buyer or transferee who is not found to be prohibited from 47 receipt or transfer of ammunition under s. 790.065, Florida 48 Statutes, be made confidential and exempt from public records 49 requirements under s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 50 Article I of the State Constitution. The knowledge that someone 51 has purchased ammunition can easily lead to the conclusion that 52 the applicant or licensee has in fact armed himself or herself. 53 The Legislature has found in prior legislative sessions and has 54 expressed in s. 790.335(1)(a)3., Florida Statutes, that a list, 55 record, or registry of legally owned firearms or law-abiding 56 firearm owners is “an instrument that can be used as a means to 57 profile innocent citizens and to harass and abuse American 58 citizens based solely on their choice to own firearms and 59 exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms as 60 guaranteed under the United States Constitution.” Release of 61 personal identifying information of an individual who has 62 purchased ammunition could be used to harass an innocent person 63 based solely on that person’s exercised right to own a firearm. 64 Therefore, the Legislature finds that such information must be 65 held confidential and exempt from public records requirements. 66 Section 4. This act shall take effect on the same date that 67 SB ____ or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation 68 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension 69 thereof and becomes a law.