Florida Senate - 2022 SB 346 By Senator Polsky 29-00609-22 2022346__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 790.065, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 4 records requirements for records containing certain 5 information pertaining to a buyer or transferee who is 6 not found to be prohibited from receipt or transfer of 7 ammunition; providing for future legislative review 8 and repeal of the exemption; providing for the 9 reversion of specified statutory text if certain 10 conditions are met; providing a statement of public 11 necessity; providing a contingent effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 16 790.065, Florida Statutes, as amended by SB 334, 2022 Regular 17 Session, is amended to read: 18 790.065 Sale and delivery of firearms and ammunition.— 19 (4)(a) Any records containing any of the information set 20 forth in subsection (1) pertaining to a buyer or transferee who 21 is not found to be prohibited from receipt or transfer of a 22 firearm or ammunition by reason of Florida and federal law which 23 records are created by the Department of Law Enforcement to 24 conduct the criminal history record check shall be confidential 25 and exempt fromthe provisions ofs. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), 26 Art. I of the State Constitution and may not be disclosed by the 27 Department of Law Enforcement or any officer or employee thereof 28 to any person or to another agency. The Department of Law 29 Enforcement shall destroy any such records forthwith after it 30 communicates the approval and nonapproval numbers to the 31 licensee and, in any event, such records shall be destroyed 32 within 48 hours after the day of the response to the licensee’s 33 request. 34 Section 2. The amendments to s. 790.065(4)(a), Florida 35 Statutes, made by this act are subject to the Open Government 36 Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15, Florida 37 Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution and 38 shall stand repealed on October 2, 2027, and the text of this 39 paragraph shall revert to that in existence on September 30, 40 2022, except that any amendments to such text enacted other than 41 by this act shall be preserved and continue to operate to the 42 extent that such amendments are not dependent upon the portions 43 of text which expire pursuant to this section, unless reviewed 44 and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 45 Section 3. The Legislature finds that it is a public 46 necessity that the information pertaining to an individual who 47 is a buyer or transferee who is not found to be prohibited from 48 receipt or transfer of ammunition under s. 790.065, Florida 49 Statutes, be made confidential and exempt from public records 50 requirements under s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 51 Article I of the State Constitution. The knowledge that someone 52 has purchased ammunition can easily lead to the conclusion that 53 the applicant or licensee has in fact armed himself or herself. 54 The Legislature has found in prior legislative sessions and has 55 expressed in s. 790.335(1)(a)3., Florida Statutes, that a list, 56 record, or registry of legally owned firearms or law-abiding 57 firearm owners is “an instrument that can be used as a means to 58 profile innocent citizens and to harass and abuse American 59 citizens based solely on their choice to own firearms and 60 exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms as 61 guaranteed under the United States Constitution.” Release of 62 personal identifying information of an individual who has 63 purchased ammunition could be used to harass an innocent person 64 based solely on that person’s exercised right to own a firearm. 65 Therefore, the Legislature finds that such information must be 66 held confidential and exempt from public records requirements. 67 Section 4. This act shall take effect on the same date that 68 SB 334 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation 69 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension 70 thereof and becomes a law.