GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

EXTRA SESSION 1994

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 8*
Committee Substitute Favorable 2/18/94

Short Title:  Amend Felony Firearms Act.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  
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February 8, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE POSSESSION OF FIREARMS AND WEAPONS OF MASS DEATH AND DESTRUCTION BY FELONS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 14-415.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14-415.1.  Possession of firearms, etc., by felon prohibited.
(a)	Except as provided in subsection (a1), and notwithstanding any restoration of citizenship, it  is unlawful for any person who has been convicted of any felony to purchase, own, possess, or have in the person's custody, care, or control any firearm or any weapon of mass death and destruction as defined in G.S. 14-288.8(c).
Every person violating the provisions of this section is a Class H felon.
Any firearm or weapon of mass death and destruction lawfully seized for a violation of this section shall be forfeited to the State and disposed of as provided in G.S. 14-269.1.
(a1)	After a period of 10 years from the date of conviction, unconditional discharge from a correctional institution, or termination of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, whichever is later, a person subject to the provisions of subsection (a) may petition the superior court in the jurisdiction in which the person resides for a permit to purchase, own, possess, or control a firearm, other than a handgun or a weapon of mass death and destruction.  The court may, for good cause shown and upon a finding that public safety would not be jeopardized, grant the petition and issue a permit.  If the court grants the petition, it shall decide the places and circumstances under which the person may purchase, own, possess, or control the firearm, and the permit shall specify those places and circumstances.
(b)	Prior convictions which cause disentitlement under this section shall include only:
(1)	Felonies; and
	(3)	Violations of criminal laws of other states or of the United States substantially similar to the crimes covered in subdivision (1) which are punishable where committed by imprisonment for a term exceeding two years.
When a person is charged under this section, records of prior convictions of any offense, whether in the courts of this State, or in the courts of any other state or of the United States, shall be admissible in evidence for the purpose of proving a violation of this section.  The term 'conviction' is defined as a final judgment in any case in which felony punishment, or imprisonment for a term exceeding two years, as the case may be, is permissible, without regard to the plea entered or to the sentence imposed.  A judgment of a conviction or a plea of guilty to such an offense certified to a superior court of this State from the custodian of records of any state or federal court under the same name as that by which the defendant is charged shall be prima facie evidence that the identity of such person is the same as the defendant so charged and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts so certified.
(c)	The indictment charging the defendant under the terms of this section shall be separate from any indictment charging him with other offenses related to or giving rise to a charge under this section.  An indictment which charges the person with violation of this section must set forth the date that the prior offense was committed, the type of offense and the penalty therefor, and the date that the defendant was convicted or plead guilty to such offense, the identity of the court in which the conviction or plea of guilty took place and the verdict and judgment rendered therein.
(d)	The provisions of this section shall not apply to a conviction of a crime covered in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section after the person has received a pardon for that conviction from the Governor, unless the purchase, ownership, possession, custody, care, or control of a firearm would violate a condition of the pardon.  The provisions of this section shall not apply to a conviction of a crime under the laws of the United States covered in subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of this section after the person has received a pardon for that conviction from the President of the United States, unless the purchase, ownership, possession, custody, care, or control of a firearm would violate a condition of the pardon."
Sec. 2.  Section 1245 of Chapter 539 of the 1993 Session Laws is repealed.
Sec. 3.  Section 2 of this act is effective upon ratification.  The remainder of this act becomes effective May 1, 1994, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.