An Act concerning the reporting of information relating to certain firearms, supplementing and amending P.L.1966, c.37.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that to further provide for the public safety and the well being of the citizens of this State, and to respond to growing dangers and threats of gun violence, it is altogether fitting and proper for the law enforcement departments and agencies of this State to fully participate, through the utilization of electronic technology, in interjurisdictional information and analysis sharing programs and systems to deter and solve gun crimes.

To effectuate this objective, it shall be the policy of this State for its various law enforcement agencies to utilize fully the federal Criminal Justice Information System to transmit and receive information relating to the seizure and recovery of firearms by law enforcement, in particular the National Crime Information Center System, to determine whether a firearm has been reported stolen; the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives E-Trace System to establish the identity of a firearm's first purchaser, where that firearm was purchased and when it was purchased; and the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network to ascertain whether a particular firearm is related to any other criminal event or person.

2. Section 3 of P.L.1966, c.37 (C.52:17B-5.3) is amended to read as follows:

3. a. All local and county police authorities shall submit a quarterly report to the Attorney General, on forms prescribed by the Attorney General, which report shall contain the number and nature of offenses committed within their respective jurisdictions, the disposition of such matters, information relating to criminal street gang activities within their respective jurisdictions, information relating to any offense directed against a person or group, or their property, by reason of their race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity and such other information as the Attorney General may require, respecting information relating to the cause and prevention of crime, recidivism, the rehabilitation of criminals and the proper administration of criminal justice.

b. A law enforcement officer who responds to an offense involving criminal street gang activity shall complete a gang related incident offense report on a form prescribed by the Superintendent of State Police. All information contained in the gang related incident offense report shall be forwarded to the Superintendent of State Police for inclusion in the Uniform Crime Report.

c. A law enforcement officer who seizes or recovers a firearm that was unlawfully possessed, used for an unlawful purpose, recovered from a crime scene or is reasonably believed to have been used in or associated with the commission of a crime, or is otherwise acquired as an abandoned or discarded firearm shall, complete within 24 hours of the entering of the required information relating to that firearm into the New Jersey Trace System and such other State and federal database systems as prescribed by the superintendent, a seized or recovered firearms incident report on a form prescribed by the superintendent. The incident report shall be filed with the State Police in a manner and time prescribed by the superintendent.

(cf: P.L.2010, c.110, s.1)

3. (New section) Whenever a law enforcement agency seizes or recovers a firearm that was unlawfully possessed, used for any unlawful purpose, recovered from the scene of a crime, is reasonably believed to have been used or associated with the commission of a crime, or is acquired by the agency as an abandoned or discarded firearm, the agency shall arrange for every such firearm that, in accordance with protocols promulgated by the Attorney General and superintendent, is determined to merit and be suitable for National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network data entry and examination to be test-fired as soon as may be practicable and the results of that test-firing be forthwith submitted to the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network to determine whether the firearm is associated or related to a crime, criminal event, or any individual associated or related to a crime or criminal event or reasonably believed to be associated or related to a crime or criminal event.

Whenever a law enforcement agency recovers any spent shell casing at a crime scene or has reason to believe that the recovered spent shell casing is related to or associated with the commission of a crime or the unlawful discharge of a firearm, the agency shall, as soon as may be practicable, submit the ballistics information to the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network.

4. (New section) The Superintendant of State Police shall make available to the public quarterly reports summarizing firearms trace data received from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. An initial report shall be issued summarizing data received within the preceding 10 years. Quarterly reports shall be issued summarizing data currently received. The reports shall include particular and aggregate information on:

a. The state of origin of the recovered firearm;

b. The identity and city location of the firearm's source vendor;

c. The type of firearm recovered;

d. The manufacturer, make, and model of the recovered firearm;

e. The crime which was committed with the recovered firearm; and

f. Any other information the superintendent deems appropriate.

5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following enactment, but the Attorney General may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill would require that information relating to the crime of firearms trafficking be included in the annual crime report the Attorney General prepares and transmits to the Governor and Legislature.

Under the provisions of the bill, local law enforcement officers and agencies are required to report to the various federal and State database systems that are part of the Criminal Justice Information System information relating to their seizure or recovery of firearms (1) unlawfully possessed; (2) used for an unlawful purpose; (3) recovered at a crime scene; or (4) found as abandoned or discarded weapons.

These database systems, which include the National Crime Information Center's 2000 System, NJ Trace (part of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' e-Trace System) and the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network, make nationwide firearms information readily available to law enforcement agencies. By integrating and analyzing the firearms' information available through these databases with the data submitted by local law enforcement agencies in New Jersey, the State Police can develop valuable profiles on the geographic and source venders, or providers, of the firearms being illegally brought into the State.

The bill also requires the Superintendant of State Police to issue to the public an initial report summarizing firearms trace data received within the last 10 years from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Thereafter, quarterly reports are to be issued summarizing data currently received. The reports are to include particular and aggregate information on: (1) the state of origin of the recovered firearm; (2) the identity and city location of the firearm's source vendor; (3) the type of firearm recovered; (4) the manufacturer, make, and model of the recovered firearm; (5) the crime which was committed with the recovered firearm; and (6) other appropriate information.

Finally, the bill also requires all New Jersey law enforcement agencies to test-fire certain seized and recovered firearms and submit the resulting ballistics information to the National Integrated Ballistic Identification Network. The ballistics information in the network is used to determine whether the firearm is associated with or related to a crime, criminal event, or any individual associated or related to a crime or criminal event.