Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 227 (2025GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Mauga, Verona

Final action

House/ filed 3/7/2025

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• makes a person a restricted person if the person has been found not guilty by reason of insanity for any criminal offense not just a felony level offense;
• makes a person a restricted person if the person has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial for any criminal offense not just a felony level offense; and
• contains a coordination clause to coordinate technical changes between this bill and H.B. 133, Dangerous Weapon Amendments.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

3
76-10-503
Restricted Person Amendments
2025 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Verona Mauga
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions relating to those who are restricted persons regarding 
dangerous weapons.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
makes a person a restricted person if the person has been found not guilty by reason of 
insanity for any criminal offense not just a felony level offense; and
 makes a person a restricted person if the person has been found mentally incompetent to 
stand trial for any criminal offense not just a felony level offense.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
76-10-503
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, First Special Session, Chapter 2
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1, Section 
76-10-503
 is amended to read:
76-10-503. Restrictions on possession, purchase, transfer, and ownership of 
dangerous weapons by certain persons -- Exceptions.
(1)
For purposes of this section:
(a)
A Category I restricted person is a person who:
(i)
has been convicted of a violent felony;
(ii)
is on probation or parole for a felony;
(iii)
is on parole from secure care, as defined in Section 
80-1-102
;
(iv)
within the last 10 years has been adjudicated under Section 
80-6-701
 for an 
offense which if committed by an adult would have been a violent felony as 
defined in Section 
76-3-203.5
;
(v)
is an alien who is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
(vi)
is on probation for a conviction of possessing:
(A)
a substance classified in Section 
58-37-4
 as a Schedule I or II controlled 
substance;
(B)
a controlled substance analog; or
(C)
a substance listed in Section 
58-37-4.2
.
(b)
A Category II restricted person is a person who:
(i)
has been convicted of:
(A)
a domestic violence offense that is a felony;
(B)
a felony that is not a domestic violence offense or a violent felony and within 
seven years after completing the sentence for the conviction, has been 
convicted of or charged with another felony or class A misdemeanor;
(C)
multiple felonies that are part of a single criminal episode and are not 
domestic violence offenses or violent felonies and within seven years after 
completing the sentence for the convictions, has been convicted of or charged 
with another felony or class A misdemeanor; or
(D)
multiple felonies that are not part of a single criminal episode;
(ii)
(A)
within the last seven years has completed a sentence for:
(I)
a conviction for a felony that is not a domestic violence offense or a violent 
felony; or
(II)
convictions for multiple felonies that are part of a single criminal episode 
and are not domestic violence offenses or violent felonies; and
(B)
within the last seven years and after the completion of a sentence for a 
conviction described in Subsection 
(1)(b)(ii)(A)
, has not been convicted of or 
charged with another felony or class A misdemeanor;
(iii)
within the last seven years has been adjudicated delinquent for an offense which 
if committed by an adult would have been a felony;
(iv)
is an unlawful user of a controlled substance as defined in Section 
58-37-2
;
(v)
is in possession of a dangerous weapon and is knowingly and intentionally in 
unlawful possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance as defined in 
Section 
58-37-2
;
(vi)
has been found not guilty by reason of insanity for a 
felony
criminal
 offense;
(vii)
has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial for a 
felony
criminal
 offense;
(viii)
has been adjudicated as mentally defective as provided in the Brady Handgun 
Violence Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. 103-159, 107 Stat. 1536 (1993), or has been 
committed to a mental institution;
(ix)
has been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces;
(x)
has renounced the individual's citizenship after having been a citizen of the 
United States;
(xi)
is a respondent or defendant subject to a protective order or child protective order 
that is issued after a hearing for which the respondent or defendant received actual 
notice and at which the respondent or defendant has an opportunity to participate, 
that restrains the respondent or defendant from harassing, stalking, threatening, or 
engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner, as defined in 18 
U.S.C. Sec. 921, or a child of the intimate partner, in reasonable fear of bodily 
injury to the intimate partner or child of the intimate partner, and that:
(A)
includes a finding that the respondent or defendant represents a credible threat 
to the physical safety of an individual who meets the definition of an intimate 
partner in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 921 or the child of the individual; or
(B)
explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force 
that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily harm against an intimate 
partner or the child of an intimate partner; or
(xii)
except as provided in Subsection 
(1)(d)
, has been convicted of the commission 
or attempted commission of misdemeanor assault under Section 
76-5-102
 or 
aggravated assault under Section 
76-5-103
 against an individual:
(A)
who is a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian;
(B)
with whom the restricted person shares a child in common;
(C)
who is cohabitating or has cohabitated with the restricted person as a spouse, 
parent, or guardian;
(D)
involved in a dating relationship with the restricted person within the last five 
years; or
(E)
similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the restricted person.
(c)
(i)
As used in this section, a conviction of a felony or adjudication of delinquency 
for an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult does not include:
(A)
a conviction or an adjudication under Section 
80-6-701
 for an offense 
pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraint of trade, or 
other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices not 
involving theft or fraud; or
(B)
a conviction or an adjudication under Section 
80-6-701
 which, in accordance 
with the law of the jurisdiction in which the conviction or adjudication 
occurred, has been expunged, set aside, reduced to a misdemeanor by court 
order, pardoned or regarding which the person's civil rights have been restored 
unless the pardon, reduction, expungement, or restoration of civil rights 
expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive 
firearms.
(ii)
As used in this section, a conviction for misdemeanor assault under Subsection 
(1)(b)(xii)
, does not include a conviction which, in accordance with the law of the 
jurisdiction in which the conviction occurred, has been expunged, set aside, 
reduced to an infraction by court order, pardoned, or regarding which the person's 
civil rights have been restored, unless the pardon, reduction, expungement, or 
restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, 
transport, possess, or receive firearms.
(iii)
It is the burden of the defendant in a criminal case to provide evidence that a 
conviction or an adjudication under Section 
80-6-701
 is subject to an exception 
provided in this Subsection 
(1)(c)
, after which it is the burden of the state to prove 
beyond a reasonable doubt that the conviction or the adjudication is not subject to 
that exception.
(d)
A person is not a restricted person for a conviction under Subsection 
(1)(b)(xii)(D)
 if:
(i)
five years have elapsed from the later of:
(A)
the day on which the conviction is entered;
(B)
the day on which the person is released from incarceration following the 
conviction; or
(C)
the day on which the person's probation for the conviction is successfully 
terminated;
(ii)
the person only has a single conviction for misdemeanor assault as described in 
Subsection 
(1)(b)(xii)(D)
; and
(iii)
the person is not otherwise a restricted person under Subsection 
(1)(a)
 or 
(b)
.
(2)
A Category I restricted person who intentionally or knowingly agrees, consents, offers, 
or arranges to purchase, transfer, possess, use, or have under the person's custody or 
control, or who intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has 
under the person's custody or control:
(a)
a firearm is guilty of a second degree felony; or
(b)
a dangerous weapon other than a firearm is guilty of a third degree felony.
(3)
A Category II restricted person who intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers, 
possesses, uses, or has under the person's custody or control:
(a)
a firearm is guilty of a third degree felony; or
(b)
a dangerous weapon other than a firearm is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
(4)
A person may be subject to the restrictions of both categories at the same time.
(5)
A Category I or Category II restricted person may not use an antique firearm for an 
activity regulated under 
Title 23A, Wildlife Resources Act
.
(6)
If a higher penalty than is prescribed in this section is provided in another section for 
one who purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has under this custody or control a 
dangerous weapon, the penalties of that section control.
(7)
It is an affirmative defense to a charge based on the definition in Subsection 
(1)(b)(v)
that the person was:
(a)
in possession of a controlled substance pursuant to a lawful order of a practitioner for 
use of a member of the person's household or for administration to an animal owned 
by the person or a member of the person's household; or
(b)
otherwise authorized by law to possess the substance.
(8)
(a)
It is an affirmative defense to transferring a firearm or other dangerous weapon 
by a person restricted under Subsection 
(2)
 or 
(3)
 that the firearm or dangerous 
weapon:
(i)
was possessed by the person or was under the person's custody or control before 
the person became a restricted person;
(ii)
was not used in or possessed during the commission of a crime or subject to 
disposition under Section 
Title 77, Chapter 11a, Part 4, Disposal of Seized 
Property and Contraband
;
(iii)
is not being held as evidence by a court or law enforcement agency;
(iv)
was transferred to a person not legally prohibited from possessing the weapon; 
and
(v)
unless a different time is ordered by the court, was transferred within 10 days of 
the person becoming a restricted person.
(b)
Subsection 
(8)(a)
 is not a defense to the use, purchase, or possession on the person of 
a firearm or other dangerous weapon by a restricted person.
(9)
(a)
A person may not sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of a firearm or dangerous 
weapon to a person, knowing that the recipient is a person described in Subsection 
(1)(a)
 or 
(b)
.
(b)
A person who violates Subsection 
(9)(a)
 when the recipient is:
(i)
a person described in Subsection 
(1)(a)
 and the transaction involves a firearm, is 
guilty of a second degree felony;
(ii)
a person described in Subsection 
(1)(a)
 and the transaction involves a dangerous 
weapon other than a firearm, and the transferor has knowledge that the recipient 
intends to use the weapon for any unlawful purpose, is guilty of a third degree 
felony;
(iii)
a person described in Subsection 
(1)(b)
 and the transaction involves a firearm, is 
guilty of a third degree felony; or
(iv)
a person described in Subsection 
(1)(b)
 and the transaction involves a dangerous 
weapon other than a firearm, and the transferor has knowledge that the recipient 
intends to use the weapon for an unlawful purpose, is guilty of a class A 
misdemeanor.
(10)
(a)
A person may not knowingly solicit, persuade, encourage or entice a dealer or 
other person to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of a firearm or dangerous weapon 
under circumstances which the person knows would be a violation of the law.
(b)
A person may not provide to a dealer or other person information that the person 
knows to be materially false information with intent to deceive the dealer or other 
person about the legality of a sale, transfer or other disposition of a firearm or 
dangerous weapon.
(c)
"Materially false information" means information that portrays an illegal transaction 
as legal or a legal transaction as illegal.
(d)
A person who violates this Subsection 
(10)
 is guilty of:
(i)
a third degree felony if the transaction involved a firearm; or
(ii)
a class A misdemeanor if the transaction involved a dangerous weapon other than 
a firearm.
Section 2. 
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on 
May 7, 2025
.
1-15-25 4:36 PM