HSB 615

The bill prohibits the appropriate commission, the county board of supervisors, or the city council from requiring the person seeking approval to comply with any conditions on the establishment, use, or maintenance of a shooting range that are more stringent than those imposed by state law. Current law provides that a political subdivision shall not enact, adopt, make, or amend any ordinance, measure, enactment, rule, resolution, motion, or policy that regulates the ownership, possession, legal transfer, lawful transportation, registration, or licensing of firearms when the ownership, possession, transfer, transportation, registration, or license is otherwise lawful, and that a person adversely affected by such an ordinance, measure, enactment, rule, resolution, motion, or policy may file suit in the appropriate court for declaratory and injunctive relief for damages. _____ that the prohibition applies to firearm attachments and other weapons. The bill provides that a person adversely affected may also file a lawsuit for damages attributable to the violation. The bill provides that a court shall also award the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The bill provides that political subdivisions may restrict the carrying, possession, or transportation of firearms or other dangerous weapons in the buildings or physical structures located on property under the political subdivision’s control if arrangements are made to screen persons entering into the building or physical structure and the political subdivision provides armed security personnel inside the building or physical structure. The bill prohibits a political subdivision from enacting an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment regulating the storage of weapons or ammunition and any such ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment existing on or after July 1, 2020, is void. However, the bill does not preclude a political subdivision from regulating the storage of explosive materials consistent with Code chapter 101A. The bill provides that a supreme court or judicial branch order that prohibits a person from carrying, possessing, or transporting a weapon in a county courthouse or other joint-use public facility shall be unenforceable unless the judicial order applies only to a courtroom or a court office, or to a courthouse used only for judicial branch functions.