HB 2579 : Background Check Exemption for Curio and Relic Collectors
Position: Oppose Status: House Judiciary Committee
Exempts from private transfer criminal background check requirement transfer of curio or relic firearm to person licensed as collector under federal law.
This bill would allow an unnecessary loophole in firearm background checks for those purchasing "curios and relics" and also opens a new avenue for firearms to be classified as curios or relics. For example, a 3D printed firearm could be considered a "curio" in the future.
Update
1-9 (H) First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk
1-13 (H) Referred to Judiciary
Hearings have not been scheduled for this bill, therefore, the bill is unlikely to move forward in the 2023 legislative session.
Curios are defined as:
Curios or relics. Firearms which are of special interest to collectors by reason of some quality other than is associated with firearms intended for sporting use or as offensive or defensive weapons. To be recognized as curios or relics, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:
(a) Firearms which were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof;
(b) Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, State, or Federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; and
(c) Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because of their association with some historical figure, period, or event. Proof of qualification of a particular firearm under this category may be established by evidence of present value and evidence that like firearms are not available except as collector‘s items, or that the value of like firearms available in ordinary commercial channels is substantially less.
Source: Cornell Law School