Gun Offender Amendment

___________________________________ Councilmember Thomas

AN AMENDMENT _____

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DATE:

June 30, 2009

Amendment offered by Councilmember Thomas to: “Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Amendment Act of 2009” P.R. No. ______ Bill No. _18-151 Other ______ Version:

Introduced Committee Print First Reading Amended First Reading Engrossed Enrolled Unidentified Emergency Legislation

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Title VIII is amended as follows: (a) By amending Sec.802(a)(1)(C) and (D) to read as follows: “(C) Remaining in the District to reside, work or attend school after receipt of notice of the obligation to register; or “(D) Changing the place where he or she resides, works or attends school in the District or elsewhere;”. (b) By amending Sec. 802(a)(2) to read as follows: “(B) The address where the gun offender resides or expects to reside in the District;” (c) By amending Sec. 802(a)(2)(E)-(I) to read as follows: “(E) The jurisdiction and a description of the offense for which the gun offender was convicted and the date of conviction; “(F) Fingerprints; “(G) The identification number on the gun offender’s driver’s license or non-driver photo identification card; “(H) The name and address of any school the gun offender attends or expects to attend; and

“(I) The name and address of the gun offender’s expected place of work including the name and phone number of a supervisor.”. (d) By striking Sec. 802(a)(3). (e) By amending Sec.802(b) as follows: (1) By striking the phrase “(1) Except as specified in paragraph (2)” and replacing it with the phrase “(1) Except as specified in paragraph (2) and (3)”. (2) By adding a new paragraph (3) to read as follows: “(3) If a gun offender neither resides, works, nor attends school in the District of Columbia, the gun offender shall not be required to comply with paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection.”. (3) By renumbering existing paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and striking the phrase “or(3)”. (f) By striking Sec.802(c). (g) By inserting a new Sec. 803 to read as follows: “Sec. 803. Registration period. A gun offender shall comply with the registration and verification provisions required by section 802 for a period beginning when he or she is sentenced for a gun offense and continuing until two (2) years after the expiration of any time being served on probation, parole, supervised release, or conditional release, or two (2) years after the gun offender is unconditionally released from a correctional facility, prison, hospital or other place of confinement, whichever is latest. The registration period is tolled for any time the gun offender fails to register or otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of the “Gun Offender Registration and Community Protection Amendment Act of 2009.”. (h) By renumbering existing Sec. 803 as Sec. 804. (i) By amending Sec. 807(a) by striking the phrase “6 months” and inserting the phrase “12 months” in its place. (j) By adding a new Sec. 808 to read as follows: “Sec. 808. D.C. Official Code § 23-1322(c) is amended by adding a new paragraph (8) to read as follows: “(8) Violated the “Gun Offender Registration and Community Protection Amendment Act of 2009” while on probation, parole, or supervised release for committing a dangerous crime or a crime of violence, as these crimes are defined in D.C. Official Code § 23-1331, while armed with or having readily available a firearm, imitation firearm, or other deadly or dangerous weapon as defined in D.C. Official Code § 22-4502(a).”. 2

Rationale: The Committee print proposes that gun offenders be registered for just two years after the end of other supervision. There is no justifiable reason why the GOR should not be concurrent with other supervision, which has been demonstrated to be effective in New York City (four years of registration) and Baltimore (three years). This amendment would extend the GOR supervision for two years after other supervision has ended to tailor the act to the specific crime problems in the District, where MPD’s analysis has shown that violent offenders are more likely to commit serious crimes, including homicide, soon after other supervision ends. This amendment also authorizes MPD to collect information on the offender’s driver’s license number, and his or her work and school address, where applicable. This information, which is required by the Baltimore and NYC laws, is critical for two reasons. (1) If the offender is in violation of the requirements of the registry, this information will help locate the offender. (2) Offenders convicted in DC but living in another jurisdiction may be driving into DC for work or school, in which case this is their primary connection to the city. There is no reason not to provide this information. This amendment clarifies that individuals convicted in the District who live elsewhere must register under the GOR, but that those who neither live, work nor go to school in the District do not have to “re-register” one year later. This proposal is modeled on the New York and Baltimore laws. This amendment increases the penalty for a violation of the GOR to a fine of not more than $1,000 and / or 12 months imprisonment for knowing violations, which is the same penalty contained in the NYC and Baltimore laws. Finally, this amendment would establish a rebuttable presumption for pre-trial detention if an offender violates the requirements of the GOR while otherwise under supervision for a crime of violence or dangerous crime committed while armed. In this scenario, someone is first convicted of a serious crime while armed, and then violates the provisions of the registry as well as the conditions of release which required the registration. Any GOR offense is a knowing violation, so any violation would be showing flagrant disregard for the law and the safety of the community. Such offenders should be held pending trial so as to minimize further danger to the community Fiscal Impact: There is no fiscal impact to the amendment.

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