Committee reviews House changes to firearms‑surrender working group membership and consultative list

The committee reviewed House edits to the bill’s firearms‑surrender compliance working group, which reduced formal membership and added a list of required consultees.

The working group was created to develop a uniform process for compliance with firearms surrender orders that already exist in law — for example, orders tied to relief‑from‑abuse or protection orders. Committee staff explained the House edits kept the group's overall purpose but reduced the number of voting members and instead required consultation with several stakeholders, including the commissioner of corrections, family‑law practitioners and a set of health‑care and mental‑health providers.

Several senators questioned whether moving mental‑health and health‑care entities from formal membership to a consultee role would reduce their influence. One senator said she was "curious if the individuals that were taken from the list were consulted with," noting the importance of mental‑health providers in shaping procedures around firearms surrender. Staff responded that the statutory language requires consultation and that such lists are commonly phrased as inclusive rather than exclusive.

The bill also includes modest membership‑and‑compensation language for non‑governmental participants; staff noted the change may create a modest compensation obligation for invited non‑government members. Committee members asked staff to consider non‑exclusive phrasing ("including but not limited to") if they want to preserve flexibility in selecting additional stakeholders.

The committee did not take a final vote on membership language at this session; staff said the House amendments were largely technical but that the committee could propose language to restore specific membership if it preferred.