Bill Text: IA SF2253 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act establishing a mental health firearm safety fund.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-02-19 - Subcommittee: Zumbach, Celsi, and Kraayenbrink. S.J. 335. [SF2253 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-SF2253-Introduced.html
Senate File 2253 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2253 BY WEINER , CELSI , WINCKLER , TRONE GARRIOTT , and PETERSEN A BILL FOR An Act establishing a mental health firearm safety fund. 1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 2 TLSB 5797XS (5) 90 dg/ko
S.F. 2253 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 225C.70 Mental health firearm 1 safety fund. 2 1. A mental health firearm safety fund is created in the 3 state treasury under the control of the department and shall 4 consist of any moneys appropriated by the general assembly 5 and any other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by 6 the department for placement in the fund. Moneys in the fund 7 shall be used to award grants to organizations or coalitions of 8 organizations for any of the following purposes: 9 a. To train staff at a firearms retailer or a firearm range 10 on how to recognize signs that a person may be considering 11 suicide. 12 b. To provide suicide prevention materials for distribution 13 at a firearms retailer or a firearm range. 14 c. To provide voluntary, temporary firearm storage for 15 the lawful owner of a firearm who is or may be experiencing a 16 mental health emergency. 17 2. A grant awarded pursuant to this section shall not exceed 18 five thousand dollars per recipient organization per fiscal 19 year. 20 3. In awarding grants pursuant to subsection 1, the 21 department shall give preference to organizations or coalitions 22 of organizations that have not previously received a grant 23 under this section. 24 4. For purposes of this section, “organization” means any 25 of the following: 26 a. A county. 27 b. A city. 28 c. An Indian tribe as that term is defined in 25 U.S.C. 29 §5304, including any subdivision, subsidiary, or business 30 enterprise wholly owned by such an Indian tribe. 31 EXPLANATION 32 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 33 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 34 This bill establishes a mental health firearm safety fund 35 -1- LSB 5797XS (5) 90 dg/ko 1/ 2
S.F. 2253 (fund) under the control of the department of health and human 1 services (HHS) to be funded with moneys appropriated by the 2 general assembly and any other moneys available to and obtained 3 or accepted by HHS for placement in the fund. 4 The bill allows HHS to use moneys in the fund to award 5 grants to organizations for the purposes of training staff at a 6 firearms retailer or a firearm range on how to recognize signs 7 that a person may be considering suicide; providing suicide 8 prevention materials for distribution at a firearms retailer 9 or a firearm range; or providing voluntary, temporary firearm 10 storage for the lawful owner of a firearm who is or may be 11 experiencing a mental health emergency. 12 The bill limits annual awards from the fund to $5,000 per 13 recipient organization per fiscal year. 14 The bill requires HHS, when awarding grants from the fund, to 15 give preference to organizations or coalitions of organizations 16 that have not previously received a grant from the fund. 17 The bill defines “organization” as a county; a city; or 18 an Indian tribe as defined in 25 U.S.C. §5304, including any 19 subdivision, subsidiary, or business enterprise wholly owned 20 by such an Indian tribe. 21 -2- LSB 5797XS (5) 90 dg/ko 2/ 2
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