CONCEALED PISTOL LICENSE RENEWAL S.B. 525: ANALYSIS AS PASSED BY THE SENATE
[Please see the PDF version of this analysis, if available, to view this image.]






Senate Bill 525 (as passed by the Senate) (as enrolled)
Sponsor: Senator Goeff Hansen
Committee: Judiciary


Date Completed: 9-30-11

RATIONALE


Public Act 381 of 2000 amended the handgun licensure law to require that a license to carry a concealed pistol be issued if certain criteria are met. Depending on the date it was issued, a concealed pistol license (CPL) then expired either three or five years after the date it was issued. Since a large number of individuals applied for a CPL shortly after Public Act 381 took effect, the expiration and renewal dates for all of those licensees occurred at about the same time of year. Public Act 184 of 2006 amended the law to provide that a CPL issued on or after July 1, 2006, is valid until the applicant's date of birth falling not less than four or more than five years after the license was issued. While that measure has served to spread the expiration and renewal dates out over the course of the calendar year, the law remains silent concerning both when a person may apply for renewal of a CPL and when a license renewal takes effect. It has been suggested that those issues be addressed in the law.

CONTENT The bill would amend the handgun licensure law to do both of the following:

-- Specify that an application to renew a license to carry a concealed pistol could be submitted not more than six months before the current license expired.
-- Provide that the effective date of an approved license renewal would be the date the current license expired or the date the renewal was approved, whichever was later.
Under the law, a concealed pistol license issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2006, is valid until the applicant's date of birth that falls not less than four years or more than five years after the license is issued or renewed. A renewal of a license generally must be issued in the same manner as an original license. The concealed weapon licensing board must issue or deny a renewal license within 60 days after an application for renewal is properly submitted. The bill specifies that an application to renew a CPL could be submitted not more than six months before the expiration of the current license.


Under the bill, if the concealed weapon licensing board approved a license renewal, the effective date of the renewal CPL would be the date the current license expired or the date the renewal was approved, whichever was later. The expiration date of a renewed CPL would be the applicant's date of birth that was not less than four years or more than five years from the effective date of the license.


MCL 28.425l

ARGUMENTS (Please note: The arguments contained in this analysis originate from sources outside the Senate Fiscal Agency. The Senate Fiscal Agency neither supports nor opposes legislation.)

Supporting Argument The bill would help to clarify some remaining issues around the renewal of CPLs and the effective and expiration dates of renewed licenses. By establishing the expiration date of a license as the applicant's birthday, the 2006 legislation went a long way toward streamlining the CPL renewal process. Licensees and local clerks, however, still are facing some confusion over that process. For instance, the effective date of an approved renewal license is not specified in the law. Typically, the date of approval for a renewal license would be earlier than the date the previous license expired, just as the renewal of a person's driver license must occur before it expires on the licensee's birthday. It is unclear under the handgun licensure law, however, just when the renewed CPL takes effect. Under the bill, the existing license would remain in effect until the person's birthday, when the renewed license would take effect, as is the case currently with a driver license. If a CPL holder's renewal application were approved after his or her birthday, however, the effective date of the renewed license would be the date renewal was approved.


Also, the law does not address when a licensee may apply for a renewal. Conceivably, a CPL holder could submit a renewal application immediately after his or her license was approved. The bill would address this situation by specifying that a renewal application could be submitted not earlier than six months before the current license expired.


Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter

FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.


Fiscal Analyst: Bruce Baker

Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb525/1112