Felons could face harsher punishment for owning firearms

The bill would make it a third-degree felony for a felon to have a gun.

Rep. Bill Rehm, a Republican and retired police officer, believes more needs to be done to keep felons from having guns.

He thinks the bill would act as a deterrent.

Under current state law, a felon convicted who possesses a firearm faces 18 months in prison.

Raising the charge from a fourth-degree felony to a third-degree felony would double the sentence to three years in prison.

“When a felon who uses bad judgment is in possession of a firearm then he tends to use that firearm in an improper way,” said Rep. Rehm. “We’ve got to get felons to not carry guns.”

Rep. Rehm introduced the same bill several times before, but it has never made it out of the committee process.

Track House Bill 316 during the 2019 legislature