§134-2  Permits to acquire.  (a)  Noperson shall acquire the ownership of a firearm, whether usable or unusable,serviceable or unserviceable, modern or antique, registered under prior law orby a prior owner or unregistered, either by purchase, gift, inheritance,bequest, or in any other manner, whether procured in the State or imported bymail, express, freight, or otherwise, until the person has first procured fromthe chief of police of the county of the person's place of business or, ifthere is no place of business, the person's residence or, if there is neitherplace of business nor residence, the person's place of sojourn, a permit toacquire the ownership of a firearm as prescribed in this section.  When titleto any firearm is acquired by inheritance or bequest, the foregoing permitshall be obtained before taking possession of a firearm; provided that uponpresentation of a copy of the death certificate of the owner making thebequest, any heir or legatee may transfer the inherited or bequested firearmdirectly to a dealer licensed under section 134-31 or licensed by the UnitedStates Department of Justice without complying with the requirements of thissection.

(b)  The permit application form shall includethe applicant's name, address, sex, height, weight, date of birth, place ofbirth, country of citizenship, social security number, alien or admissionnumber, and information regarding the applicant's mental health history andshall require the fingerprinting and photographing of the applicant by thepolice department of the county of registration; provided that wherefingerprints and photograph are already on file with the department, these maybe waived.

(c)  An applicant for a permit shall sign awaiver at the time of application, allowing the chief of police of the countyissuing the permit access to any records that have a bearing on the mentalhealth of the applicant.  The permit application form and the waiver form shallbe prescribed by the attorney general and shall be uniform throughout theState.

(d)  The chief of police of the respectivecounties may issue permits to acquire firearms to citizens of the United Statesof the age of twenty-one years or more, or duly accredited officialrepresentatives of foreign nations, or duly commissioned law enforcementofficers of the State who are aliens; provided that any law enforcement officerwho is the owner of a firearm and who is an alien shall transfer ownership ofthe firearm within forty-eight hours after termination of employment from a lawenforcement agency.  The chief of police of each county may issue permits toaliens of the age of eighteen years or more for use of rifles and shotguns fora period not exceeding sixty days, upon a showing that the alien has firstprocured a hunting license under chapter 183D, part II.  The chief of police ofeach county may issue permits to aliens of the age of twenty-one years or morefor use of firearms for a period not exceeding six months, upon a showing thatthe alien is in training for a specific organized sport-shooting contest to beheld within the permit period.  The attorney general shall adopt rules,pursuant to chapter 91, as to what constitutes sufficient evidence that analien is in training for a sport-shooting contest.  Notwithstanding anyprovision of the law to the contrary and upon joint application, the chief ofpolice may issue permits to acquire firearms jointly to spouses who otherwisequalify to obtain permits under this section.

(e)  The permit application form shall besigned by the applicant and by the issuing authority.  One copy of the permitshall be retained by the issuing authority as a permanent official record. Except for sales to dealers licensed under section 134-31, or dealers licensedby the United States Department of Justice, or law enforcement officers, orwhere a license is granted under section 134-9, or where any firearm isregistered pursuant to section 134-3(a), no permit shall be issued to anapplicant earlier than fourteen calendar days after the date of theapplication; provided that a permit shall be issued or the application deniedbefore the twentieth day from the date of application.  Permits issued toacquire any pistol or revolver shall be void unless used within ten days afterthe date of issue.  Permits to acquire a pistol or revolver shall require aseparate application and permit for each transaction.  Permits issued toacquire any rifle or shotgun shall entitle the permittee to make subsequentpurchases of rifles or shotguns for a period of one year from the date of issuewithout a separate application and permit for each acquisition, subject to thedisqualifications under section 134-7 and subject to revocation under section134-13; provided that if a permittee is arrested for committing a felony or anycrime of violence or for the illegal sale of any drug, the permit shall beimpounded and shall be surrendered to the issuing authority.  The issuingauthority shall perform an inquiry on an applicant who is a citizen of theUnited States by using the National Instant Criminal Background Check Systembefore any determination to issue a permit or to deny an application is made. If the applicant is not a citizen of the United States and may be eligible toacquire a firearm under this chapter, the issuing authority shall perform aninquiry on the applicant, by using the National Instant Criminal BackgroundCheck System, to include a check of the Immigration and Customs Enforcementdatabases, before any determination to issue a permit or to deny an applicationis made.

(f)  In all cases where a pistol or revolver isacquired from another person within the State, the permit shall be signed inink by the person to whom title to the pistol or revolver is transferred andshall be delivered to the person who is transferring title to the firearm, whoshall verify that the person to whom the firearm is to be transferred is theperson named in the permit and enter on the permit in the space provided thefollowing information:  name of the person to whom the title to the firearm wastransferred; names of the manufacturer and importer; model; type of action;caliber or gauge; and serial number as applicable.  The person who istransferring title to the firearm shall sign the permit in ink and cause thepermit to be delivered or sent by registered mail to the issuing authoritywithin forty-eight hours after transferring the firearm.

In all cases where receipt of a firearm is hadby mail, express, freight, or otherwise from sources without the State, theperson to whom the permit has been issued shall make the prescribed entries onthe permit, sign the permit in ink, and cause the permit to be delivered orsent by registered mail to the issuing authority within forty-eight hours aftertaking possession of the firearm.

In all cases where a rifle or shotgun isacquired from another person within the State, the person who is transferringtitle to the rifle or shotgun shall submit, within forty-eight hours aftertransferring the firearm, to the authority which issued the permit to acquire,the following information, in writing:  name of the person who transferred thefirearm, name of the person to whom the title to the firearm was transferred;names of the manufacturer and importer; model; type of action; caliber orgauge; and serial number as applicable.

(g)  Effective July 1, 1995, no personshall be issued a permit under this section for the acquisition of a pistol orrevolver unless the person, at any time prior to the issuance of the permit,has completed:

(1)  An approved hunter education course as authorizedunder section 183D-28;

(2)  A firearms safety or training course or classavailable to the general public offered by a law enforcement agency of theState or of any county;

(3)  A firearms safety or training course offered tolaw enforcement officers, security guards, investigators, deputy sheriffs, orany division or subdivision of law enforcement or security enforcement by astate or county law enforcement agency; or

(4)  A firearms training or safety course or classconducted by a state certified or National Rifle Association certified firearmsinstructor or a certified military firearms instructor that provides, at aminimum, a total of at least two hours of firing training at a firing range anda total of at least four hours of classroom instruction, which may include avideo, that focuses on:

(A)  The safe use, handling, and storage offirearms and firearm safety in the home; and

(B)  Education on the firearm laws of theState.

An affidavit signed by the certified firearmsinstructor who conducted or taught the course, providing the name, address, andphone number of the instructor and attesting to the successful completion ofthe course by the applicant shall constitute evidence of certified successfulcompletion under this paragraph.

(h)  No person shall sell, give, lend, ordeliver into the possession of another any firearm except in accordance withthis chapter.

(i)  No fee shall be charged for permits, orapplications for permits, under this section, except for a single feechargeable by and payable to the issuing county, for individuals applying fortheir first permit, in an amount equal to the fee actually charged by theFederal Bureau of Investigation to the issuing police department for afingerprint check in connection with that application or permit.  In the caseof a joint application, the fee provided for in this section may be charged toeach person to whom no previous permit has been issued. [L 1988, c 275, pt of§2; am L 1992, c 287, §2; am L 1994, c 204, §3; am L 1995, c 11, §1; am L 1996,c 200, §§2, 3; am L 1997, c 53, §2 and c 278, §1; am L 2006, c 27, §1; am L2007, c 9, §6]