Firearm storage agreements and candidate security funding would follow new rules

Firearm owners or people they authorize could apply to store a lawfully possessed firearm with a licensed dealer or law enforcement agency. The provision covers lawfully possessed firearms and federally licensed firearms dealers, police departments, sheriff’s offices, the state highway patrol, and other government bodies with arrest powers. Dealers and law enforcement agencies would not have to accept firearms for storage. Storage would not have to be free. Dealers and law enforcement agencies could set rules for accepting and returning firearms. A firearm could not be returned when doing so would directly violate state or federal law.

State funds would support State Highway Patrol security for major-party candidates for governor or lieutenant governor and their immediate families before the 2026 general election. The funding covers candidate security and related assistance from other law enforcement agencies, including up to $2 million in fiscal year 2027 for reimbursements. The Director of Budget and Management would transfer $10 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Security, Investigations, and Policing Fund on the effective date of the funding section or as soon as possible afterward. Reimbursement would cover costs incurred when agencies assist the State Highway Patrol at its request. Agencies would have to submit reimbursement requests in the manner set by the director. The appropriations cover fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Candidate security applies during the months leading up to the 2026 general election, and the transfer begins on the funding section’s effective date or as soon as possible afterward.