SB 66 PENALTY FOR SHOOTING THREAT

Sen Craig Brandt

Actions: [1] SCC/SJC/SFC-SCC [4]germane-SJC [7] DP-SFC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 66 (SB 66) increases the penalty of making a shooting threat to a fourth degree felony and creates the crime of swatting.  

 Senate Bill 66 (SB 66) increases the penalty for making a shooting threat from a misdemeanor to a fourth-degree felony.  

It also creates the fourth-degree offense of swatting, which is making a false or misleading report of an ongoing emergency or threat of violence to a public safety agency or answering point, with the intent to cause an immediate response from law enforcement or other first responders.   A person convicted of swatting is dealt with in the same way as a person convicted of making a bomb scare or shooting threat, and thus may be ordered to pay for any economic harm caused by the offense.  

SB 66 provides definitions for “public safety agency” (a public body that provides firefighting, law enforcement, ambulance, medical or other emergency services) and “public safety answering point” (a 24-hour facility that receives 911 calls).  

 Currently, making a shooting threat is a misdemeanor and there is currently no crime of "swatting".