MEMO
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Mike Hagburg
RE: Rule 6.12, N.D.R.Ct., Safe Courtroom Firearms Handling
Judge McCullough has asked the Committee to consider adoption of a safe courtroom firearms handling rule. The idea behind the rule is to set out guidelines that will maximize safety in the courtroom when firearms are being handled as evidence. Judge McCullough explains how he became interested in the rule in an email, which is attached.
Judge McCullough provided a proposal to staff and staff put the proposal into standard rule format. Some slight changes were made to conform to our style guidelines. In addition, staff transferred some explanatory material that appeared in the rule text submitted by Judge McCullough to the explanatory note. The rule proposal is attached.