BILL NUMBER: AB 1471	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Feuer
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member DeSaulnier)

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2007

   An act to amend Section 12126 of the Penal Code, relating to
firearms.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1471, as introduced, Feuer. Firearms: microstamping.
   Existing law defines unsafe handguns as failing to pass certain
tests, or lacking certain features, as specified.
   This bill would, commencing January 1, 2010, expand the definition
of unsafe handgun to include semiautomatic pistols that are not
designed and equipped with a microscopic array of characters that
identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol, etched
into the interior surface or internal working parts of the pistol,
and that are transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when
the firearm is fired.
   By expanding the definition of "unsafe handgun," the manufacture,
sale, and other specified transfer of which is a crime, this bill
would expand the scope of an existing crime, and thereby impose a
state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 12126 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   12126.  As used in this chapter, "unsafe handgun" means any
pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon
the person, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 12001, for which
any of the following is true:
   (a) For a revolver:
   (1) It does not have a safety device that, either automatically in
the case of a double-action firing mechanism, or by manual operation
in the case of a single-action firing mechanism, causes the hammer
to retract to a point where the firing pin does not rest upon the
primer of the cartridge.
   (2) It does not meet the firing requirement for handguns pursuant
to Section 12127.
   (3) It does not meet the drop safety requirement for handguns
pursuant to Section 12128.
   (b) For a pistol:
   (1) It does not have a positive manually operated safety device,
as determined by standards relating to imported guns promulgated by
the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
   (2) It does not meet the firing requirement for handguns pursuant
to Section 12127.
   (3) It does not meet the drop safety requirement for handguns
pursuant to Section 12128.
   (4) Commencing January 1, 2006, for a  center-fire
  center fire  semiautomatic pistol that is not
already listed on the roster pursuant to Section 12131, it does not
have either a chamber load indicator, or a magazine disconnect
mechanism.
   (5) Commencing January 1, 2007, for all  center-fire
  center fire  semiautomatic pistols that are not
already listed on the roster pursuant to Section 12131, it does not
have both a chamber load indicator and if it has a detachable
magazine, a magazine disconnect mechanism.
   (6) Commencing January 1, 2006, for all rimfire semiautomatic
pistols that are not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section
12131, it does not have a magazine disconnect mechanism, if it has a
detachable magazine. 
   (7) Commencing January 1, 2010, for all semiautomatic pistols that
are not already listed on the roster pursuant to Section 12131, it
is not designed and equipped with a microscopic array of characters
that identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol,
etched or otherwise imprinted onto the interior surface or internal
working parts of the pistol, and that are transferred by imprinting
on each cartridge case when the firearm is fired. 
   (c) As used in this section, a "chamber load indicator" means a
device that plainly indicates that a cartridge is in the firing
chamber. A device satisfies this definition if it is readily visible,
has incorporated or adjacent explanatory text or graphics, or both,
and is designed and intended to indicate to a reasonably foreseeable
adult user of the pistol, without requiring the user to refer to a
user's manual or any other resource other than the pistol itself,
whether a cartridge is in the firing chamber.
   (d) As used in this section, a "magazine disconnect mechanism"
means a mechanism that prevents a semiautomatic pistol that has a
detachable magazine from operating to strike the primer of ammunition
in the firing chamber when a detachable magazine is not inserted in
the semiautomatic pistol.
   (e) As used in this section, a "semiautomatic pistol" means a
pistol, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 12001, the operating
mode of which uses the energy of the explosive in a fixed cartridge
to extract a fired cartridge and chamber a fresh cartridge with each
single pull of the trigger.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.