BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 962
Author: De Leon (D), et al
Amended: 9/4/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-3, 7/7/09
AYES: Leno, Cedillo, Hancock, Steinberg
NOES: Benoit, Huff, Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 42-31, 6/3/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Ammunition
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill imposes specified requirements on
handgun ammunition sellers, primarily that sellers collect
buyers personal data and keep a log of such sales, but
these amendments remove the requirement that sellers obtain
a vendor's license and the requirement that the Department
of Justice maintain records of such licenses. The
implementation date for the provisions of the bill is
February 1, 2011.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/09 delete the requirement
CONTINUED
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that handgun ammunition sellers obtain a license, extend
the implementation date from July 1, 2010, to February 1,
2011, delete the requirement that employees of ammunition
sellers obtain a certificate of eligibility from the
Department of Justice, and make technical amendments.
ANALYSIS : Existing law generally regulates the sale of
ammunition.
This bill provides that no handgun ammunition vendor, as
defined, shall sell, offer for sale, or display for sale,
any handgun ammunition in a manner that allows that
ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser without the
assistance of the vendor or employee thereof.
Existing law generally regulates what information is
required to be obtained in connection with the transfer of
ammunition.
This bill, subject to exceptions, commencing February 1,
2011, requires handgun ammunition vendors to obtain a thumb
print and other information from ammunition purchasers, as
specified. A violation of these provisions will be a
misdemeanor.
This bill provides that a person enjoined from engaging in
activity associated with a criminal street gang, as
specified, will be prohibited from having under his/her
possession, custody, or control, any ammunition. Violation
of these provisions will be a misdemeanor.
This bill prohibits supplying or delivering, as specified,
handgun ammunition to prohibited persons, as described, by
persons or others who know, or by using reasonable care
should know, that the recipient is a person prohibited from
possessing ammunition or a minor prohibited from possessing
ammunition, as specified. Violation of these provisions is
a misdemeanor with specified penalties.
This bill provides, subject to exceptions, that commencing
February 1, 2011, the delivery or transfer of ownership of
handgun ammunition may only occur in a face-to-face
transaction, with the deliverer or transferor being
provided bona fide evidence of identity of the purchaser or
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other transferee. A violation of these provisions will be
a misdemeanor.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Creates new crimes unknown local costs,
non-reimbursable Local
New DOJ Program $306 costs recovered
from fees Special*
* Dealers' Record of Sale Account
This bill may also result in decreased sales tax revenue to
the degree that ammunition sales decrease as a result of
additional, time-consuming procedures required for
consumers. Neighboring states do not have the extensive
restrictions on ammunition purchases proposed by this bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/8/09)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Alameda
County/Oakland Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Contra Costa County
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Long Beach Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Los Angeles Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Nevada County
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Orange County
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Riverside County
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Sacramento Valley
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, San Diego Chapter
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Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, San Fernando Valley
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, San Mateo/Santa
Clara Counties Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Sonoma County
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Ventura County
Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, West Contra Costa
County Chapter
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Chief of Police (Acting) Howard Jordan, City of Oakland
Chief of Police Anthony Batts, City of Long Beach
Chief of Police Blair Urling, City of Stockton
Chief of Police Cam Sanchez, City of Santa Barbara
Chief of Police Edward Medrano, City of Gardena
Chief of Police John Crombach, City of Oxnard
Chief of Police Peter Dunbar, City of Pleasant Hill
Chief of Police Phillip Green, Cities of Corte
Madera/Larkspur
Chief of Police Susan Jones, City of Healdsburg
Chief of Police William Bratton, City of Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
City of Oakland, Mayor Ronald V. Dellums
City of Sacramento
Coalition Against Gun Violence
Councilmember Kevin McCarty, City of Sacramento
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
John's Gun Repair (Fall River Mills)
Legal Community Against Violence
Lutheran Office of Public Policy
Sheriff Leroy D. Baca, County of Los Angeles
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County
Women Against Gun Violence
Youth ALIVE!
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/8/09)
American Shooting Center, San Diego
Butte County Sheriff
California Association of Firearm Retailers
California Public Defenders Association
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California Rifle and Pistol Association
California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc.
Crossroads of the West Gun Shows
Del Norte County Sheriff
Discount Gun Mart
El Cajon Gun Exchange
Fresno County Sheriff
Glenn County Sheriff
Gun Owners of California
Herb Bauer Sporting Goods
Hi-Pass Sports
Kern County Sheriff
Lassen County Sheriff
National Rifle Association of America
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.
On Target Radio KCBQ
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Riverside County Sheriff
Safari Club International
San Benito County Sheriff
San Bernardino County Sheriff
San Joaquin County Sheriff
Second Amendment Sports
Shasta County Sheriff
Stanislaus County Sheriff
Sutter County Sheriff
Tehama County Sheriff
The California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc.
The Shootist
Trinity County Sheriff
11,855 private citizens (based on petitions on file with
the Senate Public Safety Committee)
1,210 additional private citizens (based on petition on
file with the Senate Public Safety Committee)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Los Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa writes:
"On behalf of the City of Los Angeles, I would like to
communicate our strong support for AB 962 (De Leon).
This legislation would add regulations to combat the easy
accessibility to handgun ammunition in order to assist
law enforcement in solving crimes involving handguns and
ensuring public safety.
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"Reducing gun and gang violence are the top public safety
priorities in the City of Los Angeles. Far too many
homicides are committed each year and many cases remain
unresolved in part because the ownership and purchase of
weapons and ammunition cannot be traced. There is
currently no regulatory control over the deadly
ammunition that fuels gun violence. Not only are handgun
ammunition vendors unregulated, but handgun ammunition
sales are also unregulated, despite federal and state
prohibitions on certain groups of people from purchasing
ammunition, e.g. convicted felons.
"While the State has enacted legislation designed to keep
guns out of the wrong hands, it has done little to
prevent criminals and gang members who already have guns
from readily accessing the ammunition that drives gun and
gang violence. AB 962 would enact the regulatory
structure necessary to end the immediate access to
unlimited ammunition that gangs and criminals currently
have.
"The City of Los Angeles has historically been at the
forefront of innovative and progressive antigun violence
legislation and supports AB 962, which will regulate
handgun ammunition sales statewide so that this
ammunition does not fall into the wrong hands, thereby
reducing gun violence and ensuring the safety of our
communities."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The National Rifle Association
states:
"The proponents of AB962 claim that new legislation is
needed to stop the transfer of handgun ammunition to
criminals. In California, the transfer of ammunition to
a prohibited person is a crime and the possession of
ammunition by a prohibited person is a crime.
"The passage of Assembly Bill 962 would create a new
Department of Justice Program that costs millions of
dollars without providing a funding source. The analysis
from Assembly Appropriations committee states that; a
preliminary estimate, DOJ projects first-year start-up
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costs of $500,000, increasing to more than $2 million in
2010-11 and $1 million in 2011-12.
"In a time of a critical budgets crisis, that is forcing
law enforcement agency layoffs statewide, it would not be
prudent to create an increased burden on limited law
enforcement resources."
Gun Owners of California (GOC) writes:
"As you were informed last year during testimony on AB
2062, the Federal Government had in place an ammunition
registration program established in the 1968 Gun Control
Act that was discarded by Congress in 1986 when the U.S.
Treasury Department testified that the program was of no
use in crime fighting.
"In the 18 years that the nationwide mandate (no state
was exempt from the program) was in place, not a single
crime was solved due to the registration program. Not a
single crime solved even though there were literally 10's
of millions of recorded transactions. If the program had
even a shred of merit, one would think that even a few
crimes would have been solved. The fact is there were
none. In order to get this bill through the CA
legislature, you have now amended this bill to be a
virtual duplicate of the program which was eliminated by
Congress.
"Ammunition or ammunition purchaser registration, in any
form, serves only to infringe upon the rights of
law-abiding citizens. It has proven to do nothing
towards preventing criminals from violating federal or
state laws. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. vs.
Haynes has held that criminals cannot be compelled to
obey these registration laws because doing so would
violate their right against self-incrimination. They can
be prosecuted for breaking the law but they cannot be
compelled to obey the law. Therefore there is no crime
prevention aspect to AB 962.
"AB 962 will do nothing to prevent criminals from
acquiring ammunition and will do nothing to assist law
enforcement in catching criminals. This bill will only
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create a massive record keeping system costing millions
of taxpayer's dollars, destroy the legal commerce of
ammunition, and will make it cumbersome for law-abiding
citizens to exercise their rights.
"GOC believes that recent [discussions] in the Senate
Appropriations Committee to fund this bill out of the
Dealer Record of Sales Special Account is illegal."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Beall, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Furutani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Caballero, Chesbro, Fuentes,
Galgiani, V. Manuel Perez, Yamada
RJG:mw 9/8/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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