BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 41|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 41
Author: Lowenthal (D), et al
Amended: 9/3/09
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/28/09
AYES: Leno, Cedillo, Hancock, Steinberg, Wright
NOES: Benoit, Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SENATE FLOOR : 21-14, 6/1/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier,
Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Oropeza,
Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Simitian, Steinberg, Wiggins,
Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Benoit, Cogdill, Correa, Cox, Denham, Dutton, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Huff, Maldonado, Runner, Strickland,
Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Ashburn, Ducheny, Negrete
McLeod,
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-30, 9/8/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Handguns: reporting dispositions and
registration cards
CONTINUED
SB 41
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SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill: (1) requires the Department of
Justice (DOJ) to furnish a person listed as a firearm owner
with any information about that ownership; (2) requires DOJ
to update information it maintains regarding firearm
ownership to maintain the accuracy of that information; (3)
updates various statutes to reflect the name change of the
California National Guard Military Museum and Resource
Center to the State Military Museum and Resource Center;
(4) clarifies that law enforcement agencies shall report to
DOJ the disposition of any weapon in their possession
whether the weapon is retained, transferred, sold, or
destroyed; (5) makes technical, non-substantive changes to
the language of various firearms statutes; (6) permits
firearms dealers to submit firearms purchase information to
DOJ in other locations than Sacramento; (7) requires
firearms dealers to provide a firearms buyer with a copy of
the dealer record of sale (DROS) form at the time of
delivery of the firearm and after the dealer notes the date
of delivery and the dealer and purchaser acknowledge the
purchaser's receipt of the firearm, as specified; (8)
requires that, in the case of a private party transaction,
a copy of the DROS form will be provided to the buyer by
the dealer at the time the form is signed by the seller;
(9) creates exemptions from normal firearms transfer
requirements for law enforcement officers who acquire
firearms in the course of their duties and deliver them to
their employing agency, as specified; (10) creates an
exemption from normal firearms transfer requirements for
firearms transferred by a law enforcement agency to
licensed firearms dealers, wholesalers or manufacturers,
providing the transaction is reported to DOJ, as specified,
in accordance to provision 4 above.
Assembly Amendments : (1) delete a peace officer safe
harbor provisions in the bill as it passed the Senate as
DOJ determined that the issue was adequately dealt with
under current law and these provisions either duplicated or
confused issues; (2) deletes provisions on the interaction
of reporting of secondhand dealers who are also state
licensed gun dealers, (3) contains a cap on registration
fees that DOJ may charge when people voluntarily register
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any firearm, not just handguns as is the case under current
law, which reflects current DOJ practice; (4) inserts
chaptering amendments with SB 175 (Aanestad) and AB 962
(DeLeon) to avoid chaptering issues, and (5) added
coauthors.
ANALYSIS Existing federal law:
1.Requires that persons in the firearms industry and
licensed collectors possess a Federal Firearms License
(FFL) issued by the Secretary of the Treasury. (18 U.S.C.
921 et. seq.)
2.Generally requires that before an FFL holder can ship or
deliver a firearm to an out-of-state or in-state source
the recipient be an FFL holder as well. (18 U.S.C.
922.)
3.Requires that firearms dealers and purchasers fill out a
form (ATF Form 4473) containing personal identifying
information about the purchaser and attesting to the fact
that the purchaser is not prohibited from owning a
firearm. The dealer must record, among other things, the
date of transfer of any firearm on ATF Form 4473 and this
form must be retained by the dealer for at least 20
years. (18 U.S.C. 922.)
Existing state law:
1. Requires that persons who sell, lease, or transfer
firearms be licensed by California. (Penal Code
12070 and 12071.)
2. Sets forth a series of requirements to be state licensed
by DOJ, which provides that to be recognized as state
licensed a person must be on a centralized list of gun
dealers and allows access to the centralized list by
authorized persons for various reasons. (Penal Code
12071.)
3. Authorizes DOJ to charge a fee up to $115 to be on the
centralized list and allows these funds to be used to
finance DOJ compliance efforts. (Penal Code 12071
(f).)
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4. Requires handguns to be centrally registered at time of
transfer or sale by way of transfer forms centrally
compiled by the DOJ. DOJ is required to keep a registry
from data sent to DOJ indicating who owns what handgun
by make, model, and serial number and the date thereof.
(Penal Code 11106 (a) and (c).)
5. Provides that the firearms dealer shall record on the
register the date the firearm is delivered. (Penal Code
12077 (b)(3) and (c)(3).)
6. Requires that the dealer shall retain the original copy
of the register for at least 3 years. (Penal Code
12076 (b)(2), 12076 (c)(3).)
7. Makes various federal firearms records [including
federal Form 4473's] state records subject to inspection
to an uncertain extent. (Penal Code 12071(b)(17) and
12071 (c)(4).)
8. Requires that, if a firearm is purchased and not
delivered within 30 days, that fact must be reported to
DOJ. (Penal Code 12071 (b)(19); 27 Code of Fed. Regs.
478.102(c).)
9. Provides that revocation of a license will result where
is gross negligence or a knowing violation of various
requirements. (Penal Code 12071, 12072 and 12082.)
10. Exempts certain persons including, but not limited
to, law enforcement, beneficiaries of an inheritance,
and those who are loaned a firearm, as specified, from
the state dealer licensing requirements. (Penal Code
12070 (b).)
11. Requires all sales, loans, and transfers of firearms
to be processed through or by a state-licensed firearms
dealer or a local law enforcement agency. (Penal Code
12072 (d).)
12. Provides that there is a 10-day waiting period when
purchasing a handgun through a firearms dealer. During
which time, a background check is conducted and a
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handgun safety certificate is required prior to delivery
of the firearm. (Penal Code 12071 and 12072.)
13. Provides exemptions from the rules on the sales of
firearms and the waiting period for commercial-wholesale
transactions. Other transactions are exempt; but in
order to claim the exemption, handgun registration is
required, together with proof of safety training.
14. Requires a person moving to California with a handgun
acquired outside California and who did not receive the
gun from a California-licensed gun dealer to register
the gun with DOJ. (Penal Code 12072 (f)(2).)
15. Expressly allows persons in the case of handguns to
request a listing of the handguns the DOJ asserts they
own and allows persons to file their own registration
paperwork with DOJ. (Penal Code 111106(c) and
12078(l).)
16. Requires that any law enforcement agency that retains
custody of any firearm, as specified, or that destroys a
firearm found to be a nuisance shall notify the
Department of Justice of the retention or destruction.
This notification shall consist of a complete
description of each firearm, including the name of the
manufacturer or brand name, model, caliber, and serial
number. (Penal Code 12030 (e).)
This bill requires DOJ to, upon proper application,
furnish, in addition to information contained in the
firearms registry maintained by DOJ, any information
related to that person's ownership of any firearm reported
to the department as it relates to him or her.
This bill requires DOJ to update information it maintains
regarding firearm ownership to maintain the accuracy of
that information.
This bill updates various statutes to reflect the name
change of the California National Guard Military Museum and
Resource Center to the State Military Museum and Resource
Center.
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This bill clarifies that law enforcement agencies shall
report to DOJ the disposition of any weapon in their
possession whether the weapon is retained, transferred,
sold, or destroyed.
This bill provides that secondhand dealers who have
reported the acquisition of a handgun under the applicable
requirements of the Business and Professions Code need not
also report the same transaction under Penal Code
provisions pertaining to acquisition of handguns by
firearms dealers.
This bill requires that the DROS form that the purchaser
the date that the handgun was delivered to him or her.
This bill requires that in addition to the current
requirement the date that the handgun is delivered, the
firearms dealer's signature indicating delivery of the
handgun.
This bill authorizes firearms dealers to submit firearms
purchase information to DOJ in other locations than
Sacramento if DOJ so provides.
This bill requires firearms dealers to provide a firearms
buyer with a copy of the DROS form at the time of delivery
of the firearm after the dealer notes the date of delivery
and the dealer and purchaser acknowledge the purchaser's
receipt of the firearm, if a handgun, as specified.
This bill requires that, in the case of a private party
transaction, a copy of the DROS form will be provided to
the buyer by the dealer at the time the form is signed by
the seller.
This bill creates exemptions from normal firearms transfer
requirements for firearms transferred by a law enforcement
agency to firearms dealers, wholesalers or manufacturers,
so long as the transaction is reported to DOJ, as
specified.
This bill makes technical, non-substantive changes to the
language of various firearms statutes.
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Prior Legislation
SB 327 (Migden) - 2008, died in Assembly Appropriations
AB 1060 (Liu) - Chapter 715, Statutes of 2005
AB 2431 (Steinberg) - Chapter 602, Statutes of 2004
SB 824 (Scott) - Chapter 502, Statutes of 2003
SB 357 (Perata) - 2004, died in Assembly Appropriations
SB 238, (Perata) - Chapter 499, Statutes of 2003
AB 2080 (Steinberg) - Chapter 909, Statutes of 2002
SB 950 (Brulte) - Chapter 944, Statutes of 2001
AB 1139 (Thomson) - 2001, amended to cover different
subject
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
The 5/28/09 amendments in Senate Appropriations Committee
delete the requirement that an advisory be placed on the
DROS form, informing purchasers of their right to request
information from DOJ regarding their gun ownership, appear
to eliminate the projected fiscal impact to DOJ.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/9/09)
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Legal Community Against Violence
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/9/09)
American Shooting Center
California Association of Firearms Retailers
California Sportsman's Lobby
Crossroads of the West Gun Shows
Discount Gun Mart and Indoor Range
El Cajon Gun Exchange
Gun Owners of California
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.
On Target Radio
Outdoor Sportsman's Coalition of California
Safari Club International
Second Amendment Sports, Inc.
Shootist
Turner's Outdoorsman (13 outlets)
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
SB 41 is part of a 3 bill package, the other 2 being
SB 175 by Senator Aanestad and SB 449 by Senator
Padilla which both have passed the Senate, to improve
and make more efficient the firearm
verification-transaction systems in California,
particularly as to handguns which have long been
subject to a registration process in this State.
The purpose of SB 41 is to make a series of changes to
clarify handgun registration procedures while
providing additional protections to consumers and to
better enforce the SB 950 program created by Senator
Brulte. There are currently concerns about dual
registrations, purges, and assurances that guns are
otherwise properly registered which are magnified by
the huge spikes in DROS transactions.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The opponents main objection to
the bill is that they believe that the current federal form
is sufficient and should be used in a broader manner than
state law now requires or allows.
Turner's Outdoorsman state in opposition, "This bill would
initiate unnecessary paperwork burden on dealers, driving
up the amount of labor that we spend on each transaction,
without any appreciable benefit for any party, least of all
for law enforcement. Currently, a typical firearms
paperwork bundle may contain up to 8 individual documents
including our sales invoice, required DOJ paperwork, and of
course the required ATF form 4473. Within that existing
paperwork is all of the information that SB 41 purports to
provide.
"By requiring dealers like ourselves to obtain redundant
information, requiring us to make additional copies of
paperwork is not only a labor burden, it also adds another
compliance hurdle for the company. Processing tens of
thousands of transactions a year is a challenge in itself
and we pride ourselves as being one of the best in the
state. Yet, SB 41 adds another layer of compliance
pitfalls.
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"Lastly, SB 41 will require that the state itself expend
more enforcement time and labor for a process that benefits
no one. We work with law enforcement agencies throughout
California and beyond and we have yet to not provide them
with the same information that SB 41 purports to add to the
picture."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada,
Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Galgiani
RJG:nl 9/9/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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