BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 585|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
VETO
Bill No: SB 585
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 7/8/09
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/14/09
AYES: Leno, Cedillo, Hancock, Steinberg
NOES: Benoit, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wright
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 : 21-18, 6/3/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal,
Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Simitian, Steinberg,
Wiggins, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Correa, Cox,
Denham, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Maldonado,
Negrete McLeod, Runner, Strickland, Walters, Wright,
Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
SENATE FLOOR : 21-18, 9/10/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier,
Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Oropeza,
Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Simitian, Steinberg,
Wiggins, Wolk, Yee
CONTINUED
SB 585
Page
2
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Correa, Cox,
Denham, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Maldonado,
Negrete McLeod, Runner, Strickland, Walters, Wright,
Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 45-33, 9/9/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Firearms: prohibiting sales at the Cow Palace
SOURCE : City and County of San Francisco
DIGEST : This bill prohibits events at which firearms or
ammunition are sold on the state property known as the Cow
Palace, as specified.
Assembly Amendments place a three-year time specific as to
when the firearms and ammunition shows must cease.
ANALYSIS : Existing law generally regulates the transfer
of firearms and divides the state into agricultural
districts. District 1-A is the County of San Mateo and the
City and County of San Francisco. A violation of statutes
governing agricultural districts is a misdemeanor.
This bill amends the Food and Agriculture Code to provide
that no officer, employee, operator, or any lessee of
District 1-A, as defined, may contract for, authorize, or
allow, an event at which any firearm or ammunition is sold,
as defined, on the property or in the buildings that
comprise the Cow Palace property in San Mateo County and
the City and County of San Francisco or any successor or
additional property owned, leased, or otherwise occupied or
operated by the District.
This bill provides that notwithstanding the above, this
bill authorizes up to five of those events per year for the
years 2010, 2011, and commencing January 1, 2013, no event
selling firearms or ammunition shall be allowed on Cow
Palace property. This bill requires the district to
replace those events with nonfirearm or nonammunition
related events.
CONTINUED
SB 585
Page
3
This bill includes the following definitions regarding that
prohibition:
1. "Firearm" means the term as included in subdivisions
(b), (c), and (d) of Section 12001 of the Penal Code.
2. "Ammunition" includes assembled ammunition for use in a
firearm and components of ammunition including smokeless
and black powder, and any projectile capable of being
fired from a firearm with deadly consequence.
Prior legislation . AB 2948 (Leno), 2007-08 Session, failed
passage on the Senate Floor; SB 1733 (Speier), 2003-04
Session, failed passage on the Assembly Floor; HR 26
(Machado), 1999-2000 Session, died in the Assembly Public
Safety Committee; AB 1575 (Machado), as amended May 24,
1999 and deleted by amendments July 1, 1999 in the Senate
Public Safety Committee; and AB 1107 (Ortiz), 1997-98
Session, failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
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
Gun show revenue loss $0 $0
$0Special*
* A-1 District Agricultural Association Operating Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/10/09)
City and County of San Francisco (source)
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, California Chapters
District Attorney of San Francisco
Legal Community Against Violence
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/10/09)
CONTINUED
SB 585
Page
4
California Association of Firearm Retailers
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
California Rifle and Pistol Association
California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc.
Crossroads of the West Gun Shows
National Rifle Association
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.
Outdoor Sportsman's Coalition of California
Safari Club International Foundation and Safari Club
International
Western Fairs Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
"The Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San
Francisco and the County of San Mateo have adopted
resolutions on unanimous votes to seek Legislative help
to end the gun shows at the Cow Palace. The state-owned
facility straddles both counties, and is located near the
Sunnydale public housing project and the communities of
Visitacion Valley, Bayview-Hunters Point and the Mission
District. These communities have been plagued by
violence for many years. But, unlike similar facilities
owned by the county in which they are located, the Cow
Palace is owned and operated by the California Department
of Agriculture's Division of Fairs and Expositions. For
this reason, local residents have no control over the
types of events that take place at the facility.
"Because the Cow Palace is a state-owned facility,
legislation is needed to provide the neighboring
residents and communities with local control equivalent
to communities with county-run facilities. SB 585 would
finally provide the communities of San Francisco and San
Mateo with an outcome that the counties of Alameda, Marin
and Los Angeles have been able to implement at similar
locally cited facilities."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Crossroads of the West Gun
Shows states:
"Firearms sales at gun shows are conducted through a
dealer licensed in accordance with California law. The
CONTINUED
SB 585
Page
5
dealer retains custody of the firearm during the ten-day
waiting period and sends the buyer's information to the
state Department of Justice, which conducts a criminal
and mental history background check to determine if the
person is in a category prohibited from possessing
firearms.
. . . . . . .
"There is no compelling reason to ban guns shows at the
Cow Palace. Banning them will not increase public safety
nor decrease crime. However it would send many gun sales
now lawfully conducted through licensed firearms dealers
at gun shows into the streets or other unlawful venues.
Law enforcement, which now is able to track those sales,
would lose their ability to do so. In this respect, gun
shows do fulfill a valid need that results in a public
benefit."
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 585 without my signature.
This bill would prohibit the sale of firearms and
ammunition at the Cow Palace. This bill would set a
confusing precedent at the state level by statutorily
prohibiting one District Agricultural Association
(DAA) from selling firearms and ammunition, a legal
and regulated activity, while allowing other DAAs to
continue to do so. In addition, this bill would
result in decreased state and local tax revenues by
restricting events at the Cow Palace.
For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis,
De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
CONTINUED
SB 585
Page
6
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, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth,
Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, Vacancy
RJG:mw 1/6/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED