BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1080
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2010
Counsel: Kimberly A. Horiuchi
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1080 (Public Safety) - As Amended: March 23, 2010
SUMMARY : Reorganizes, without substantive change, Penal Code
provisions relating to deadly weapons, and will become operative
January 1, 2012.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides a person is guilty of carrying a concealed firearm
when he or she does any of the following: carries concealed
within any vehicle which is under his or her control or
direction any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person; carries concealed upon his or
her person any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person; or causes to be carried
concealed within any vehicle in which he or she is an occupant
any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person. [Penal Code Section 12025(a)(1) to
(3).]
2)States any person who has been convicted of a felony under the
laws of the United States, the State of California, or any
other state, government, or country or of an offense involving
violent use of a firearm, or who is addicted to the use of any
narcotic drug, and who owns, purchases, receives, or has in
his or her possession or under his or her custody or control
any firearm is guilty of a felony. [Penal Code Section
12021(a).]
3)Provides that any person who has been convicted of a felony or
of an offense involving violent use of a firearm, when that
conviction results from certification by the juvenile court
for prosecution as an adult in an adult court, as specified,
and who owns or has in his or her possession or under his or
her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony.
[Penal Code Section 12021(b).]
4)States any person who has been convicted of various
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misdemeanors, and who, within 10 years of the conviction,
owns, purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession or
under his or her custody or control, any firearm is guilty of
a public offense, which shall be punishable by imprisonment in
a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison;
by a fine not exceeding $1,000; or by both that imprisonment
and fine. The court, on forms prescribed by DOJ, shall notify
DOJ of persons subject to this provision. [Penal Code Section
12021(c).]
5)Provides that it is a misdemeanor for a driver of any motor
vehicle or the owner of any motor vehicle, whether or not the
owner of the vehicle is occupying the vehicle, to knowingly
permit any other person to carry into or bring into the
vehicle a firearm in violation of existing law. [Penal Code
Section 12034(a).]
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "The Legislature
has directed the Law Revision Commission to 'study, report on,
and prepare recommended legislation by July 1, 2009,
concerning the revision of the portions of the Penal Code
relating to the control of deadly weapons . . . . ' (2006
Cal. Stat. res. ch. 128.) The general purpose of the study is
to improve the organization and accessibility of the deadly
weapons statutes, without making any change to criminal
liability under those statutes. SB 1080 and SB 1115 are the
Law Revision Commission's recommended legislative revisions.
In drafting these revisions, the Commission took extreme care
to ensure that it would not cause any substantive change in
the law."
2)ACR 73 : In 2006, the Governor signed ACR 73 (McCarthy),
Chapter 128, Statutes of 2007, asking the California Law
Revision Commission (CLRC) to revise various Penal Code
provisions relating to firearms. The CLRC is required to
prepare and submit recommended legislation by July 1, 2009.
ACR 73 focused on CLRC's revisions that accomplished the
following objectives:
"Reduce the length and complexity of current sections; avoid
unnecessary use of cross-references; neither expand nor
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contract the scope of criminal liability under current
provisions; in the event that the commission's draft changes
the scope of criminal liability under the current provisions,
this shall be made explicit in the commission's draft or any
commentary related to the draft; to the extent compatible with
these objectives, use common definitions of terms, and;
organize existing provisions in such a way that similar
provisions are located in close proximity to each other."
In vetoing SB 1140 (Scott), of the 2003-04 Legislative Session,
relating to the criminal storage of firearms around children,
the Governor stated, "Before a government exercises its power
to take away ones liberty, it should be clear to every person
what actions will cause them to forfeit their freedom.
Instead of adding to the lengthy and complex area of firearm
laws, a reorganization of the current laws should be
undertaken to ensure that statutes that impose criminal
penalties are easily understandable."
The author of ACR 73 stated, "In particular, the laws relating
to the transfers of firearms are lengthy, with numerous
cross-references, highly fact-specific exemptions, and complex
provisions. For example, Penal Code section 12078 is 5,880
words long and occupies 11 pages if printed in a 12-point font
with conventional margins. The section has cross-references
to many scattered sections of other firearms provisions, some
of them hundreds of sections away. The firearms laws occupy
over 100 pages of an un-annotated version of the Penal Code
when printed in dual column in tiny print. These areas of the
law are not for legal experts only. Firearms owners, licensed
dealers, and law enforcement need to be able to interpret
these provisions in order to comply with the law and avoid
criminal liability. Ambiguity and confusion do not promote
the public policy goals that those laws were designed to
accomplish. ACR 73 is designed to task the CLRC, a neutral
body of legal experts, with the task of seeing if they can
simplify and reorganize these laws. It also includes a
statement of legislative intent that when the Commission's
work is complete that it will be tasked with addressing other
portions of the firearms laws."
3)Related Legislation : SB 1115 (Committee on Public Safety)
makes cross-referencing changes to various Penal Code
provisions relating to deadly weapons, operative January 1,
2012, and contingent upon passage SB 1115, which reorganizes
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and makes other non-substantive changes to the deadly weapon
provisions of law. SB 1115 will be heard by this Committee
today.
4)Arguments in Support : According to the California Chapters of
the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence , "Assembly
Concurrent Resolution No. 73 was passed in 2006. This
resolution called for the California Law Revision Commission
to study, report on, and prepare recommended legislation
concerning the control of deadly weapons. The stated intent
of this resolution was to simplify and reorganize the Penal
Code relating to firearms. The resolution and revision
process could not be used as a reason to prevent the enactment
of firearm-related measure nor could there not be any
substantive changes to firearm law. The California Law
Revision Commission has completed the revisions and has
recommended legislation. SB 1080 would reorganize, without
substantive changes, the provisions of the Penal Code relating
to deadly weapons. SB 1115 would make cross-reference changes
to provisions in the Penal Code. Both bills would go into
effect on January 1, 2012."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Governor's Office of Planning and Research
Legal Community Against Violence
California Rifle and Pistol Association
National Rifle Association of America
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744