BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 809
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 809 (Feuer)
As Amended May 27, 2011
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 5-1 APPROPRIATIONS 11-6
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Cedillo, Hill, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Mitchell, Yamada | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Applies the same regulations relating to the reporting
and retention of records for handguns to long guns, as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Conforms reporting and record retention provisions in order
that transfers and information reporting and retention
requirements for handguns and firearms other than handguns are
the same.
2)Deletes the prohibition on peace officers, Department of
Justice (DOJ) employees, and the Attorney General (AG) from
retaining or compiling certain information relating to
transactions regarding firearms that are not handguns, as
specified. A violation of these provisions under current law
is a misdemeanor. The deletion of this misdemeanor
prohibition takes effect on January 1, 2013.
3)Expands the requirement for a personal handgun importer to
report certain information relative to bringing a handgun into
the state, as specified. A violation of these provisions is a
misdemeanor. On January 1, 2013, "personal handgun importer"
shall be redefined as a "personal firearm importer," as
defined, and expands the reporting requirements to apply to
the importation of firearms that are not handguns.
AB 809
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4)Deletes a provision under existing law wherein DOJ requires
firearms dealers to keep a register or record of electronic or
telephonic transfers of information pertaining to firearms
transactions, as specified. Existing law exempts from these
requirements certain transactions involving firearms that are
not handguns. The deletion of this provision occurs on
January 1, 2013.
5)Makes conforming changes to the code to reference "firearms"
in lieu of "handguns."
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that no person shall sell, lease, or transfer
firearms unless he or she has been issued a state firearms
dealer's license. A violation is a misdemeanor (punishable by
up to one year in county jail).
2)Provides for specified exemptions including commercial
transactions among licensed wholesalers, importers, and
manufacturers.
3)States that handguns are centrally registered with DOJ as part
of this process. A violation of these handgun provisions is
an alternate felony/misdemeanor punishable, by up to one year
in the county jail or by imprisonment in the state prison for
16 months, two or three years. The alternate
felony/misdemeanor provisions that are treated as felonies are
offenses which presumptively mandate a state prison sentence.
4)Allows DOJ to charge the dealer for a number of costs such as
a dealer record of sale (DROS).
5)Exempts from the requirement (that sales, loans and transfers
of firearms be conducted through a dealer or local law
enforcement agency) transactions with authorized peace
officers, certain operation of law transactions, and
intra-familial firearms transactions. However, all these
exempt transactions are subject to handgun registration as a
condition of the exemption.
6)Provides that, on request, DOJ will register transactions
relating to handguns Ýindeed all firearms] in the Automated
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Firearm System (AFS) Unit for persons who are exempt from
dealer processing, or are otherwise exempt by statute from
reporting processes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time costs in the range of $100,000 for software
development to allow DOJ to retain the long gun information
(DROS), and ongoing costs in the range of $300,000.
(The 2011-12 budget released in January shows a $13 million DROS
reserve. DOJ charges dealers a DROS fee; dealers pass on the
cost to the customer, currently $19 per transaction. The
budget includes a loan of $11.5 million from DROS.)
2)Moderate annual General Fund costs, likely in the low hundreds
of thousands of dollars, for increased state prison costs to
the extent this bill makes it easier to identify persons in a
prohibited class who are illegally in possession of a long
gun. (Under current law, felons, specified misdemeanants, and
drug addicts and mentally ill persons, as specified, are
prohibited from possessing any gun.)
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Ýl]ong guns (rifles and
shotguns) play a significant role in our gun violence epidemic.
Of the 26,682 crime guns entered into the AFS database in 2009,
11,500 were long guns. DOJ sweeps to seize illegally possessed
firearms have uncovered roughly equal numbers of illegal
handguns (2,143) and long guns (2,019). In 2010, Californians
purchased 260,573 long guns, significantly more than the 233,346
handguns acquired in the same time period.
"In 2006, 3,345 people died from firearm-related injuries in
California and an additional 4,491 people were hospitalized for
non-fatal gunshot wounds. Moreover, between 2005 and 2009, DOJ
designated 84,123 firearms as crime guns in the AFS database.
"Law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute gun crimes
are aided by the AFS database, which contains records of all
handgun transfers. However, state law requires that records of
long gun sales be destroyed by DOJ.
"AB 1810 would stop the needless destruction of long gun
AB 809
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records, which prevents law enforcement from using this
information to quickly identify the owners of crime guns and
expose channels of illegal gun trafficking. Without these long
gun records, law enforcement must painstakingly trace a
recovered firearm from the manufacturer, through the
distributor, to the firearms dealer who sold the weapon to the
last known purchaser. AB 1810 would also ensure the integrity
of long gun records by removing reporting and recordkeeping
exemptions that currently apply to certain long gun transfers.
"Another significant benefit of long gun record retention is
that it would protect law enforcement officers who must respond
to emergency calls at private residences. Officers currently
could use the AFS database to check whether a person at a
residence may own any handguns, but they have no way of knowing
whether that person may own any long guns. This information gap
puts law enforcement at needless risk.
"Finally, long gun record retention would assist law enforcement
in identifying all firearms - not just handguns - owned by
persons who are prohibited by law from possessing guns. These
critical records would help law enforcement facilitate firearm
relinquishment by dangerous felons and others who have been
convicted of crimes which render them ineligible to possess
firearms.
"Long gun record retention would not adversely impact
law-abiding citizens, but would provide important benefits to
law enforcement."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0001036