BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1559|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                         |
          |(916) 651-1520         Fax: (916) |                         |
          |327-4478                          |                         |
           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
           
                                         
                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1559
          Author:   Portantino (D)
          Amended:  6/15/12 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/26/12
          AYES:  Hancock, Anderson, Calderon, Harman, Liu, Price, 
            Steinberg

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-2, 8/16/12
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters, Dutton

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  72-0, 5/3/12 (Consent) - See last page for 
            vote


           SUBJECT  :    Firearms

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill (1) clarifies that permits issued by 
          the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the manufacture, 
          possession, or use, as specified, of a short-barreled rifle 
          or short-barreled shotgun solely as a prop for a motion 
          picture, television, or video production or entertainment 
          event may allow for the importation of these weapons for 
          these uses, (2) deletes the existing requirement for the 
          DOJ to charge a reduced fee for the second and subsequent 
          handguns in a single transaction on the same date, and 
          effective January 1, 2014, the requirement to charge a 
                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               AB 1559
                                                                Page 
          2

          reduced fee for any firearm, including long-guns, in a 
          single transaction on the same date, and (3) effective 
          January 1, 2014, provides that only one fee shall be 
          charged for a single transaction on the same date and time 
          for taking title or possession of any number of firearms.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law provides that, except as 
          expressly provided in Sections 33215 to 33225, inclusive, 
          and in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17700) of 
          Division 2 of Title 2, and solely in accordance with those 
          provisions, no person may manufacture, import into this 
          state, keep for sale, offer for sale, give, lend, or 
          possess any short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun. 
           Nothing else in any provision listed in Section 16580 
          shall be construed as authorizing the manufacture, 
          importation into the state, keeping for sale, offering for 
          sale, or giving, lending, or possession of any 
          short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun.  (Penal 
          Code § 33210.)

          Existing law provides that, except as provided in Sections 
          33220 and 33225 and in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 
          17700) of Division 2 of Title 2, any person in this state 
          who manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into 
          the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, 
          or who gives, lends, or possesses any short-barreled rifle 
          or short-barreled shotgun is punishable by imprisonment in 
          a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state 
          prison.  (Penal Code § 33215.)

          Existing law states that section 33215 does not apply to 
          the manufacture, possession, transportation, or sale of a 
          short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, when 
          authorized by the Department of Justice pursuant to Article 
          2 (commencing with Section 33300) and not in violation of 
          federal law.  (Penal Code § 33225.)

          Existing law states that upon a showing that good cause 
          exists for issuance of a permit to the applicant, and if 
          the DOJ finds that issuance of the permit does not endanger 
          the public safety, DOJ may issue a permit for the 
          manufacture, possession, transportation, or sale of 
          short-barreled rifles or short-barreled shotguns.  The 
          permit shall be initially valid for a period of one year, 

                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               AB 1559
                                                                Page 
          3

          and renewable annually thereafter.  No permit shall be 
          issued to a person who is under 18 years of age.  (Penal 
          Code § 33300(a).)  

          Existing law specifies "good cause," for the purposes of 
          this section, shall be limited to only the following:  

           The permit is sought for the manufacture, possession, or 
            use with blank cartridges of a short-barreled rifle or 
            short-barreled shotgun, solely as a prop for a motion 
            picture, television, or video production or entertainment 
            event.

           The permit is sought for the manufacture of, exposing for 
            sale, keeping for sale, sale of, importation or lending 
            of short-barreled rifles or short-barreled shotguns to 
            the entities by persons who are licensed as dealers or 
            manufacturers under the specified provisions of the 
            United States Code, as amended, and the regulations 
            issued pursuant thereto.  (Penal Code § 33300(b).)  

          Existing law provides:

           Until January 1, 2014, only one fee shall be charged, as 
            specified, for a single transaction on the same date for 
            the sale of any number of firearms that are not handguns, 
            or for the taking of possession of those firearms.

           In a single transaction on the same date for the delivery 
            of any number of firearms that are handguns, and 
            commencing January 1, 2014, for any firearm, the 
            department shall charge a reduced fee pursuant to this 
            article for the second and subsequent firearms that are 
            part of that transaction.

           Only one fee shall be charged pursuant to this article 
            for a single transaction on the same date for taking 
            title or possession of any number of firearms pursuant to 
            Section 26905 (dealer acquiring a firearm), 27870 (gift, 
            bequest or inter-family transfer of handgun), 27875 
            (gift, bequest or inter-family transfer of long gun), 
            27915 (long gun, by operation of law), 27920 (handgun by 
            operation of law), or 27925 (by operation of law by 
            representative).  (Penal Code § 28240.)

                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               AB 1559
                                                                Page 
          4


          This bill amends the section allowing for DOJ to issue 
          permits for the "manufacture, possession, or use with blank 
          cartridges of a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled 
          shotgun, solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, 
          or video production or entertainment event" to clarify that 
          these permits may allow for importation of these weapons 
          for these uses.  This bill states that these amendments do 
          not constitute a change in, but are declaratory of, 
          existing law.  

          This bill provides that, beginning January 1, 2014, DOJ 
          shall only charge one fee for a single transaction on the 
          same date and time for taking title or possession of any 
          number of firearms.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

           No fiscal impact to the DOJ associated with the 
            clarification of existing law with regard to the issuance 
            of permits by the DOJ. 

           Ongoing reduced revenue potentially in excess of $50,000 
            to the Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) Account (Special 
            Fund) due to the deletion of DOJ authority under existing 
            law to charge a reduced fee for multiple handgun 
            purchases in a single transaction.

           Ongoing foregone revenue potentially in excess of 
            $600,000 to the DROS Account (Special Fund) after January 
            1, 2014, due to the restriction to only one fee charged 
            per firearms transaction, regardless of the number of 
            firearms involved in the transaction. 

           Comments
           
          According to the author:

               AB 1559 allows for the importation of short barreled 
               rifles and short barreled shotguns for use as a prop 
               for a motion picture, television or video production 

                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               AB 1559
                                                                Page 
          5

               when the DOJ issues a permit for finding good cause.

               For a variety of reasons the entertainment industry 
               has been leaving the state of California in recent 
               years to film and produce in other states.  This 
               measure is needed by the entertainment industry to 
               ensure that they do not run into trouble with the 
               labyrinth of laws that regulate gun ownership and gun 
               possession in California.

               This measure will allow film and television production 
               companies the ability to legally import firearms for 
               use in their activities.  We have been working with 
               the Department of Justice and will continue to do so 
               to make sure that safe and responsible gun laws are 
               enacted in California.

               The language to be added by amendment basically states 
               that, beginning January 1, 2014, the DOJ will only 
               charge one DROS fee for all firearms purchased on the 
               same date and time.

               DOJ can currently charge $25.00 for a handgun and $25 
               for all of the additional long guns that are purchased 
               together.  Most folks can only buy one handgun every 
               thirty days.  The reasoning behind charging more than 
               one fee was that handgun information and long gun 
               information had to be manually entered in a different 
               manner.  But, with technological advancements and 
               upgrades that the DOJ is doing to Ýtheir] system for 
               long gun record retention in 2014, everything will be 
               done electronically, so it makes sense to only charge 
               the one fee.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  72-0, 5/3/12
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, 
            Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, 
            Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, 
            Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, 
            Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, 
            Jeffries, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, 

                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               AB 1559
                                                                Page 
          6

            Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, 
            Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel 
            Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Yamada, John A. 
            Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bonilla, Fletcher, Furutani, Hall, Roger 
            Hernández, Jones, Smyth, Williams


          RJG:n  8/20/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

                                ****  END  ****































                                                           CONTINUED