BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1366
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1366 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: April 17, 2012
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:4-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill makes it a crime to fail to report the theft or loss
of a gun to a local law enforcement agency within 48 hours of
the time the owner should reasonably have known the gun was lost
or stolen. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides for exemptions for law enforcement, military and
federally licensed gun dealers.
2)Requires any person who has reported a lost or stolen gun to
notify local law enforcement within 48 hours if the gun is
recovered.
3)Specifies the penalty for a failure to report a lost or stolen
gun is an infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $100. A
second violation is an infraction punishable by a fine of up
to $1,000, and a third or subsequent violation is a
misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail
and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
4)Makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in
county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000, to file a false
report regarding a lost or stolen gun.
5)Requires every sheriff or police chief to submit a description
of each gun reported lost or stolen to the Department of
Justice (DOJ) automated property system for guns.
6)Requires licensed gun dealers to conspicuously post a
specified warning regarding the duty to report lost or stolen
firearms in block letters not less than one inch in height.
SB 1366
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor nonreimbursable local law enforcement costs offset to an
unknown degree by minor fine revenue.
2)Minor local incarceration costs, to the extent anyone is
convicted of a misdemeanor for a third or subsequent offense
of failing to report a stolen gun, or for making a false
report regarding a stolen gun.
3)Minor potentially state-reimbursable local costs to local law
enforcement to provide a description of each reported lost or
stolen gun to DOJ.
4)Negligible state costs to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to
track and list additional lost or stolen serialized property.
(Current law requires DOJ to maintain a list of lost, stolen
and found serialized property, which includes guns.)
5)Minor state trial court costs to the extent that this bill
results in new misdemeanor charges and related court time.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author and proponents, including the State
Sheriffs Association, the City of L.A., and the California
Chapters of the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, contend
stolen guns are a significant source of arms for criminals and
that the lack of a mandatory reporting law in California
hinders tracking, enforcement and prosecution.
Under current law, gun dealers and manufacturers must report
lost or stolen guns within 48 hours, and local law enforcement
must enter reports of lost or stolen firearms into the state's
Automated Property System database. Gun owners, however, are
not required to do anything.
According to the author, seven states, the District of
Columbia, and nine cities in California require gun owners to
report to law enforcement when guns are lost or stolen.
2)Opponents , primarily gun-related organizations, contend this
bill places an undue burden on those who have suffered the
loss or theft of a gun.
SB 1366
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3)Prior Legislation.
a) SB 59 (Lowenthal), 2006, was similar to this bill and
was vetoed by Gov. Schwarznegger. The governor stated,
"While I share the Legislature's concern about the criminal
use of lost or stolen weapons, the ambiguous manner in
which this bill was written would make compliance with the
law confusing for legitimate gun-owners and could result in
cases where law-abiding citizens face criminal penalties
simply because they were the victim of a crime, which is
particularly troubling given the unproven results of other
jurisdictions in California that have passed similar
measures."
b) AB 334 (Levine) 2007, and AB 1232 (Lowenthal), 2003 were
similar to this bill, but the relevant provisions were
eventually deleted.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081