BILL NUMBER: AB 48 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 9, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 24, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 24, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 7, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 4, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bonta, Ting,
and Williams)
(Coauthors: Senators De León and Hancock)
DECEMBER 20, 2012
An act to amend Section 32310 of, and to add Sections 30367 and
32311 to, the Penal Code, relating to firearms.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 48, as amended, Skinner. Firearms: ammunition: sales.
(1) Except as specified, existing law makes it a crime to
manufacture, import, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale, or give
or lend any large-capacity magazine, and makes a large-capacity
magazine a nuisance. Existing law defines "large-capacity magazine"
to mean any ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept
more than 10 rounds but excludes, in pertinent part, a feeding device
that has been permanently altered so that the magazine cannot
accommodate more than 10 rounds.
This bill would make it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not
more than $1,000 or imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed 6
months, or by both that fine and imprisonment, to buy or receive a
large capacity magazine or to knowingly manufacture, import, keep for
sale, offer or expose for sale, or give, lend, buy, or receive any
large capacity magazine conversion kit that is capable of converting
an ammunition feeding device into a large-capacity magazine. By
creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
(2) Existing law prohibits any person, corporation, or dealer from
selling ammunition to a person under 18 years of age, selling
ammunition designed for use in a handgun to a person under 21 years
of age, or providing possession of any ammunition to any minor who
the person, corporation, or dealer knows is prohibited from
possessing that ammunition at that time. Existing law prohibits a
person, corporation, or firm from giving possession or control of
ammunition to any person who he or she knows is prohibited by law
from possessing ammunition. Existing law also regulates handgun
ammunition vendors and provides that a handgun ammunition vendor
shall not permit any employee who the vendor knows or reasonably
should know is a person who has been convicted of a felony or other
specified crimes to handle, sell, or deliver handgun ammunition in
the course and scope of employment.
This bill would require the Department of Justice to create the
California Ammunition Database, and would require an ammunition
vendor, as defined, to record specified purchaser information and the
number of rounds of ammunition sold to a purchaser and report that
information to the Department of Justice. The bill would require the
department to immediately cross-reference the purchaser's information
with the Prohibited Armed Persons File. The bill would require the
department to forward the purchaser's information to local law
enforcement through a secure means if the purchaser's name appears in
the file.
This bill would require the Department of Justice to alert local
law enforcement entities in the city, county, or city and county in
which a purchaser resides if the purchaser obtains more than 3,000
rounds of ammunition within a 5-day period, as specified.
The bill would make these provisions inoperative until there are
sufficient funds in the Ammunition Vendor's Special Account of the
General Fund, which this bill would create, and the department
creates the California Ammunition Database. The bill would require
the department to provide written notice to ammunition vendors that
the database is operational and would require compliance by
ammunition vendors as of 30 days after being notified.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 30367 is added to the
Penal Code , to read:
30367. (a) The Department of Justice shall alert local law
enforcement entities in the city, county, or city and county in which
the purchaser resides if the purchaser obtains more than 3,000
rounds of ammunition within a five-day period and the purchaser is an
individual and not an ammunition vendor.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to or affect the sale of
ammunition to either of the following:
(1) An authorized law enforcement representative of a city,
county, city and county, or state or federal government, if the sale
is for the exclusive use by that government agency and, prior to the
sale of the ammunition, written authorization from the head of the
agency employing the purchaser or transferee is obtained identifying
the employee as an individual authorized to conduct the transaction,
and authorizing the transaction for the exclusive use of the agency
employing the individual.
(2) A sworn peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing
with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 who is authorized to carry a
firearm in the course and scope of his or her duties.
SECTION 1. Section 30367 is added to the Penal
Code, to read:
30367. (a) The Department of Justice shall create the California
Ammunition Database.
(b) Commencing 30 days from the date of being notified by the
department of the operation of the California Ammunition Database
pursuant to subdivision (e), an ammunition vendor shall record the
purchaser information required by subdivision (a) of Section 30352
and the number of rounds of ammunition sold to the purchaser, and
shall report that information to the department in a manner to be
determined by the department.
(c) Upon receipt of the information described in subdivision (b),
the department shall immediately cross-reference the purchaser's
information with the Prohibited Armed Persons File. If a purchaser's
name appears in the Prohibited Armed Persons File, the department
shall forward the purchaser's information to local law enforcement
through a secure means.
(d) The department shall also alert local law enforcement entities
in the city, county, or city and county in which the purchaser
resides if the purchaser obtains more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition
within a five-day period and the purchaser is an individual and not
an ammunition vendor.
(e) This section is not effective until there are sufficient funds
in the Ammunition Vendor's Special Account of the General Fund,
which is hereby created, for the department to create the California
Ammunition Database and the department creates the database. At least
30 days prior to the date that the California Ammunition Database is
operational, the department shall provide written notice of that
fact to ammunition vendors.
(f) Subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) do not apply to or affect the
sale of ammunition to any of the following:
(1) An authorized law enforcement representative of a city,
county, city and county, or state or federal government, if the sale
is for the exclusive use by that government agency and, prior to the
sale of the ammunition, written authorization from the head of the
agency employing the purchaser or transferee is obtained identifying
the employee as an individual authorized to conduct the transaction,
and authorizing the transaction for the exclusive use of the agency
employing the individual.
(2) A sworn peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing
with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 who is authorized to carry a
firearm in the course and scope of his or her duties.
(3) An ammunition vendor.
(g) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) As used in this section, "ammunition vendor" means any person,
firm, corporation, dealer, or any other business enterprise that is
engaged in the retail sale of any ammunition, including, but not
limited to, handgun ammunition, or that holds itself out as engaged
in the business of selling any ammunition.
(2) "Ammunition" does not include blanks.
SEC. 2. Section 32310 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
32310. (a) Except as provided in Article 2 (commencing with
Section 32400) of this chapter and in Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 17700) of Division 2 of Title 2, commencing January 1, 2000,
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, buys, or receives any
large-capacity magazine is punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not exceeding one year or imprisonment pursuant to subdivision
(h) of Section 1170.
(b) For purposes of this section, "manufacturing" includes both
fabricating a magazine and assembling a magazine from a combination
of parts, including, but not limited to, the body, spring, follower,
and floor plate or end plate, to be a fully functioning
large-capacity magazine.
SEC. 3. Section 32311 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
32311. (a) Except as provided in Article 2 (commencing with
Section 32400) of this chapter and in Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 17700) of Division 2 of Title 2, commencing January 1, 2014,
any person in this state who knowingly manufactures or causes to be
manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or
exposes for sale, or who gives, lends, buys, or receives any large
capacity magazine conversion kit is punishable by a fine of not more
than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment in a county jail
not to exceed six months, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) For purposes of this section, a "large capacity magazine
conversion kit" is a device or combination of parts of a fully
functioning large-capacity magazine, including, but not limited to,
the body, spring, follower, and floor plate or end plate, capable of
converting an ammunition feeding device into a large-capacity
magazine.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.