BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó







                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                            Senator Loni Hancock, Chair              A
                             2013-2014 Regular Session               B

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          AB 48 (Skinner)                                             
          As Amended June 24, 2013 
          Hearing date:  July 2, 2013
          Penal Code
          SM:mc

                               HIGH CAPACITY AMMUNITION

                            MAGAZINES/AMMUNITION DATABASE

                                           
                                       HISTORY

          Source:  Author

          Prior Legislation: SB 427 (de León) - 2011-2012, vetoed
                       AB 2358 (de León) - 2010, failed passage on Senate  
          Floor
                       AB 1663 (Hagman) - 2010, failed passage in Assembly  
          Public Safety
                       AB 962 (de León) - Ch. 628, Statutes of 2009
                       AB 2062 (de León) - 2008, held in Senate  
          Appropriations Committee
                       AB 362 (de León) - 2007, held in Senate  
          Appropriations Committee
                       AB 996 (Ridley-Thomas) - 2006, vetoed
                       AB 352 (Koretz) - 2006, died in conference
                       AB 2714 (Torrico) - 2005-06, vetoed
                       SB 1152 (Scott) - 2003-04, vetoed

          Support:  Albany Unified School District; Berkeley City Council;  
                   California Chapter of the American College of Emergency  
                   Physicians; California Chapters of the Brady Campaign  




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                   to Prevent Gun Violence; California Nurses Association;  
                   City of Albany; City of Berkeley; City of Beverly  
                   Hills; City of El Cerrito; City of Emeryville; City of  
                   Oakland; Mayor, City of Piedmont; Courage Campaign;  
                   Emery Unified School District; Law Center to Prevent  
                   Gun Violence; Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department;  
                   Sacramento City Councilmember Kevin McCarty; South  
                   County Citizens Against Gun Violence; Violence  
                   Prevention Coalition of Orange County; Women Against  
                   Gun Violence; West Contra Costa Unified School  
                   District; Youth Alive; City of Santa Monica; American  
                   Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees


          Opposition:California Sportsman's Lobby; California Waterfowl  
                    Association; National Association for Gun Rights;  
                    Safari Club International; Sheriff of Shasta County;  
                    Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California;  
                    Crossroads of the West Gun Shows; National Shooting  
                    Sports Foundation, Inc.; California Association of  
                    Federal Firearms Licensees; California Association of  
                    Firearms Retailers; National Rifle Association of  
                    America 

          Assembly Floor Vote:  Ayes  46 - Noes  26


                                        KEY ISSUES
           
          SHOULD THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) BE REQUIRED TO CREATE A  
          DATABASE TO RECORD SALES OF AMMUNITION AND REQUIRE AMMUNITION  
          SELLERS, EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED, TO OBTAIN SPECIFIED IDENTIFICATION  
          INFORMATION FROM AMMUNITION BUYERS AND REPORT THAT INFORMATION TO  
          DOJ?

          SHOULD DOJ BE REQUIRED TO CROSS CHECK THAT INFORMATION WITH ITS  
          PROHIBITED ARMED PERSONS FILE TO DETERMINE IF THE BUYER IS  
          PROHIBITED FROM PURCHASING AMMUNITION AND, IF THE BUYER IS  
          PROHIBITED, TO FORWARD THAT PURCHASER'S INFORMATION TO LOCAL LAW  




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          ENFORCEMENT?

          SHOULD DOJ BE REQUIRED TO NOTIFY LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ENTITIES IN  
          THE CITY, COUNTY OR CITY AND COUNTY WHERE THE BUYER LIVES IF ANY  
          AMMUNITION PURCHASER OBTAINS MORE THAN 3,000 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION  
          WITHIN A FIVE-DAY PERIOD?

          SHOULD BUYING OR RECEIVING A LARGE-CAPACITY AMMUNITION MAGAZINE BE  
          ADDED TO THE CURRENT BAN ON IMPORTATION, MANUFACTURE, OR SALE OF  
          THESE MAGAZINES?

          SHOULD 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, AS DEFINED, BE GUILTY OF  
          A MISDEMEANOR?








                                       PURPOSE

          The purpose of this bill is to (1) require the Department of  
          Justice (DOJ) to create a database to record sales of ammunition  
          and require ammunition sellers, except as specified, to obtain  
          specified identification information from ammunition buyers and  
          report that information to DOJ; (2) require DOJ to cross check  
          that information with its Prohibited Armed Persons File to  
          determine if the buyer is prohibited from purchasing ammunition  
          and, if the buyer is prohibited, to forward that purchaser's  
          information to local law enforcement; (3) require DOJ to notify  
          local law enforcement entities in the city, county, or city and  
          county where the buyer lives if any ammunition purchaser obtains  
          more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition within a five-day period;  
          (4) provide that the ammunition database provisions will not be  




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          effective until there are sufficient funds in the Ammunition  
          Vendor's Special Account, which this bill would create, for DOJ  
          to create the database and DOJ does so; (5) add buying or  
          receiving a large-capacity ammunition magazine to the current  
          ban on importation, manufacture or sale of these magazines.   
          This crime is punishable as a misdemeanor, by up to one year in  
          the county jail, or as a felony, by 16 months, two or three  
          years in county jail; (6) clarify that, for purposes of the ban  
          on manufacturing high capacity magazines, 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; and (7) provide that,  
          except as specified, 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, as defined, is punishable by up to six months in  
          county jail, a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.

          Current Federal Law
          
           Current federal law  , the federal assault weapons law (the  
          Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355, Pub.L.  
          103-322,) became effective on September 13, 1994, and banned the  
          possession of "assault weapons" and "large capacity ammunition  
          feeding devices," defined as a magazine capable of holding more  
          than ten rounds of ammunition, manufactured after that date.   
          That law expired in 2004 and has not been reenacted.

          Current California Law - Large Capacity Magazines
          
           Current law  defines a "large-capacity magazine" as "any  
          ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than  
          10 rounds, but shall not be construed to include any of the  
          following: 

                 A feeding device that has been permanently altered so  
               that it cannot accommodate more than 10 rounds. 




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                 A .22 caliber tube ammunition feeding device. 
                 A tubular magazine that is contained in a lever-action  
               firearm.  (Penal Code § 16740.)

           Current law  provides that, except as specified, 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, or lends, any  
          large-capacity magazine is punishable by imprisonment in a  
          county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison for 16  
          months, two or three years.  (Penal Code § 32310.)

           Current law  provides that, upon a showing that good cause  
          exists, the Department of Justice may issue permits for the  
          possession, transportation, or sale between a licensed firearms  
          dealer and an out-of-state client, of large-capacity magazines.   
          (Penal Code § 32315.)

           Current law  provides that, except as specified, any  
          large-capacity magazine is a nuisance and is subject to an  
          injunction against its possession, manufacture or sale, and is  
          subject to confiscation and summary destruction.  (Penal Code §  
          32390.)

          Current law  provides that as used in the assault weapons ban,  
          "magazine" means any ammunition feeding device.  (Penal Code §  
          16890.)

          Current California Law - Ammunition Sales
          
           Current law  prohibits possession of ammunition by a person under  
          18 years of age, except as specified.  A violation is generally  
          punishable as a misdemeanor, but, if the minor has been found  
          guilty of violation certain enumerated offenses previously, a  
          violation may be punished as either a felony by 16 months, two  
          or three years in county jail or as a misdemeanor by up to one  
          year in the county jail.  (Penal Code §§ 29650, 29700.) 






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           Current law  provides that selling any ammunition to a person  
          under the age of 18 or selling ammunition designed and intended  
          for a handgun to a person under the age of 21 is a misdemeanor.   
          (Penal Code § 30300.) 



           Current law  provides that, except as specified, any person who  
          is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm is also  
          prohibited from owning, or possessing ammunition.  A violation  
          may be punished as either a felony by 16 months, two or three  
          years in state prison or as a misdemeanor by up to one year in  
          the county jail.  (Penal Code § 30305(a).) 



           Current law  provides that, except as specified, a person  
          enjoined from engaging in activity pursuant to an injunction  
          against that person as a member of a criminal street gang is  
          prohibited from owning or possessing ammunition.  Violation of  
          this section is punishable as a misdemeanor.  (Penal Code §  
          30305(b).) 



           Current law  provides that supplying, selling, or delivering  
          ammunition to someone that a person knows or reasonably should  
          know is prohibited from owning or possessing ammunition is a  
          misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in the county jail.   
          (Penal Code § 30306.) 



           Current law  provides that, with limited exceptions, delivery or  
          transfer of ownership of handgun ammunition may only occur in a  
          face-to-face transaction with bona fide evidence of identity  
          from the purchaser.  Violation of this section is punishable as  
          a misdemeanor.  (Penal Code 




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          § 30312.)* 



           Current law  provides that vendors of handgun ammunition must  
          comply with certain conditions, requirements and prohibitions,  
          with limited exceptions, including not selling or transferring  
          ownership of any handgun ammunition without, at the time of  
          delivery, legibly recording the following information (Penal  
          Code § 30352):* 

                 The date of the sale or other transaction. 

                 The purchaser's/transferee's driver's license or ID  
               number and the state of issuance. 

                 The brand, type, and amount of ammunition sold or  
               otherwise transferred. 

                 The purchaser's/transferee's signature. 

                 The name of the salesperson who processed the sale or  
               other transaction. 

                 The right thumbprint of the purchaser or transferee on  
               the above form. 

                 The purchaser's /transferee's full residential address  
               and telephone number. 

                 The purchaser's/transferee's date of birth. 

           Current law  requires that handgun ammunition vendors must keep  
          these records for a period of not less than 5 years and must  
          make these records available to inspection by specified law  
          enforcement during normal business hours.  (Penal Code §§ 30355,  
          30357.)* 





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           Current law  requires that handgun ammunition vendors shall not  
          knowingly make a false entry or fail to make an entry or obtain  
          the required thumbprint.  (Penal Code § 30360.)* 



           Current law  provides that violations of the above laws regarding  
          handgun ammunition vendors are punishable as a misdemeanor.   
          (Penal Code § 30365.)* 

           Current law  defines "handgun ammunition" as "ammunition  
          principally for use in pistols, revolvers, and other firearms  
          capable of being concealed upon the person, notwithstanding that  
          the ammunition may also be used in some rifles" and exempting,  
          as specified:


                 ammunition designed and intended to be used in an  
               antique firearm; and

                 blanks.  (Penal Code § 16650.)*

          * Enforcement of these sections is currently stayed per order of  
          the Fresno County Superior Court in Parker v. State of  
          California, No. 10 CECG 02116.  That order is currently on  
          appeal.

           This bill  would require DOJ to create a database to record sales  
          of ammunition.  All ammunition sellers would be required to  
          obtain specified identification information from ammunition  
          buyers and report that information to DOJ, in a manner to be  
          determined by DOJ.  DOJ would then be required to cross check  
          that information with its Prohibited Armed Persons File to  
          determine if the buyer is prohibited from purchasing ammunition.  
           If the buyer is prohibited, DOJ would be required to forward  
          that purchaser's information to local law enforcement.





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           This bill  would also require DOJ to notify local law enforcement  
          entities in the city, county, or city and county where the buyer  
          lives if any ammunition 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.

           This bill  provides that the ammunition database provisions will  
          not be effective until there are sufficient funds in the  
          Ammunition Vendor's Special Account, which this bill would  
          create, for DOJ to create the database and DOJ does so.  At  
          least 30 days before the database is operation, DOJ is required  
          to provide written notice of that fact to ammunition vendors.

           This bill  exempts from the ammunition database provisions law  
          enforcement officers and agencies and ammunition vendors.

           This bill  would add buying or receiving a large-capacity  
          ammunition magazine to the current ban on importation,  
          manufacture or sale of these magazines.  This crime is  
          punishable as a misdemeanor, by up to one year in the county  
          jail, or as a felony, by 16 months, two or three years in county  
          jail.

           This bill  would clarify that, for purposes of the ban on  
          manufacturing high capacity magazines, 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.

           This bill  would provide that, except as specified, 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 up to  
          six months in county jail, a fine of not more than $1,000, or  
          both.

           This bill  would define large-capacity magazine conversion kit as  




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          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. 

                    RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION

          For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's  
          prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation  
          relating to conditions of confinement.  On May 23, 2011, the  
          United States Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its  
          prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two  
          years from the date of its ruling, subject to the right of the  
          state to seek modifications in appropriate circumstances.   

          Beginning in early 2007, Senate leadership initiated a policy to  
          hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate the  
          prison overcrowding crisis through new or expanded felony  
          prosecutions.  Under the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which  
          stands for "Receivership/ Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the  
          Committee held measures which created a new felony, expanded the  
          scope or penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increased  
          the application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate  
          the prison overcrowding crisis.  Under these principles, ROCA  
          was applied as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary  
          to ensure that the Legislature did not erode progress towards  
          reducing prison overcrowding by passing legislation which would  
          increase the prison population.  ROCA necessitated many hard and  
          difficult decisions for the Committee.

          In January of 2013, just over a year after the enactment of the  
          historic Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, the State of  
          California filed court documents seeking to vacate or modify the  
          federal court order issued by the Three-Judge Court three years  
          earlier to reduce the state's prison population to 137.5 percent  
          of design capacity.  The State submitted in part that the, ". .  
          .  population in the State's 33 prisons has been reduced by over  
          24,000 inmates since October 2011 when public safety realignment  




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          went into effect, by more than 36,000 inmates compared to the  
          2008 population . . . , and by nearly 42,000 inmates since 2006  
          . . . ."  Plaintiffs, who opposed the state's motion, argue in  
          part that, "California prisons, which currently average 150% of  
          capacity, and reach as high as 185% of capacity at one prison,  
          continue to deliver health care that is constitutionally  
          deficient."  In an order dated January 29, 2013, the federal  
          court granted the state a six-month extension to achieve the  
          137.5 % prisoner population cap by December 31st of this year.  

          In an order dated April 11, 2013, the Three-Judge Court denied  
          the state's motions, and ordered the state of California to  
          "immediately take all steps necessary to comply with this  
          Court's . . . Order . . . requiring defendants to reduce overall  
          prison population to 137.5% design capacity by December 31,  
          2013."         

          The ongoing litigation indicates that prison capacity and  
          related issues concerning conditions of confinement remain  
          unresolved.  However, in light of the real gains in reducing the  
          prison population that have been made, although even greater  
          reductions are required by the court, the Committee will review  
          each ROCA bill with more flexible consideration.  The following  
          questions will inform this consideration:

                 whether a measure erodes realignment;
                 whether a measure addresses a crime which is directly  
               dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there  
               is no other reasonably appropriate sanction; 
                 whether a bill corrects a constitutional infirmity or  
               legislative drafting error; 
                 whether a measure proposes penalties which are  
               proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other  
               reasonably appropriate remedy; and
                 whether a bill addresses a major area of public safety  
               or criminal activity for which there is no other  
               reasonable, appropriate remedy.

                                      COMMENTS




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          1.  Need for This Bill  

          According to the author:

               Today in California it's easier to buy bullets than to  
               buy alcohol, cigarettes or certain cold medicines.   
               While sales of cold medicines such as Sudafed are  
               reported to the Department of Justice, ammunition  
               sales are not.  We expect to show ID to buy alcohol or  
               tobacco, but there is no such requirement for buying  
               bullets.  Bullets - the very things that make guns  
               deadly - should not be easier to buy than alcohol or  
               cigarettes.  

               Existing law prohibits individuals convicted of  
               felonies and violent misdemeanors, as well as those  
               with serious mental health issues, from purchasing or  
               possessing ammunition (and firearms), but does not  
               provide any mechanism to determine whether individuals  
               who purchase ammunition may lawfully do so.  
                         
               Furthermore, California has some of the nation's  
               toughest gun laws, but its laws regulating ammunition  
               - including the type of large capacity magazines used  
               in the mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and  
               Aurora, Colorado, and in the assault on Congress  
               member Gabrielle Giffords - are filled with loopholes.  
                For example, although current law makes it illegal to  
               sell a large capacity ammunition magazine, it is not a  
                                           crime under current law to buy a large capacity  
               magazine in the state.  Likewise, state law allows the  
               sale and purchase of "repair kits" that convert  
               regular ammunition magazines into illegal  
               military-style large-capacity magazines.   
               Unfortunately, some individuals are obtaining these  
               kits that allow them to assemble an ammunition  
               magazine holding as many as 30 rounds.  





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               Assembly Bill 48 addresses these shortcomings in  
               current law by doing the following:

                           making it a crime to purchase a  
               large-capacity ammunition magazine;
                            requiring ammunition sales to be  
                    reported to the Department of Justice (DOJ); 
                            requiring DOJ to cross reference  
                    ammunition sales with the Armed and Prohibited  
                    Persons Systems (APPS); and
                            notifying local law enforcement when  
                    someone buys 3,000 rounds of ammunition within a  
                    five day period.
                
               Additionally, AB 48 makes it illegal to manufacture,  
               import into the state, keep for sale, or offer or  
               expose for sale, or give, lend, buy, or receive a  
               "large capacity magazine conversation kit" that allows  
               users to convert regular ammunition magazines into  
               illegal military-style large-capacity magazines that  
               can fire more than ten rounds of ammunition without  
               reloading.

          2.  High Capacity Magazines in Both Long Guns and Handguns  

          Many rifles and handguns that use a detachable ammunition  
          magazine can accept a high capacity magazine, meaning a magazine  
          that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.  On a  
          semiautomatic handgun or rifle, one bullet is fired per  
          trigger-pull.  The effect of attaching a high capacity magazine  
          is to allow the shooter to rapidly fire as many rounds as the  
          magazine holds, as fast as they can pull the trigger.  A high  
          capacity magazine typically holds 30 rounds but some have been  
          designed to hold as many as 100 rounds.  Since January 1, 2000,  
          California has banned the importation, manufacture or sale of  
          high capacity magazines.  (Penal Code §§ 32310, 32390.)  These  
          magazines have also been deemed a public nuisance and are,  
          therefore, subject to confiscation and destruction, although  
          this requires a prosecutor to obtain a civil injunction, which  




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          is costly and time-consuming.  (Penal Code § 18010.)  The  
          Department of Justice states that sellers are currently  
          circumventing the ban on sale of these magazines in California  
          by selling all the parts necessary to construct them as "repair  
          kits," which are then easily assembled in a matter of minutes.   
          Because possession is not prohibited, once the magazine is  
          assembled, law enforcement is unable to take any action at that  
          point.  This bill would prohibit possession of the kits used to  
          manufacture these high capacity magazines.  This bill would also  
          prohibit buying or receiving any high capacity magazine. 

          Many mass shootings, as well as other shootings with fewer  
          victims, have involved the use of high capacity magazines.  The  
          Violence Policy Center, a Washington D.C. - based nonprofit  
          research group, compiled a list of 34 such mass shootings in the  
          United States that have involved the use of high capacity  
          magazines.  Most recently these include the massacre at Sandy  
          Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in which the  
          shooter used several 30-round magazines and killed 28 people;  
          the Aurora Colorado movie theater massacre last July, in which  
          the shooter used a 100-round magazine and left 12 dead and 58  
          wounded; and the shooting in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011,  
          in which the shooter used a Glock 19 pistol with a 33-round  
          magazine, killing 6 and wounding another 13.  One of those  
          wounded was U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who is now  
          urging Congress to reinstate the federal ban on high capacity  
          ammunition magazines.

               WASHINGTON - A halting but riveting Gabrielle Giffords  
               told Congress on Wednesday that it must act now to  
               stem gun violence, telling senators "too many children  
               are dying" just two years after she was shot at  
               point-blank range and suffered brain damage.


               The former Democratic Arizona congresswoman, who  
               struggles to walk and is partially blind, stoutly read  
               a brief statement in a high-pitched, almost childlike  
               voice as her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly,  




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               sat at her side in a packed and dramatically hushed  
               hearing room.


               "Speaking is difficult, but I must say something  
               important.  Violence is a big problem.  Too many  
               children are dying.  Too many children," Giffords  
               said.


               She enunciated each word slowly and clearly, and  
               punctuated her remarks at several points by looking up  
               abruptly, as if her head was a personal exclamation  
               point.


               "We must do something," she said.  "It will be hard,  
               but the time is now. You must act.  Be bold.  Be  
               courageous.  Americans are counting on you."


                                   * * * * * * * 


               Both she and her husband own guns and back the Second  
               Amendment.  However, they have become critics of the  
               National Rifle Association, pushing for a new assault  
               weapons ban, universal background checks and a ban on  
               high-capacity magazines.


                                    * * * * * * *


               In his own testimony, Kelly said that a limit on the  
               size of ammunition magazines, as proposed by Obama,  
               could have saved lives in the Tucson attack that  
               killed six and wounded his wife.





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               He said the gunman emptied his high-capacity  
               ammunition clip in 15 seconds, firing 33 bullets.  If  
               the shooter had used a 10-round clip, 9-year-old  
               Christina-Taylor Green, who was struck by bullet No.  
               13, "would be alive today," Kelly said.


               "I'm certainly willing to give up my right to own a  
               high-capacity magazine to bring back that young girl,"  
               he said.  ("Gabby Giffords Says 'Too Many Children Are  
               Dying' During Emotional Plea to Senate Committee for  
               Stricter Gun Control," New York Daily News, January  
               30, 2013,  
               http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gabby-giffords 
               -senate-gun-control-hearing-report-article-1.1251013#ix 
               zz2MnHJGkby.)

          A high capacity magazine increases the number of people that can  
          be killed or wounded in a short period of time with even a  
          conventional handgun or rifle.  Perhaps the most dramatic and  
          horrifying example of this occurred in 2011 when a man opened  
          fire on teenagers at a summer youth camp in Norway, killing 69  
          and wounding another 110, using a semi-automatic rifle, the .223  
          caliber Ruger Mini-14.  The Mini-14 does not contain any of the  
          features commonly associated with military-style assault  
          weapons, is perfectly legal in California, and is a popular  
          rifle with ranchers.  What made that weapon such a monstrously  
          effective tool of mass murder is the fact that the killer was  
          able to rapidly reload one magazine after another of ammunition.  
           According to the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Norway  
          forbids sale of ammunition magazines for hunting rifles that  
          hold more than three rounds.  The killer stated that he bought  
          10 30-round magazines by mail-order from a supplier in the  
          United States.  (Norway Shooter: Ammo Clips Were From U.S.,  
          Politico, July 28, 2011,  
          http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60154.html.)

          3.  The Federal Assault Weapons Ban Has Been Allowed to Expire  




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          The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was passed as a portion of the  
          Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act on September 13,  
          1994.  In addition to banning assault weapons, the Act also  
          banned the possession, manufacture or transfer of large capacity  
          ammunition feeding devices, or high capacity magazines.  The Act  
          expired on September 13, 2004, and was not reenacted.  

          Like the assault weapons ban, whether citizens should be allowed  
          to own high-capacity magazines is one of the contested issues in  
          the debate over what constitutes reasonable gun regulation.

               Anyone who's thought seriously about armed  
               self-defense knows why honest Americans - private  
               citizens and police alike - choose magazines that hold  
               more than 10 rounds.  Quite simply, they improve good  
               people's odds in defensive situations," Chris W. Cox,  
               the executive director of the National Rifle  
               Association's legislative institute wrote in a piece  
               posted online.  He called the ban a "dismal failure."


               The federal prohibition on high-capacity magazines and  
               assault weapons was spurred in part by the 1989 mass  
               killing in Stockton, Calif. Patrick Edward Purdy, a  
               mentally unbalanced drug addict, fired 110 rounds from  
               an AK-47 into a schoolyard, killing five children and  
               wounding 29 others and a teacher.  Purdy used a  
               75-round drum magazine and a 35-round banana clip, one  
               of four he carried.  (David S. Fallis, Data Indicate  
               Drop in High-Capacity Magazines During Federal Gun  
               Ban, Washington Post, January 10, 2013,  
               http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/data-point 
               -to-drop-in-high-capacity-magazines-during-federal-gun- 
               ban/2013/01/10/d56d3bb6-4b91-11e2-a6a6-aabac85e8036_sto 
               ry.html.)







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          According the Washington Post, an analysis of data taken from  
          one jurisdiction, the State of Virginia, showed, "During the  
          10-year federal ban on assault weapons, the percentage of  
          firearms equipped with high-capacity magazines seized by police  
          agencies in Virginia dropped, only to rise sharply once the  
          restrictions were lifted in 2004[.]"  

                                   * * * * * * * *

               "I was skeptical that the ban would be effective, and  
               I was wrong," said Garen Wintemute, head of the  
               Violence Prevention Research Program at the University  
               of California at Davis School of Medicine.  The  
               database analysis offers "about as clear an example as  
               we could ask for of evidence that the ban was  
               working."  (Fallis, supra.)

          4.  What this Bill Would Do  

          This bill would require DOJ to create a database to record sales  
          of ammunition.  All ammunition sellers would be required to  
          obtain specified identification information from ammunition  
          buyers and report that information to DOJ, in a manner to be  
          determined by DOJ.  DOJ would then be required to cross check  
          that information with its Prohibited Armed Persons File to  
          determine if the buyer is prohibited from purchasing ammunition.  
           If the buyer is prohibited, DOJ would be required to forward  
          that purchaser's information to local law enforcement.  This  
          bill would also require DOJ to report to local law enforcement  
          agencies whenever a person obtains more than 3,000 rounds of  
          ammunition within a 5-day period.  This bill exempts from these  
          provisions law enforcement officers and agencies and ammunition  
          vendors.

          This bill would add buying or receiving a large-capacity  




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          ammunition magazine to the current ban on importation,  
          manufacture or sale of these magazines.  This crime is  
          punishable as a misdemeanor, by up to one year in the county  
          jail, or as a felony, by 16 months, two or three years in county  
          jail.

          This bill would also provide that, except as specified, 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 up to  
          six months in county jail, a fine of not more than $1,000, or  
          both.

          5.  Impact on Prison Overcrowding  

          This bill would create an alternate felony/misdemeanor for  
          buying or receiving a large-capacity magazine.  This would  
          likely have a minimal effect on prison population since a  
          defendant convicted of a felony violation of this provision  
          would serve his or her sentence in county jail unless the  
          defendant had a serious or violent prior conviction or was a  
          registered sex offender and it is already a prison-eligible  
          felony for anyone with a prior felony conviction of any kind to  
          possession any firearm or ammunition.  

          6.  Similar Legislation  
















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          Earlier this year this Committee approved SB 396 (Hancock),  
          which would prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines.   
          This bill, by contrast, would prohibit buying or receiving a  
          high capacity magazine.  SB 396 is currently pending hearing in  
          the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

          This Committee also approved SB 53 (de León) which would require  
          ammunition vendors licenses and ammunition purchaser permits.   
          SB 53 is currently pending hearing in the Assembly Public Safety  
          Committee.

          7.  Argument in Support  

          Mayor Jean Quan of the City of Oakland states:

               AB 48 will help to regulate and tighten ammunition  
               sales in California and ban high-capacity magazines.   
               Specifically, this bill will regulate all ammunition  
               sales, require ammunition purchasers to show  
               identification, require ammunition sellers to be  
               licensed dealers, require ammunition sellers to report  
               sales to the Department of Justice, and ban kits to  
               convert ammunition clips into high-capacity magazines.

               The city of Oakland has made public safety its top  
               concern.  We have worked closely with our regional,  
               state and federal leaders to bring additional  
               resources to focus on hot spots and address trending  
               crimes.  Gun violence is consistently a top priority  
               and AB 48, if signed into law, will help support our  
               efforts to make our City safer. 

          8.  Argument in Opposition  

          The California Waterfowl Association states:

               AB 48 would place an unreasonable burden on hunters  
               and other sportspeople who wish to voluntarily  
               transfer ammunition between themselves for legitimate  




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               sporting purposes.  This includes commonly occurring  
               transfers of small amounts of ammunition in the field  
               or at the shooting range, for example.  In addition,  
               the bill would make it much more difficult for young  
               people who cannot legally purchase ammunition on their  
               own to actively participate in hunting and related  
               activities, which conflicts with the California  
               Department of Fish and wildlife and many conservation  
               nonprofits' continuing efforts to encourage greater  
               youth participation in the outdoors.


               However, other than providing a limited exception for  
               law enforcement officers, AB 48 ammunition transfer  
               requirements offer no such flexibility.


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