BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 48
Author: Skinner (D), et al.
Amended: 9/6/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 7/2/13
AYES: Hancock, Block, De León, Liu, Steinberg
NOES: Knight
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/30/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Firearms: large-capacity magazines
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill adds the purchase or receipt of any large
capacity magazine to the existing ban on the importation,
manufacture, or sale of such magazines and commencing January 1,
2014, makes it a misdemeanor for any person who knowingly
manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports, keeps for
sale, or who gives, lends, buys, or receives any large capacity
magazine conversion kit, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/6/13 delete the requirement that
the Department of Justice notify local law enforcement entities
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if an ammunition purchaser, who is not a vendor, obtains more
than 6,000 rounds of ammunition within a seven-day period, and
add double-jointing language with SB 396 (Hancock and Steinberg)
to avoid chaptering-out issues.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
1.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.
2.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.
3.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.
4.Prohibits a person, corporation, or firm from giving
possession or control of ammunition to any person who he/she
knows is prohibited by law from possessing ammunition.
5.Regulates handgun ammunition vendors and provides that a
handgun ammunition vendor will 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:
1.Adds the purchase or receipt of any large capacity magazine to
the existing ban on the importation, manufacture, or sale of
such magazines. Violations are an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in county jail
for up to one year for a misdemeanor, or for 16 months, two
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years, or three years in county jail (or state prison for
persons with a prior serious or violent felony) for a felony.
2.Commencing January 1, 2014, provides that any person 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 guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
by a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment in county jail for up
to six months, or both.
3.Defines "manufacturing" to include 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.
4.Defines "large capacity magazine conversion kit" as 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.
5.Adds double-jointing language with SB 396 (Hancock and
Steinberg) to avoid chaptering out issues.
Related Legislation
SB 53 (de León, 2013) requires the sale, purchase, and transfer
of ammunition to be subject to additional regulations, as
specified. Among other provisions, this bill requires the
Attorney General to maintain copies of ammunition purchase
permits, ammunition transaction information, and ammunition
vendor licenses.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Due to the bill's contingent enactment on SB 53, DOJ costs of
$0.2 million in FY 2013-14, $1.1 million in FY 2014-15, and
$0.4 million in FY 2015-16 (Special Fund*) and annually
thereafter to establish, maintain, and operate a database
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capable of notification upon the ammunition purchase limit as
prescribed in this measure are currently covered under the
costs of SB 53 as amended on June, 27, 2013. Senate
Appropriations Committee staff notes that because the enacted
version of SB 53 cannot be known with certainty at this time,
to the extent SB 53 is amended to revise or remove the
applicable provisions related to development of a database,
the estimated costs could potentially be incurred by this
bill.
Non-reimbursable local enforcement and incarceration costs,
offset to a degree by fine revenue.
Minor, if any, fiscal impact on the state prison population as
it is already a prison-eligible felony under PEN Section
29800(a)(1) for anyone with a prior felony conviction to
purchase or receive any firearm or ammunition.
Potential ongoing minor court-related costs (General Fund**)
for new misdemeanor filings.
While the impact of this bill independently on local jails is
likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of new or expanded
crimes impacting jail overcrowding could create General Fund
cost pressure on capital outlay, staffing, programming, the
courts, and other resources in the context of criminal justice
realignment.
*Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) Special Account
**Trial Court Trust Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/13)
AFSCME
California Police Chiefs Association
Albany City Council
Albany Unified School District
Berkeley City Council
California Chapter of the American College of Emergency
Physicians
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
California Nurses Association
Cities of Albany, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, El Cerrito,
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Emeryville, Oakland,
Piedmont, and Sacramento
Courage Campaign
Emery Unified School District
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
South County Citizens Against Gun Violence
Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County
Women Against Gun Violence
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Youth Alive
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/30/13)
California Sportsman's Lobby
California Waterfowl Association
National Association for Gun Rights
Safari Club International
Sheriff of Shasta County, California
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
JG:nl 9/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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