California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 169

Introduced by Assembly Member Dickinson

January 24, 2013

An act to amend Section 32000 of, and to repeal Section 32110 of, the Penal Code, relating to unsafe handguns.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 169, as introduced, Dickinson. Unsafe handguns.

(1) Existing law requires parties to a firearms transaction to complete the sale, loan, or transfer of the firearm through a licensed firearms dealer where neither party to the transaction holds a dealer license. Existing law provides for several exceptions from this requirement, including sales made to authorized law enforcement representatives, delivery of a firearm to a gunsmith for repair, transactions involving a firearm that is a curio or relic, or the loaning of a firearm for use solely as a prop in a motion picture, among others.

Existing law provides for the testing of handguns and requires the Department of Justice to maintain a roster listing all handguns that are determined not to be unsafe handguns. Existing law makes it a crime, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, to manufacture, import into the state for sale, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale, give, or lend an unsafe handgun. Existing law provides that the provisions defining and governing unsafe handguns do not apply to certain transactions, including the sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm in a transaction that requires the use of a licensed dealer, or where the sale, loan, or transfer is exempt from the provisions of law requiring the transfer to be conducted through a licensed firearms dealer, among others.

This bill would repeal these exemptions, and would instead make the prohibition on manufacturing, importing, selling, giving, or lending an unsafe handgun inapplicable to the sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm that is exempt from the requirement that a firearms transaction to be completed through a licensed firearms dealer. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing law exempts the purchase of a handgun from the above prohibition on manufacturing, importing, selling, giving, or lending an unsafe handgun if the handgun is sold to, or purchased by, the Department of Justice, a police department, a sheriff’s official, a marshal’s office, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Highway Patrol, any district attorney’s office, or the military or naval forces of this state or of the United States for use in the discharge of their official duties.

This bill would prohibit a person exempted under the above provision from selling or otherwise transferring the ownership of the handgun to a person who is not exempted under the same provision unless the transaction is exempt from the requirement to complete the transaction through a licensed dealer. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3) The bill would also make nonsubstantive, technical corrections.

(4) 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 32000 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

32000.  

(a) Commencing January 1, 2001, any person in this
state who manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into
the state for sale, keeps for sale, offers or exposes for sale, gives,
or lends any unsafe handgun shall be punished by imprisonment
in a county jail not exceeding one year.

(b) This section shall not apply to any of the following:

(1) The manufacture in this state, or importation into this state,
of begin delete any prototype pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being end delete
begin delete concealed upon the person end delete begin insert a prototype handgun end insert when the
manufacture or importation is for the sole purpose of allowing an
independent laboratory certified by the Department of Justice
pursuant to Section 32010 to conduct an independent test to
determine whether that begin delete pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable end delete
begin delete of being concealed upon the person end delete begin insert handgun end insert is prohibited by
Sections 31900 to 32110, inclusive, and, if not, allowing the
department to add the firearm to the roster of begin delete pistols, revolvers, end delete
begin delete and other firearms capable of being concealed upon the person end delete
begin insert handguns end insert that may be sold in this state pursuant to Section 32015.

(2) The importation or lending of a begin delete pistol, revolver, or other end delete
begin delete firearm capable of being concealed upon the person end delete begin insert handgun end insert by
employees or authorized agents of entities determining whether
the weapon is prohibited by this section.

(3) Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in Section
478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(4) The sale or purchase of begin delete any pistol, revolver, or other firearm
capable of being concealed upon the person, if the pistol, revolver,
or other firearm end delete begin insert a handgun, if the handgun end insert is sold to, or purchased
by, the Department of Justice, begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert police department, begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert
sheriff’s official, begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert marshal’s office, begin delete the Youth and Adult end delete
begin delete Correctional Agency end delete begin insert the Department of Corrections and end insert
begin insert Rehabilitation end insert , the California Highway Patrol, any district
attorney’s office, or the military or naval forces of this state or of
the United States for use in the discharge of their official duties.
begin delete Nor shall anything in this end delete begin insert This end insert section begin insert does not end insert prohibit the sale
to, or purchase by, sworn members of these agencies of begin delete any pistol, end delete
begin delete revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the end delete
begin delete person. end delete begin insert a handgun. Except as provided in end insert begin insert paragraph (5) , a person end insert
begin insert who, under this paragraph, acquires a handgun that is not on the end insert
begin insert roster required by Section 23015, shall not sell or otherwise end insert
begin insert transfer ownership of the handgun to a person who is not exempted end insert
begin insert under this paragrap end insert begin insert h. end insert

begin insert

(5) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm that is exempt from
the provisions of Section 27545 pursuant to any applicable
exemption contained in Article 2 (commencing with Section 27600)
or Article 6 (commencing with Section 27850) of Chapter 4 of
Division 6, if the sale, loan, or transfer complies with the
requirements of that applicable exemption to Section 27545.

end insert

(c) Violations of subdivision (a) are cumulative with respect to
each handgun and shall not be construed as restricting the
application of any other law. However, an act or omission
punishable in different ways by this section and other provisions
of law shall not be punished under more than one provision, but
the penalty to be imposed shall be determined as set forth in Section
654.

SEC. 2.  

Section 32110 of the Penal Code is repealed.

begin delete

32110.  

Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) and Article
5 (commencing with Section 32000) shall not apply to any of the
following:

(a) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm pursuant to Chapter
5 (commencing with Section 28050) of Division 6 in order to
comply with Section 27545.

(b) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm that is exempt from
the provisions of Section 27545 pursuant to any applicable
exemption contained in Article 2 (commencing with Section 27600)
or Article 6 (commencing with Section 27850) of Chapter 4 of
Division 6, if the sale, loan, or transfer complies with the
requirements of that applicable exemption to Section 27545.

(c) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm as described in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 32000.

(d) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant
to Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, for the purposes of the
service or repair of that firearm.

(e) The return of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person by a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, to its owner where that firearm
was initially delivered in the circumstances set forth in subdivision
(a), (d), (f), or (i).

(f) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant
to Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, for the purpose of a
consignment sale or as collateral for a pawnbroker loan.

(g) The sale, loan, or transfer of any pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person listed as a
curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code
of Federal Regulations.

(h) The sale, loan, or transfer of any semiautomatic pistol that
is to be used solely as a prop during the course of a motion picture,
television, or video production by an authorized participant therein
in the course of making that production or event or by an authorized
employee or agent of the entity producing that production or event.

(i) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant
to Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, where the firearm is being
loaned by the licensee to a consultant-evaluator.

(j) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person by a person licensed pursuant
to Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, where the firearm is being
loaned by the licensee to a consultant-evaluator.

(k) The return of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, where it was initially delivered
pursuant to subdivision (j).

end delete

SEC. 3.  

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.