Amended in Senate August 12, 2013

Amended in Senate June 24, 2013

Amended in Senate June 3, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 1, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 4, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 169

Introduced by Assembly Member Dickinson

January 24, 2013

An act to amend Sections 32000, 32100, and 32110 of the Penal Code, relating to unsafe handguns.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 169, as amended, Dickinson. Unsafe handguns.

(1) 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 the sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm in a transaction that requires the use of a licensed dealer or to the delivery of a firearm to a licensed dealer for purposes of a consignment sale or as collateral for a pawnbroker loan.

This bill would limit these exemptions to a maximum of 2 firearms per person, per calendar year, and would make the provisions defining and governing unsafe handguns inapplicable to the begin delete sale, loan, or transfer end delete begin insert surrender end insert of any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the begin delete person, conducted through a licensed dealer, that was listed on the roster of not unsafe handguns but was subsequently removed because of the failure to pay the fee necessary to keep the firearm listed on the roster end delete begin insert person to a local law enforcement agency end insert . By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing law makes the provisions defining and governing unsafe handguns inapplicable to a single-shot pistol, as specified.

This bill would instead make the provisions defining and governing unsafe handguns inapplicable to a single-shot pistol with a break top or bolt action. The bill would make this exemption inapplicable to a semiautomatic pistol that has been temporarily or permanently altered so that it will not fire in a semiautomatic mode. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3) 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.

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

(5) 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 a prototype handgun 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 handgun is prohibited
by Sections 31900 to 32110, inclusive, and, if not, allowing the
department to add the firearm to the roster of handguns that may
be sold in this state pursuant to Section 32015.

(2) The importation or lending of a handgun 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 a 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 section does not prohibit the sale to, or purchase by,
sworn members of these agencies of a handgun. A person who,
under this paragraph, acquires a handgun that is not on the roster
required by Section 32015, shall not sell or otherwise transfer
ownership of the handgun to a person who is not exempted under
this paragraph.

(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 32100 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

32100.  

(a) Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) and
Article 5 (commencing with Section 32000) shall not apply to a
single-action revolver that has at least a five-cartridge capacity
with a barrel length of not less than three inches, and meets any
of the following specifications:

(1) Was originally manufactured prior to 1900 and is a curio or
relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of
Federal Regulations.

(2) Has an overall length measured parallel to the barrel of at
least seven and one-half inches when the handle, frame or receiver,
and barrel are assembled.

(3) Has an overall length measured parallel to the barrel of at
least seven and one-half inches when the handle, frame or receiver,
and barrel are assembled and that is currently approved for
importation into the United States pursuant to the provisions of
paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of Section 925 of Title 18 of the
United States Code.

(b) Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) and Article 5
(commencing with Section 32000) shall not apply to a single-shot
pistol with a break top or bolt action and a barrel length of not less
than six inches and that has an overall length of at least 10½ inches
when the handle, frame or receiver, and barrel are assembled.
However, Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) and Article
5 (commencing with Section 32000) shall apply to a semiautomatic
pistol that has been temporarily or permanently altered so that it
will not fire in a semiautomatic mode.

SEC. 3.  

Section 32110 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

32110.  

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

(a) (1) 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 if the sale, loan, or transfer satisfies
the requirements specified in paragraph (2).

(2) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm pursuant to this
subdivision is limited to a total of two firearms per person, per
calendar year.

(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) (1) 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 if the
delivery of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person satisfies the requirements of paragraph
(2).

(2) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon a 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, pursuant
to this subdivision, is limited to a total of two firearms per person,
per calendar year.

(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).

begin delete

(l) The sale, loan, or transfer of any pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person conducted
through a person licensed pursuant to Sections 26700 to 26915,
inclusive, that was listed on the roster of not unsafe handguns
specified in Section 32015 but was subsequently removed from
the roster of not unsafe handguns pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 32015 because of the failure to pay the
fee to keep the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person listed on the roster.

end delete begin insert

(l) The surrender of any pistol, revolver, or other firearm
capable of being concealed upon the person to a local law
enforcement agency.

end insert

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.