BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 169 (Dickinson) - Unsafe handguns.
Amended: June 24, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 5-2
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: July 1, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 169 would make the following revisions to the
exemptions from the not "unsafe handgun" requirements:
Limits the exemption from the not unsafe handgun requirements
for the sale, loan, or transfer of handguns through a licensed
dealer in a private party transaction to a maximum of two
firearms per person per calendar year.
Limits the exemption from the not unsafe handgun requirements
for the delivery of a handgun through a licensed dealer for
the purpose of a consignment sale or as collateral for a
pawnbroker loan to a maximum of two firearms per person per
calendar year.
Prohibits a person who acquires a handgun that is not on the
not unsafe handgun roster under the exemption for law
enforcement officers from selling or transferring ownership of
the handgun to a person who does not qualify for the same
exemption.
Amends the exemption for single shot handguns to exempt from
those requirements 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 10 inches, as
specified.
Provides that the "not unsafe" handgun requirements do apply
to a semiautomatic pistol that has been temporarily or
permanently altered so that it will not fire in a
semiautomatic mode.
Adds an exemption for the sale, loan, or transfer of any
handgun conducted through a licensed dealer that was listed on
the roster of "not unsafe" handguns but was subsequently
removed from the roster because of the manufacturer's failure
to pay the fee to keep the handgun listed on the roster.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown; annual loss of revenue potentially in excess of
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$150,000 (Special Fund*) due to the restriction on private
party transactions and consignment sales.
Potential loss of revenue of up to $250,000 (Special
Fund**) per year to the extent manufacturers discontinue
submitting the annual fee to retain tested handguns on the
"not unsafe" handgun roster.
Minor one-time costs to the Department of Justice (DOJ) of
$29,000 (Special Fund*) to modify the DROS Entry System.
Non-reimbursable local costs for enforcement to the extent
there are a greater number of violations of the not "unsafe
handgun" requirements.
*Dealers Record of Sale (DROS) Special Account
**Firearm Safety and Enforcement Special Fund
Background: Existing law provides that the sale, loan, or
transfer of firearms in almost all cases must be processed by or
through a state licensed dealer or local law enforcement agency.
Existing law also provides that no "unsafe handgun" may be
manufactured or sold in this state by a licensed dealer, except
as specified, and requires that the DOJ prepare and maintain a
roster of handguns which are determined not to be unsafe.
Under existing law, any person in California who manufactures or
causes to be manufactured, imports into the state for sale,
keeps for sale, offers or exposes for sale, gives, or lends an
unsafe handgun is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year.
Numerous exemptions to the restriction are authorized under
current law, including but not limited to, for law enforcement
officers, for firearms listed as curios or relics, for private
parties where the firearm was previously owned, and for
specified transfers not required to be made through a licensed
dealer. In addition, under current law, an individual owning an
unsafe handgun may sell the handgun to any other individual
through a licensed dealer or on consignment sale.
Proposed Law: See Bill Summary.
Prior Legislation: AB 2460 (Dickinson) 2012 would have removed
the exemption on the sale or transfer of firearms not on the
"unsafe handgun" list for exempted law enforcement officers to
persons who do not qualify for the same exemption. This bill was
vetoed by the Governor with the following message:
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This bill would restrict law enforcement and military personnel
- and only those individuals - from selling lawfully purchased
handguns that have not been certified by the Attorney General's
Office. This bill takes from law enforcement officers the right
to an activity that remains legally available to every private
citizen. I don't believe this is justified.
Staff Comments: The DOJ has indicated the provisions of this
bill would result in one-time costs of $29,000 (DROS Fund) to
modify the DROS Entry System (DES). Currently, the DES allows
private parties to sell or transfer ownership of any handgun.
The restrictions on private party transactions will necessitate
modifications to display the DOJ roster of handguns for
non-exempted transactions.
By restricting the number of private party transactions and
consignment sales of "unsafe handguns" (non-rostered handguns)
to two firearms per person per year, the provisions of this bill
could result in an annual loss of DROS fee revenue. Based on
data from the DOJ, there were nearly 93,300 private party
transactions in 2012, which would equate to DROS fee revenue of
$2.3 million. While data on the number of private party
transactions specific to the same individual attributable to
multiple transactions is not available, to the extent a small
percentage of less than ten percent of those transactions could
potentially be impacted due to the restrictions in this bill,
could result in a loss of DROS fee revenue in excess of
$150,000.
This bill adds an exemption for the transfer of firearms that were
once tested and approved by DOJ and placed on the "not unsafe"
roster, and were later taken off the roster due to the failure of
the manufacturer to pay the necessary annual fee to keep the handgun
listed on the roster. The intent of this provision is to permit an
individual to sell a non-rostered handgun if the firearm had
previously been listed on the roster but subsequently was removed
due to the manufacturer no longer paying the fee, for example, in
the situation where the manufacturer is no longer in business, and
therefore, would not be able to remit the fee. An unintended
consequence, however, could be that existing manufacturers would not
have an incentive to continue to pay the annual fee to the DOJ for
tested handguns after initially placed on the list, thereby creating
a one-time fee for placement on the roster, as sales/transfers of
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previously-rostered handguns would not be subject to restrictions
due to the new exemption. It is unknown to what degree annual
revenues would be impacted, but the potential loss of annual revenue
could be up to $250,000 (Special Fund).
Recommended Amendments: In order to avoid the potential
unintended consequence of the loss of handgun roster fee
revenue, and in light of the recent amendments to the bill that
no longer prohibit private party transactions but instead limit
the number of such transactions of unsafe handguns, staff
recommends deletion of the provision adding subdivision (l) to
Penal Code § 32110:
(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.