BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 180|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 180
Author: Bonta (D)
Amended: 5/23/13 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 6/18/13
AYES: Hancock, Block, De León, Liu, Steinberg
NOES: Knight
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-29, 5/28/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Registration and licensing of firearms: City of
Oakland
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill provides an exemption for the City of
Oakland to enact and enforce ordinances and regulations that are
more restrictive than state law regulating the registration or
licensing of commercially manufactured firearms.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Provides that it is the intention of the Legislature to occupy
the whole field of regulation of the registration or licensing
of commercially manufactured firearms, as specified, and shall
be exclusive of all local regulations, relating to
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registration or licensing of commercially manufactured
firearms, by any political subdivision as defined.
(California Government Code § 53071.)
2.Provides that no permit or license to purchase, own, possess,
keep, or carry, either openly or concealed, shall be required
of any citizen of the United States or legal resident over the
age of 18 years who resides or is temporarily within this
state, and who is not within the excepted classes prescribed,
to purchase, own, possess, keep, or carry, either openly or
concealed, a handgun within the citizen's or legal resident's
place of residence, place of business, or on private property
owned or lawfully possessed by the citizen or legal resident.
(Penal Code § 25605(b).)
This bill provides that, notwithstanding the existing law
establishing the intention of the Legislature to occupy the
whole field of regulation of the registration or licensing of
commercially manufactured firearms, as specified, the City of
Oakland may enact an ordinance or regulation that is more
restrictive than state law regulating the registration or
licensing of commercially manufactured firearms.
Background
Preemption occurs when a higher level of government removes
regulatory power from a lower level of government. For example,
Congress may remove legislative authority from the states in
certain areas. Likewise, state governments may, in some cases,
remove local legislative authority. The strongest form of
preemption occurs when a higher level of government expressly
removes that power or expressly reserves that power. In
California, regulation and licensing of firearms has been
expressly preempted by state government.
Generally, preemption occurs in two ways: through express
preemption and implied preemption. Express preemption occurs
when a state provides explicitly, in the language of a statute
or constitutional provision that it intends to remove a lower
government's regulatory authority. Absent an express statement,
courts may infer an intent to take over a field of regulation,
even though there is no express legislative statement to that
effect. This is referred to as implied preemption. In general,
courts may find that a local law is preempted if it conflicts
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directly with state law by requiring what the state law
prohibits, or prohibiting what the state law requires. In
addition, when a comprehensive scheme of state regulation exists
on a particular subject matter, many state courts find that the
state legislature thereby indicated an implied intent to assert
exclusive authority over that subject matter.
California expressly preempts local governments from regulating
in the areas of registration or licensing of firearms;
manufacture, sale or possession of imitation firearms; and
licensing or permitting with respect to the purchase, ownership,
possession or carrying of a concealable firearm in the home or
place of business. (Government Code §§ 53071, 53071.5, Penal
Code § 25605(b).) In other areas, courts have found that local
governments have a great deal of authority to regulate firearms
and ammunition in their communities. For example, courts have
rejected preemption challenges to many local firearms and
ammunition laws, including the location and operation of
firearms dealers, and the sale and possession of firearms and
ammunition on county-owned property. (See, Suter v. City of
Lafayette (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 1109, 1119.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/18/13)
California Medical Association
California State Conference of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
City of Oakland
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Peralta Community College District
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/18/13)
California Rifle and Pistol Association
California Waterfowl Association
National Rifle Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The City of Oakland states:
As you are undoubtedly aware, Oakland's police department
is short staffed and the City is facing a search for a new
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police chief, who will be the third in two years. Violence
in Oakland has increased in recent years, the vast majority
of which is due to illegal firearms entering the city.
Tougher and flexible regulation is needed on the local
level to effectively reduce crime in Oakland. If our 646
officers, a ten year low number, are to be effective in
combating crime, tougher licensing and registration must be
part of that effort.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Waterfowl Association
states:
CWA opposes this measure because it would conflict with the
longstanding, statewide regulation of firearms, of (sic)
field of law which is currently fully occupied by the Penal
Code, and ultimately lead to a patchwork of inconsistent
local laws. In doing so, it would only further add to the
complexity of firearms laws in California, creating
unnecessary confusion for gun owners and likely increasing
enforcement costs. In particular, AB 180 would threaten to
make criminals out of well intentioned gun owners who move
into the City of Oakland but remain unaware of the
existence of any local firearm restrictions.
It should be noted that state law recently required the
registration of both shotguns and rifles (per AB 809
(Feuer) in 2011) but that there has neither been adequate
time nor a meaningful, peer reviewed study to determine its
full impact. Allowing a local entity to enact its own
registration requirements so soon after statewide
registration was already mandated is therefore unnecessary.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-29, 5/28/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Fong, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,
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Donnelly, Fox, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman,
Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez,
Morrell, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Salas,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Frazier, Gordon, Holden, Vacancy
JG:nl 6/19/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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