BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 231
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 231 (Ting) - As Amended: April 18, 2013
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
As proposed to be amended , this bill creates the misdemeanor of
criminal storage in the third degree, punishable by up to six
months in county jail and or a fine of up to $1,000, for
situations in which a person negligently stores a gun where the
person reasonably should know a child under the age of 14 is
likely to gain access to it, unless reasonable action has been
taken to secure the firearm against access by a child.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor, if any, nonreimbursable local costs for local
incarceration, potentially offset by increased fine revenue.
Based on the handful of arrests - and no convictions - for
second-degree criminal storage in 2012, it is unlikely there
would be many third-degree charges. In addition, third-degree
criminal storage could also be charged as child endangerment,
which carries a more severe penalty.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends the crime of third-degree
criminal storage is needed to cover situations in which a
child - under the age of 14 - may obtain access to a gun
because it is not stored properly, but does not actually do
so.
2)Current Law . California requires that all guns be safely
stored. In the case of loaded guns, a person may be guilty of
a misdemeanor or a felony for keeping a loaded gun, and a
person under the age of 18 obtains and uses it, resulting in
AB 231
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injury or death, or carries it to a public place.
First-degree criminal storage, when a child gains access to a
gun and causes death or great bodily injury, is an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county
jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000, or by 16 months, two, or
three years in county jail, and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Second-degree criminal storage, when a child gains access to a
gun and causes injury, or carries the gun to a public place,
or brandishes the gun, is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to
one year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
3)The proposed offense could be charged as child endangerment
under current law . As noted in the Assembly Public Safety
analysis, the new offense this bill creates is similar to the
current child endangerment statute, which provides that any
person who, with custody or care of a child, under
circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death,
willfully causes or permits that child to be placed in a
situation where the child's health is endangered, is guilty of
alternate felony/misdemeanor child endangerment, punishable by
up to one year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000,
or two, four or six years in state prison.
4)Amendments delete all provisions relating to civil liability
changes.
5)Opposition . The National Rifle Association contends this bill
will "only turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals, whether
or not anything harmful actually happens?"
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081