BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 231|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 231
Author: Ting (D) and Gomez (D)
Amended: 8/12/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 6/18/13
AYES: Hancock, Block, De León, Liu, Steinberg
NOES: Knight
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-30, 5/28/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Firearms: criminal storage
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill creates the crime of criminal storage in
the third degree, which imposes liability if a person
negligently stores or leaves a loaded firearm in a place where
he/she knows, or reasonably should know, that a child is likely
to access it, without the permission of the child's parent or
legal guardian. This bill also requires a firearms dealer to
conspicuously post warnings, as specified, to reflect the
offense to criminal storage of a firearm in the third degree.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
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1.Provides that, except as specified, a person commits the crime
of "criminal storage of a firearm of the first degree" if all
of the following conditions are satisfied:
A. The person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises
that are under the person's custody or control.
B. The person knows or reasonably should know that a child
is likely to gain access to the firearm without the
permission of the child's parent or legal guardian.
C. The child obtains access to the firearm and thereby
causes death or great bodily injury to the child or any
other person.
Criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree is
punishable as a felony by imprisonment in a county jail for 16
months, or two or three years, by a fine not exceeding $10,000
or both, or as a misdemeanor by imprisonment in a county jail
not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by
both that imprisonment and fine.
1.Provides that, except as specified, a person commits the crime
of "criminal storage of a firearm of the second degree" if all
of the following conditions are satisfied:
A. The person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises
that are under the person's custody or control.
B. The person knows or reasonably should know that a child
is likely to gain access to the firearm without the
permission of the child's parent or legal guardian.
C. The child obtains access to the firearm and thereby
causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to the child
or any other person, or carries the firearm and draws or
exhibits the firearm, as specified.
Criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.
1.Provides that, if all of the following conditions are
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satisfied, a person shall be punished by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding
$1,000, or both:
A. The person keeps a pistol, revolver, or other firearm
capable of being concealed upon the person, loaded or
unloaded, within any premises that are under the person's
custody or control.
B. The person knows or reasonably should know that a child
is likely to gain access to that firearm without the
permission of the child's parent or legal guardian.
C. The child obtains access to that firearm and thereafter
carries that firearm off-premises.
1.Provides that the penalties listed above do not apply if any
of the following are true:
A. The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal
entry into any premises by any person.
B. The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a
location that a reasonable person would believe to be
secure.
C. The firearm is locked with a locking device, as defined,
which has rendered the firearm inoperable.
D. The firearm is carried on the person within close enough
range that the individual can readily retrieve and use the
firearm as if carried on the person.
E. The person is a peace officer or a member of the Armed
Forces or National Guard and the child obtains the firearm
during, or incidental to, the performance of the person's
duties.
F. The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the
firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of
another person.
G. The person who keeps a firearm has no reasonable
expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances,
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that a child is likely to be present on the premises.
This bill:
1.Provides that a person may be found guilty of criminal storage
of a firearm of the third degree if:
A. The person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises
that are under the person's custody or control.
B. The person negligently stores the firearm or leaves it
in a place where the person knows or reasonably should know
that a child is likely to gain access to it, without the
permission of the child's parent or legal guardian, unless
reasonable action has been taken to secure the firearm
against access by a child.
1.Provides that criminal storage of a firearm in the third
degree is punishable as a misdemeanor.
2.Requires that a licensee shall post conspicuously within the
licensed premises the following warnings in block letters not
less than one inch in height "If you negligently store or
leave a loaded firearm within any premises under your custody
or control, where a person under 18 years of age is likely to
access it, you may be guilty of a misdemeanor, including a
fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000), unless you store
the firearm in a locked container, or lock the firearm with a
locking device."
3.Adds double-jointing language with SB 363 (Wright).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/9/13)
American Academy of Pediatrics
American College of Emergency Physicians
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Childrens Advocacy Institute
Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
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Los Angeles Trust for Children's Health
National Association of Social Workers
Pediatrician, Children's Hospital Oakland
San Francisco District Attorney
Sonoma County District Attorney
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/9/13)
California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Waterfowl Association
National Rifle Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The San Francisco District Attorney
states:
Studies have found that CAP [Child Access Prevention] laws
reduce firearm related deaths by increasing firearm owner
responsibility. Unfortunately, California's CAP laws are
ineffective because they do not emphasize prevention.
Existing law only imposes penalties if the negligent
storage of a firearm leads to a child's access and results
in damages, injury, death, or the firearm having been
brought into a public place such as a school. Statistics
indicate that more than 40% of gun owning households with
children store their guns unlocked. With such staggering
figures, we need to put greater emphasis on the safe
storage of weapons so that we may avoid unauthorized
access.
AB 231 will help prevent tragic consequences of firearm
death, injury and damage before they occur for our most
vulnerable population - children.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : California Attorneys for Criminal
Justice states, "The current version of the bill creates an
entirely new crime: 'Criminal storage of a firearm in the third
degree.' The overall objective of the legislation is to
increase the general public's compliance with firearm safety
laws and practices. While this is a laudable goal, an
improperly drafted statute could subject the wrong individuals
to criminal prosecution.
"Unfortunately, as the bill is currently drafted, it fails to
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specifically state that a child must be present and have
immediate access to the firearm. Similar statutes inherently
require the presence of a child and that access occurs without
parental permission. The deficiency of AB 231 could lead to
prosecution in cases in which a child never entered the home, or
the accused never anticipated that a child would be present."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-30, 5/28/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Garcia, Gatto,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Hall, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Pan, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Bradford, Chávez, Conway,
Dahle, Donnelly, Fox, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Gray, Grove,
Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Melendez, Morrell, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Salas,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Frazier, Roger Hernández, Holden, Vacancy
JG:nl 8/14/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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