BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 231
          Author:   Ting (D) and Gomez (D)
          Amended:  8/30/13 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.

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 8/30/13 make grammatical corrections  
          and chaptering out amendments.

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           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          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  

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            year, by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both. 

          1.Provides that, if all of the following conditions are  
            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.

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             G.   The person who keeps a firearm has no reasonable  
               expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances,  
               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), and SB 299  
            (Holden).

           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  

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          Violence
          Childrens Advocacy Institute
          Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services
          Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
          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  

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          improperly drafted statute could subject the wrong individuals  
          to criminal prosecution.  

          "Unfortunately, as the bill is currently drafted, it fails to  
          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  8/31/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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