BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 685
Author: Achadjian (R)
Amended: 4/2/13 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/14/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : State goods: peace officer's state-issued handgun:
Spouse or domestic partner
SOURCE : California Association of Highway Patrolmen
DIGEST : This bill provides that the spouse or domestic
partner of a peace officer who has been killed in the line of
duty be allowed to purchase the decedent's state-issued handgun,
as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Prohibits a state employee from acquiring any goods from the
state unless the goods are offered to the general public in
the regular course of the state's business on the same terms
and conditions as those applicable to the employee.
2.Authorizes the department head of a state law enforcement
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agency to sell a state-issued handgun to a peace officer, as
defined, who retires after being employed by the state for
more than 120 months or who retires from a job-incurred
disability not related to a mental or emotional disorder and
has been granted the legal right to carry a concealed firearm.
3.Punishes as a misdemeanor, with specified exceptions, the
sale, lease, or transfer of firearms by a person unless the
person has been issued a license as specified.
4.Exempts from the firearm dealer license requirement detailed
above the sale, delivery, or transfer of a firearm by a law
enforcement agency to a peace officer as specified.
5.Requires a local agency to donate the personal effects,
including firearms that are not needed for evidence in a
pending court action or investigation and that have been
rendered inoperable, of any employee police officer or deputy
sheriff who is killed in the line of duty to the family of the
officer upon the family's request.
This bill:
1.Authorizes the department head of a peace officer, as defined,
who was employed by the state and who died in the line of duty
to sell the officer's state-issued handgun to the spouse or
domestic partner of the deceased officer.
2.Requires the cost of the handgun to be the lesser of the fair
market value of the handgun as listed in the annual Blue Book
of Gun Values or replacement cost, plus a charge for handling
cost.
3.Requires the spouse or domestic partner to request the
purchase of the handgun in writing to the department within 30
calendar days of the peace officer's death.
4.Requires the sale of the firearm to be conducted through a
dealer and that the spouse or domestic partner undergo a
background check.
5.Exempts from the firearm dealer license requirement the
delivery of a firearm by a law enforcement agency to a dealer
in order for that dealer to deliver the firearm to the spouse
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or domestic partner pursuant to the above provisions.
Comments
According to the author's office, under existing law, a peace
officer who retires after serving the State of California for a
period of more than 120 months (or who is retiring because of a
job-incurred disability not related to a mental or emotional
disorder), may be authorized by their department to purchase
their state-issued handgun.
However, there is no system currently in place, when a peace
officer has died in the line of duty, for their spouse to
purchase their state-issued handgun.
Officers often become attached to their handgun; they rely on
them in dangerous situations, carry them on a daily basis, and
may have used them in self-defense. Regardless the reason, an
officer's handgun is meaningful and holds value for them, and
often for their family. Allowing the widow/widower to purchase
their spouse's handgun back from the state may be a source of
comfort for the surviving spouse.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/15/13)
California Association of Highway Patrolmen (source)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California Rifle and Pistol Association
California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
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Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Vacancy
JG:ej 5/15/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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