BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1014
Author: Skinner (D), Williams (D), et al.
Amended: 8/18/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 6/24/14
AYES: Hancock, De León, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson, Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-17, 5/31/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Gun violence restraining orders
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes a law enforcement officer or
immediate family member of a person, to seek, and a court to
issue, a gun violence restraining order (GVRO), as specified,
prohibiting a person from having in his/her custody or control,
owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any firearms or
ammunition, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law provides that certain people
are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm:
Any person who:
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1. Has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by
imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.
2. Is a fugitive from justice.
3. Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled
substance, as defined.
4. Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been
committed to a mental institution.
5. Being an alien:
A. Is illegally or unlawfully in the U.S.; or
B. Except as specified, has been admitted to the U.S.
under a nonimmigrant visa, as defined.
6. Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable
conditions.
7. Having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced
his citizenship.
8. Is subject to a court order that:
A. Was issued after a hearing of which such person
received actual notice, and at which such person had an
opportunity to participate.
B. Restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or
threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of
such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other
conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable
fear of bodily injury to the partner or child:
(1) Includes a finding that such person represents a
credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate
partner or child; or
(2) By its terms explicitly prohibits the use,
attempted use, or threatened use of physical force
against such intimate partner or child that would
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reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury.
1. Has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of
domestic violence.
Existing state law provides that certain people are prohibited
from owning or possessing a firearm. This includes:
1. Lifetime Ban
A. Anyone convicted of a felony;
B. Anyone addicted to a narcotic drug;
C. Any juvenile convicted of a violent crime with a gun
and tried in adult court;
D. Any person convicted of a federal crime that would be
a felony in California and sentenced to more than 30 days
in prison, or a fine of more than $1,000; and
E. Anyone convicted of certain violent misdemeanors,
e.g., assault with a firearm; inflicting corporal injury
on a spouse or significant other, brandishing a firearm in
the presence of a police officer.
1. 10 Year Ban
Anyone convicted of numerous misdemeanors involving violence
or threats of violence.
2. Five Year Ban
Any person taken into custody, assessed, and admitted to a
designated facility due to that person being found to be a
danger to themselves or others as a result of a mental
disorder, is prohibited from possessing a firearm during
treatment and for five years from the date of their
discharge.
3. Temporary Bans
Persons who are bound by a temporary restraining order or
injunction or a protective order issued under the Family Code
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or the Welfare and Institutions Code, may be prohibited from
firearms ownership for the duration of that court order.
This bill establishes a system authorizing persons to seek, and
the courts to issue, various types of GVROs, as follows:
1. Defines a "gun violence restraining order" as an order, in
writing, signed by the court, prohibiting and enjoining a
named person from having in his/her custody or control,
owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any firearms or
ammunition.
2. Requires the Judicial Council to prescribe the form of
petitions and orders and any other documents, and shall
promulgate any rules of the court necessary for
implementation.
3. Requires the court to notify the Department of Justice
(DOJ), district attorney and law enforcement agency when a
GVRO has been issued or renewed no later than one court day
after issuing or renewing the order.
4. Requires the court to notify the DOJ, district attorney and
law enforcement agency when a GVRO has been dissolved or
terminated no later than five court days after dissolving or
terminating the order.
5. Requires notices submitted to the DOJ to be submitted in
electronic format.
6. Provides for the following three types of GVROs:
A. A temporary emergency GVRO - may be issued on an ex
parte basis only if a law enforcement officer asserts and
a judicial officer finds that there is reasonable cause to
believe that a person poses an immediate and present
danger of causing personal injury to himself, herself, or
others by having in his/her custody or control, owning,
purchasing, possessing, or receiving firearms.
(1) Prohibits the person from having in his/her
custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or
receiving, or attempting to purchase or receive a
firearm or ammunition, and shall expire 21 days from
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the date of the order.
(2) Requires the law enforcement officer who
requested the emergency GVRO to serve the order on the
restrained person and enter into the DOJ computer
database system for protective and restraining orders.
(3) Requires the courts to designate at least one
judge, commissioner, or referee to be reasonably
available to issue emergency GVROs at all times,
whether or not court is in session.
A. Ex parte GVRO - may be requested by an immediate
family member of a person or a law enforcement officer by
filing a petition requesting the court issue an order
enjoining the person from having in his/her custody or
control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving a
firearm or ammunition.
(1) Authorizes a court to issue an ex parte GVRO if
the petition is supported by a written and signed
affidavit, as specified, showing that there is a
substantial likelihood that the person will, in the
near future, cause personal injury to himself/herself
or another by having in his/her custody or control,
owning, purchasing, possessing or receiving a firearm.
(2) Requires an ex parte GVRO to be issued or denied
on the same day the petition is submitted to the court,
or no later than the next day of judicial business
under specified circumstances.
(3) Provides for numerous factors for the court to
consider prior to issuing an ex parte GVRO.
(4) Provides that the ex parte GVRO expires no later
than 21 days from the date of the order.
(5) Provides for a scheduled hearing to be held
within 21 days of the order to determine if a more
permanent GVRO should be issued. Failure to appear
could result in an order valid for one year.
A. GVRO issued after notice and hearing - may be
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requested by an immediate family member of a person or a
law enforcement officer, which would enjoin the person
from having in his/her custody or control, owning,
purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm or
ammunition for a period of one year.
(1) Provides that at the hearing, the petitioner has
the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence
that there is a substantial likelihood that the person
will cause personal injury to himself/herself or others
by having in his/her custody or control, owning,
purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm.
(2) If the court finds that there is not clear and
convincing evidence to support the issuance of a GVRO,
the court shall dissolve any temporary emergency GVROs
or ex parte GVROs in effect.
(3) GVROs may be renewed for one year by further
order of the court.
(4) Provides that the restrained person is entitled
to one hearing to request a termination of the order,
and the court is to provide a form to request such a
hearing.
(5) Provides that an immediate family member of the
restrained person or a law enforcement officer may
request a renewal of a GVRO at any time within the
three months before expiration of a GVRO.
1. Makes it a misdemeanor for a person to file a petition for a
GVRO knowing the information to be false or with the intent
to harass.
2. Makes it a misdemeanor for a person to violate a GVRO, and
prohibits the person from having firearms or ammunition for a
five-year period, to commence upon the expiration of the
existing GVRO.
3. Mandates that if a specified peace officer is serving a
GVRO, that officer shall take temporary custody of any
firearm or other deadly weapon in plain sight or discovered
pursuant to a lawful search, and adds DOJ peace officers to
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the list of persons required to take temporary custody of
firearms in these situations.
4. Provides that a search warrant may be issued when the
property or things to be seized are firearms or ammunition
that are in the custody or control of, or is owned or
possessed by, a person who is the subject of a GVRO.
5. Provides upon issuance of a GVRO, the court shall order the
restrained person to surrender to the local law enforcement
agency any firearms or ammunition in the person's custody or
control, or which the restrained person owns or possesses.
6. Provides that if the surrender is not requested by a law
enforcement agency, the surrender must occur within 24 hours
of being served the order, to the law enforcement agency or
by selling the firearms or ammunition to a licensed gun
dealer, as specified.
7. Requires the firearms or ammunition surrendered to a law
enforcement agency to be retained until the expiration of the
GVRO.
8. Contains double-jointing language with SB 1154 (Hancock).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time significant costs potentially in excess of $250,000
(General Fund*) to the Judicial Council to develop forms,
instructions, standards, and procedures.
Potentially significant ongoing costs to the trial courts,
potentially in the hundreds of thousands to low millions of
dollars (General Fund*) to hold hearings, issue warrants, and
issue gun violence restraining orders. Actual costs would be
dependent of the volume of petitions filed by law enforcement
and family members.
One-time and ongoing costs of about $200,000 (General Fund)
to DOJ to upgrade automation systems to accommodate the new
information, provide training to various entities to
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facilitate the process of submittal, recording, and tracking
of gun violence restraining order status.
Ongoing potentially significant state-reimbursable costs
(General Fund) for law enforcement to retain surrendered
firearms and ammunition during the restraining order period,
issue a receipt to the restrained person at the time of
surrender, and serve ex parte restraining orders.
Non-reimbursable local law enforcement agency costs for
enforcement and incarceration, offset to a degree by fine
revenue for misdemeanor violations of the provisions of this
bill.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/14)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley
American College of Emergency Physicians - California Chapter
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence - California Chapters
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence - Orange County Chapter
California Democratic Party
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California Police Chiefs Association
California Psychiatric Association
Cities of Berkeley, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland,
Sacramento, and Santa Barbara
Coalition Against Gun Violence - Santa Barbara
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Courage Campaign
Disability Rights California
Everytown for Gun Safety
Friends Committee on Legislation
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer
Nevada County Suicide Prevention Taskforce
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Sacramento Chapter
Physicians for Social Responsibility - San Francisco-Bay Area
Chapter
Santa Barbara Chief of Police, Cam Sanchez
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley
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University of California Student Association
Ventura County Board of Supervisors
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County
Women Against Gun Violence
Youth Alive!
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/15/14)
California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees
California Sportsman's Lobby
Department of Finance
Gun Owners of California
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Safari Club International
Taxpayers for improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Police Chiefs
Association writes, "AB 1014, modeled on our state's domestic
violence restraining order laws, provides family members and law
enforcement with important new legal tools. AB 1014 allows for
the removal of firearms from individuals who are at risk for
committing acts of violence. It establishes a process for
obtaining a Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) from a court
in order to temporarily limit (for one year, unless renewed) the
individual's access to firearms when there are warning signs or
indications that the person is at risk for violence."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Safari Club International writes,
"The functional equivalent of what this bill proposes can
already be accomplished under existing law without the
additional costs that would result from AB 1014. It is better
to utilize and enforce existing laws than to add another
unnecessary layer of statute."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-17, 5/31/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson,
Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,
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Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Hagman, Harkey,
Jones, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell,
Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Gorell, Grove, Holden, Perea, Wagner,
Wilk, Vacancy
JG:k 8/17/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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