BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 1131 (Skinner) - Firearms prohibition: threats made to
therapists.
Amended: May 24, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1131 would increase from six months to five
years the period of time a person is prohibited from possessing
or owning a firearm based on his or her communication with a
licensed psychotherapist, on or after January 1, 2014, of a
threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable
victim or victims. In addition, this bill:
Recasts provisions authorizing the court to find a person is
not subject to the firearm possession prohibition to provide
that if a hearing is requested to contest such a prohibition,
the prosecution has the burden of proof, and specifies
additional procedures regarding such hearings.
Specifies procedures to be followed for the return of
confiscated firearms by persons not found to be subject to the
five-year prohibition.
Provides that for firearms confiscated for specified mental
health reasons, the period of forfeiture is 180 days during
which law enforcement may be contacted to facilitate sale or
transfer to a firearms dealer, after which the firearm is
subject to destruction.
Specifies notices and reports required to be submitted to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) under WIC § 8103 to be submitted
in electronic format.
Requires the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) to make
specified records available in electronic format to DOJ within
24 hours of a request.
Revises existing notification requirements for licensed
psychotherapists and local law enforcement agencies involving
reports of serious threats of physical violence from
"immediately" to "within 24 hours," as prescribed by the DOJ.
Fiscal Impact:
AB 1131 (Skinner)
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One-time costs to the DOJ of $260,000 (Special Fund*) in FY
2013-14 and $100,000 in FY 2014-15 to design, develop, and
implement enhancements to several automated tracking systems
and databases.
Minor, absorbable impact to the DSH to accommodate DOJ
requests electronically.
Minor, if any, impact to local law enforcement agencies and
negligible impact to the DOJ with regard to notification
changes.
Potential ongoing minor court-related costs (General
Fund**) for additional misdemeanor/felony court filings
resulting from the extended period of prohibition.
Potential increase in non-reimbursable local incarceration
costs offset to a degree by fine revenue to the extent
additional violations of the firearms prohibition occur
under the extended period of prohibition.
*Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) Special Account
**Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Current law requires any licensed psychotherapist to
immediately report to a local law enforcement agency the
identity of a person who has communicated to that therapist a
serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably
identifiable victim or victims. The local law enforcement agency
is then required to immediately report that information to the
DOJ. From the time the psychotherapist reports the threat to
local law enforcement, the person who made the threat is
prohibited from acquiring or possessing any firearm for six
months. Under existing law, the person has the right to request
a hearing whereby the person could restore his or her right to
own or possess a firearm if a court determines that the person
is likely to use firearms or other deadly weapons in a safe and
lawful manner.
Under existing law, a violation of the aforementioned firearms
possession prohibition is an alternate felony/misdemeanor,
punishable in a county jail for 16 months, two, or three years,
or in a county jail for not more than one year, by a fine of up
to $1,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine.
The DOJ developed the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) to
track handgun and assault weapon owners in California who may
pose a threat to public safety. The APPS contains information
about persons who have been, will become, or are prohibited from
possessing a firearm subsequent to the legal acquisition or
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registration of a firearm or assault weapon. The DOJ receives
automatic notifications from state and federal criminal history
systems to determine if there is a match in the APPS for a
current California firearms owner. The DOJ also receives
information from the courts, local law enforcement, state
hospitals, as well as public and private mental hospitals to
determine if a whether an individual is in prohibited status.
According to the DOJ, approximately half of APPS listings are
prohibited due to criminal history, about 30 percent are
prohibited due to mental health status, and the remaining 20
percent are prohibited due to active restraining orders.
This bill seeks to enhance public safety by increasing the
period during which a person may not own or possess a firearm
due to threats of violence to self or others.
Proposed Law: See Bill Summary.
Related Legislation: AB 1296 (Skinner) 2013 was substantially
similar to this measure but also included a provision increasing
from five years to 10 years the period of time a person would be
prohibited from possessing or owning a firearm based on the
person's admittance into a facility because that person was
determined a danger to self or others. This bill was held on the
Suspense File of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
SB 127 (Gaines) 2013 would amend existing notification
requirements for licensed psychotherapists and local law
enforcement agencies involving reports of serious threats of
physical violence from "immediately" to "within 24 hours," as
specified. This bill is currently pending hearing in the
Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
Staff Comments: The DOJ has indicated one-time costs of about
$360,000 (Special Fund) would be incurred over 18 months to
design, develop, and implement enhancements to several systems
and databases to meet the requirements of this measure.
This bill would amend the notification requirements for licensed
psychotherapists by replacing the word "immediately" with
"within 24 hours," and would amend the notification requirements
for local law enforcement agencies by replacing the word
"immediately" with "electronically, within 24 hours, in a manner
prescribed by the Department of Justice."
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Where current law requires that such reports be made
"immediately," that requirement is vague both in relation to the
reporting method and the time within which the report must be
made. Requiring that such reports by law enforcement are made
electronically and within 24 hours may increase the chances that
this information would be communicated to the DOJ in time to
prevent a person from illegally acquiring a firearm. The DOJ has
indicated they currently receive approximately 20 written
notifications annually. The clarification to the required
reporting method and timeline is not projected to place an
additional burden on law enforcement agencies, as the 24-hour
time provision would appear to extend the time period within
which to report over the existing requirement of "immediately."
As a result, no significant fiscal impact on local law
enforcement agencies is projected. The DOJ has indicated any
fiscal impact resulting from this clarification would be
negligible.
To the extent the provisions of this bill serve to reduce the
incidence of firearms-related injuries and death, potential
future cost savings could be substantial. A study by the
non-profit Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE)
reported over 105,000 incidences of firearm injury and death in
2010 nationally, with an estimated societal cost of over $174
billion in work lost, medical care, insurance, criminal justice
expenses, and pain and suffering. At a unit level, the study
reported a governmental cost of $187,000 to $582,000 per firearm
fatality in medical and mental health care, emergency services,
and administrative and criminal justice costs. The estimated
societal cost per firearm injury or fatality, including lost
work productivity and quality of life was reported at nearly
$430,000 to $5 million, respectively.