BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1798
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2014
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 1798 (Committee on Public Safety) - As Introduced: February
18, 2014
SUMMARY : Makes technical, nonsubstantive changes to provisions
of law related to deadly weapons. Specifically, this bill :
1)Clarifies that the definitions of "application to purchase,"
"firearm safety device," "locked container," "short-barreled
rifle," and "short-barreled shotgun" covers the entirety of
Part 6 of the Penal Code related to Control of Deadly Weapons.
2)Standardizes references in the code to the "federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives" and the "facility's
manager."
3)Recasts language in statutes into separate subdivisions to
increase readability.
4)Deletes an erroneous cross-reference.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States, in order to assist in the investigation of crime, the
prosecution of civil actions by city attorneys, the arrest and
prosecution of criminals, and the recovery of lost, stolen, or
found property, the Attorney General shall keep and properly
file a complete record of all copies of fingerprints, copies
of licenses to carry firearms issued as provided, information
reported to the Department of Justice (DOJ) as specified,
dealers' records of sales of firearms, specified forms and
reports, that are not dealers' records of sales of firearms,
other specified information, and reports of stolen, lost,
found, pledged, or pawned property in any city or county of
this state, and shall, upon proper application therefor,
furnish this information to the officers authorized to receive
state summary criminal history information. (Pen. Code, §
11106, subd. (a).)
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2)Requires the Attorney General to permanently keep and properly
file and maintain all information reported to the Department
of Justice pursuant to specified provisions of law as to
firearms and maintain a registry thereof. (Pen. Code, §
11106, subd. (b).)
3)Provides that any officer referred to in provisions of law
related to who may receive state summary criminal history
information may disseminate the name of the subject of the
record, the number of the firearms listed in the record, and
the description of any firearm, including the make, model, and
caliber, from the record relating to any firearm's sale,
transfer, registration, or license record, or any information
reported to the Department of Justice if certain conditions
are met. (Pen. Code, § 11106, subd. (c)(1).)
4)Defines "application to purchase" to mean either of the
following (Pen. Code, § 16190):
a) The initial completion of the register by the purchaser,
transferee, or person being loaned a firearm, as required
by existing provisions of law; or,
b) The initial completion and transmission to the
Department of Justice of the record of electronic or
telephonic transfer by the dealer on the purchaser,
transferee, or person being loaned a firearm, as required
by existing provisions of law.
5)Defines "firearm safety device" as a device other than a gun
safe that locks and is designed to prevent children and
unauthorized users from firing a firearm. The device may be
installed on a firearm, be incorporated into the design of the
firearm, or prevent access to the firearm. (Pen. Code, §
16540.)
6)States that "locked container" means a secure container that
is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, keylock,
combination lock, or similar locking device. The term "locked
container" does not include the utility or glove compartment
of a motor vehicle. (Pen. Code, § 16850.)
7)Defines "short-barreled rifle" to mean any of the following
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(Pen. Code, § 17170, subds. (a)-(e)):
a) A rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16
inches in length;
b) A rifle with an overall length of less than 26 inches;
c) Any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration,
modification, or otherwise) if that weapon, as modified,
has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or
barrels of less than 16 inches in length;
d) Any device that may be readily restored to fire a fixed
cartridge which, when so restored, is a device defined in
subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive; or,
e) Any part, or combination of parts, designed and intended
to convert a device into a device defined in subdivisions
(a) to (c), inclusive, or any combination of parts from
which a device defined in subdivisions (a) to (c),
inclusive, may be readily assembled if those parts are in
the possession or under the control of the same person.
8)States that "short-barreled shotgun" means any of the
following (Pen. Code, § 17180, subds. (a)-(e)):
a) A firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed
shotgun shell and has a barrel or barrels of less than 18
inches in length;
b) A firearm that has an overall length of less than 26
inches and that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed
shotgun shell;
c) Any weapon made from a shotgun (whether by alteration,
modification, or otherwise) if that weapon, as modified,
has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or
barrels of less than 18 inches in length;
d) Any device that may be readily restored to fire a fixed
shotgun shell which, when so restored, is a device defined
in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive; or,
e) Any part, or combination of parts, designed and intended
to convert a device into a device defined in subdivisions
(a) to (c), inclusive, or any combination of parts from
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which a device defined in subdivisions (a) to (c),
inclusive, can be readily assembled if those parts are in
the possession or under the control of the same person.
9)Requires the producer and facility manager of a gun show or
event to prepare an annual event and security plan and
schedule that shall include, at a minimum, all of the
information specified for each show or event. The annual event
and security plan shall be submitted by either the producer or
the facility's manager to the DOJ and the law enforcement
agency with jurisdiction over the facility. (Pen. Code, §
27210, subds. (a) & (b).)
10)Authorizes DOJ to conduct onsite inspections at the business
premises of a person on the centralized list of exempted
federal firearms licensees to determine compliance with
firearms laws; and requires DOJ to work in consultation with
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to
ensure that licensees are not subject to duplicative
inspections. (Pen. Code, § 28480, subds. (a) & (b).)
11)Provides that DOJ may adopt regulations as necessary to carry
out specified provisions of law. DOJ shall work in
consultation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,
and Explosives to ensure that state regulations are not
duplicative of federal regulations. (Pen. Code, § 28490.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "AB 1798 is
based on a recommendation of the California Law Revision
Commission. The bill proposes minor, technical changes to the
deadly weapons provisions of the Penal Code. These changes
would clarify certain deadly weapons statutes, making them
easier to understand and use.
"AB 1798 will clarify the scope of definitions for the
following terms contained in Part 6 of the Penal Code:
'application to purchase,' 'firearm safety device,' 'locked
container,' 'short-barreled rifle,' and 'short-barreled
shotgun.' Currently, the definitions for these terms have
expressly limited application, covering only specified
provisions. The Commission reviewed sections that use these
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terms, but fall outside the express scope of the statutory
definition. In all cases, the Commission concluded that the
undefined term was nonetheless used in the defined sense.
Therefore, this bill would amend these definitions to clarify
that they govern the entirety of Part 6 of the Penal Code.
This change would eliminate potential confusion.
"In addition, AB 1798 would standardize references to the
'federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives'
and the 'facility's manager' for the site of a gun show or
event. This change would eliminate any confusion arising from
inconsistent references to this organization and person.
"Finally, AB 1798 also includes two other minor technical
revisions that were previously approved by the Legislature,
but did not take effect for process reasons. These changes
would improve clarity and readability & correct an erroneous
cross-reference.
"There is no known opposition to this bill."
2)Background : According to information provided by the
California Law Revision Commission, "In 2006, the Legislature
directed the Law Revision Commission to conduct a study and
recommend nonsubstantive changes to the statutes relating to
control of deadly weapons to simplify and provide better
organization to this area of law. [ACR 73 (McCarthy), Chapter
128, Statutes of 2007.] The Commission was expressly directed
not to make any change that would affect the existing scope of
criminal liability.
"In June 2009, the Commission submitted its recommendation on
Nonsubstantive Reorganization of Deadly Weapons Statutes
('Deadly Weapons Recommendation') to the Legislature. In 2010,
the recommendation was enacted, reorganizing the deadly
weapons statutes into a new Part 6 of the Penal Code,
structuring the provisions in a more user-friendly form and
making conforming revisions to the law.
"Throughout its deadly weapons study, the Commission took an
extremely cautious approach, to avoid making any substantive
change. During the course of the study, the Commission found a
number of minor issues that could not be addressed without
potentially causing concern about the possibility of such a
change. Consistent with the Commission's limited mandate, the
Commission did not address any of these minor issues in its
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Deadly Weapons Recommendation.
"Instead, these minor issues were listed in Appendix B of the
Deadly Weapons Recommendation and set aside for possible
future work. In the Deadly Weapons Recommendation, the
Commission requested authority to study these clean-up issues.
"The Legislature granted the Commission authority to study and
make recommendations on the issues identified in Appendix B.
Pursuant to that authority, the Law Revision Commission now
recommends minor clean-up amendments to address some of the
issues identified in Appendix B of the Deadly Weapons
Recommendation.
"This recommendation also proposes two other minor technical
revisions that were not included in Appendix B. These minor
revisions are proposed pursuant to the Commission's authority
in Government Code Section 8298.
"Part 6 contains a number of statutory definitions that have
expressly limited application. These definitions only govern
specified provisions. For example, Section 16540 defines the
term 'firearm safety device,' but only for uses of that term
in Section 25135 and Division 2 (commencing with Section
23620) of Title 4 of Part 6.
"Part 6 also contains a number of sections that use a defined
term but are not within the provisions governed by the
statutory definition. For example, Section 26850 uses the term
'firearm safety device,' but this section is not governed by
the definition of that term provided in Section 16540.
Undefined usage of defined terms can cause confusion. When a
definition does not govern all uses of the defined term, it is
unclear whether the term was intended to have a different
meaning in provisions that are not governed by the definition.
It is also possible that the failure to expand a definition's
application to cover a particular provision using the term was
inadvertent.
In order to address that confusion, the Commission examined
the undefined uses of the following defined terms:
'application to purchase,' 'firearm safety device,' 'locked
container,' 'short-barreled rifle,' and 'short-barreled
shotgun.' In each case, the Commission found that in every
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provision of Part 6 that is not governed by the definitions,
the terms were nonetheless used in the defined sense.
"Because the defined meanings are consistent with every
undefined use of the terms, the Commission recommends that the
definitions be generalized to govern the entirety of Part 6.
This would eliminate any confusion as to the meaning of the
terms in sections that are not governed by the definitions. It
would also simplify future development of the law, by
providing a default definition that would govern any new
provision added to Part 6."
3)ACR 73 : In 2006, the Governor signed ACR 73 (McCarthy),
Chapter 128, Statutes of 2007, asking the California Law
Revision Commission (CLRC) to revise various Penal Code
provisions relating to firearms. The CLRC is required to
prepare and submit recommended legislation by July 1, 2009.
ACR 73 focused on CLRC's revisions that accomplished the
following objectives:
"Reduce the length and complexity of current sections; avoid
unnecessary use of cross-references; neither expand nor
contract the scope of criminal liability under current
provisions; in the event that the commission's draft changes
the scope of criminal liability under the current provisions,
this shall be made explicit in the commission's draft or any
commentary related to the draft; to the extent compatible with
these objectives, use common definitions of terms, and;
organize existing provisions in such a way that similar
provisions are located in close proximity to each other."
The author of ACR 73 stated, "In particular, the laws relating
to the transfers of firearms are lengthy, with numerous
cross-references, highly fact-specific exemptions, and complex
provisions. For example, Penal Code section 12078 is 5,880
words long and occupies 11 pages if printed in a 12-point font
with conventional margins. The section has cross-references
to many scattered sections of other firearms provisions, some
of them hundreds of sections away. The firearms laws occupy
over 100 pages of an un-annotated version of the Penal Code
when printed in dual column in tiny print. These areas of the
law are not for legal experts only. Firearms owners, licensed
dealers, and law enforcement need to be able to interpret
these provisions in order to comply with the law and avoid
criminal liability. Ambiguity and confusion do not promote
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the public policy goals that those laws were designed to
accomplish. ACR 73 is designed to task the CLRC, a neutral
body of legal experts, with the task of seeing if they can
simplify and reorganize these laws. It also includes a
statement of legislative intent that when the Commission's
work is complete that it will be tasked with addressing other
portions of the firearms laws."
4)Argument in Support : The California Law Review Commission
writes, "Assembly Bill 1798 would implement a Law Revision
Commission recommendation that proposes a number of minor
technical changes to Part 6 of the Penal Code.
"Specifically, AB 1798 would do the following:
a) Expand of the scope of certain definitions to cover all
of Part 6 of the Penal Code. These changes would be
nonsubstantive, because each provision of Part 6 that uses
the defined terms uses them in their defined sense.
b) Standardize references to certain organizations and
persons.
c) Delete an obsolete cross-reference. This correction was
approved by the Legislature in 2013, but the bill was
vetoed for unrelated reasons.
d) Revise language to make it easier to understand. Similar
revisions were approved by the Legislature in 2011, but
were "chaptered out" by another bill."
5)Prior Legislation :
a) SB 1115 (Committee on Public Safety), Chapter 178,
Statutes of 2010, makes cross-reference changes to
provisions of law that reference various deadly weapons
provisions in the Penal Code, to be operative January 1,
2012.
b) SB 1080 (Committee on Public Safety), Chapter 711,
Statutes of 2010, reorganized and made other nonsubstantive
changes to the deadly weapons provisions of law.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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California Law Review Commission
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744