BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1964
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1964 (Dickinson) - As Introduced: February 19, 2014
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill applies unsafe handgun restrictions to single-shot
pistols that can be easily modified to semi-automatic weapons.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor nonreimbursable local costs for incarceration, offset to a
degree by increased fine revenue, to the extent the misdemeanor
penalty for selling or providing unsafe handguns is applied to
additional cases.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. Current law provides that unsafe handguns, as
specified, may not be manufactured or sold in California. The
Department of Justice (DOJ) is required to maintain a roster
of unsafe handguns. According to the author, since the
enactment of the Unsafe Handgun law, the statute has been
amended to add exemptions to the prohibitions on buying and
selling these guns. One of the most significant loopholes in
the Unsafe Handgun law concerns single shot handguns. In
effect, a person may purchase a handgun manufactured or
altered to accept a single bullet (no semi-automatic reload of
a bullet in the firing chamber), even if the handgun is
considered by DOJ as unsafe.
The author states, "The single shot exemption undermines the
state Unsafe Handgun Law and results in an increasing number
of handguns being obtained that do not meet state safety
requirements. Buyers have learned that altering a
semi-automatic handgun so that it becomes a single shot
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handgun can be easily undone, returning the weapon to its
original illegal configuration.
"AB 1964 will eliminate the exemption for single shot handguns
in the state Unsafe Handgun law. AB 1964 will halt the growing
trend of people buying and converting unsafe handguns to get
around state mandated safety features and/or safety test for
handguns sold in California."
2)Unsafe handguns . SB 15 (Polanco), Statutes of 1999, made it a
misdemeanor for any person to manufacture, import for sale,
offer for sale, give, or lend any unsafe handgun, as defined,
with certain specific exceptions. SB 15 defined an unsafe
handgun as one that a) does not have a requisite safety
device; b) does not meet specified firing tests; and c) does
not meet a specified drop safety test.
3)Support . The CA Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence states, "Assembly Bill 1964 addresses an exploited
loophole in the Unsafe Handgun Act. Existing law allows for
the purchase of a semi-automatic handgun that is not on the
roster if the weapon was first modified to accept only a
single bullet. In practice, this has allowed dealers to modify
unsafe handguns to single shot weapons for the purpose of the
sale, after which they are readily converted back to
semiautomatic status. These actions completely negate the
intent of the Unsafe Handgun Act. This bill eliminates this
'single-shot exemption'.
"The 'single-shot exemption' has been abused in recent years.
According to the Department of Justice, up until 2009, no more
than 1,100 single shot handguns were purchased each year.
However, beginning in 2010, the number of unsafe single shot
handguns purchased skyrocketed. In year 2013, more than 18,000
single shot handguns were purchase in California. Clearly,
dealers and buyers have found a blatant way to circumvent
California's safe handgun law and the newer safety
requirements such as the chamber load indicator or
microstamping technology.
4)There is no registered opposition .
5)Prior Legislation . AB 169 (Dickinson), 2013, contained the
provisions of this bill in a larger bill and was vetoed due to
the governor's concern regarding restricting private party
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off-roster sales to two per year, which is not in AB 1964.
The governor's veto stated that closing the single-shot
exemption loophole "makes sense."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081