BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1964
          Author:   Dickinson (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE  :  4-2, 6/10/14
          AYES:  Hancock, De León, Liu, Steinberg
          NOES:  Anderson, Knight
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Mitchell
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  48-25, 4/24/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Unsafe handguns:  single-shot pistols

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill amends an exemption to the safe handgun  
          requirements for single-shot firearms by exempting only a  
          single-shot pistol with a break top or bolt action and a barrel  
          length of not less than six inches and that has an overall  
          length of at least 10.5 inches when the handle, frame or  
          receiver, and barrel are assembled, as specified.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1.Provides that commencing January 1, 2001, no "unsafe handgun"  
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            may be manufactured or sold in California by a licensed  
            dealer, except as specified, and requires that the Department  
            of Justice (DOJ) prepare and maintain a roster of handguns  
            which are determined not to be unsafe handguns.  Private party  
            sales (used or previously owned) and transfers of handguns  
            through a licensed dealer are exempted from those  
            restrictions.  

          2.Provides that any person in California who manufactures or  
            causes to be manufactured, imports into the state for sale,  
            keeps for sale, offers or exposes for sale, gives, or lends  
            any unsafe handgun shall be punished by imprisonment in a  
            county jail not exceeding one year.   

          3.Requires that, commencing January 1, 2010, all semiautomatic  
            pistols that are not already listed on the roster be designed  
            and equipped with a microscopic array of characters that  
            identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol,  
            etched or otherwise imprinted in two or more places on the  
            interior surface or internal working parts of the pistol, and  
            that are transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when  
            the firearm is fired, provided that the DOJ certifies that the  
            technology used to create the imprint is available to more  
            than one manufacturer unencumbered by any patent restrictions.  
             On May 17, 2013, DOJ issued that certification.  

          4.Specifies that roster requirements do not apply to a  
            single-action revolver that has at least a five-cartridge  
            capacity with a barrel length of not less than three inches,  
            and meets any of the following specifications:

          A.   The firearm is a curio or relic. 

          B.   The firearm has an overall length of over seven and a half  
               inches when the handle, frame or receiver, and barrel are  
               assembled.

          C.   The firearm has an overall length of over seven and a half  
               inches when the handle, frame or receiver, and barrel are  
               assembled and is currently approved for importation under  
               the federal regulations. 

          5.Specifies that a single-shot pistol with a barrel length of  
            not less than six inches and has an overall length of at least  

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            10.5 inches is exempt from roster requirements.  

          This bill amends an exemption to the safe handgun requirements  
          for single shot handguns to exempt from those requirements a  
          single-shot pistol with a break top or bolt action and a barrel  
          length of not less than six inches and that has an overall  
          length of at least 10.5 inches when the handle, frame or  
          receiver, and barrel are assembled.  This exemption does not  
          apply to a semiautomatic pistol that has been temporarily or  
          permanently altered to that it will not fire in semiautomatic  
          mode.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  Yes

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/20/14)

          All Saints Church of Pasadena
          California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun  
          Violence
          Coalition Against Gun Violence
          Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
          League of Women Voters of California
          Los Angeles City Attorney Michael Feuer
          Los Angeles District Attorney's Office
          Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
          Physicians for Social Responsibility
          South County Citizens Against Gun Violence
          Women Against Gun Violence

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  6/20/14)

          California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The Law Center to Prevent Gun violence  
          states, in part: 

            Unfortunately, a critical gap in the state's unsafe handgun  
            law enabled the continued circulation of these dangerous guns  
            on the consumer marker.  Under current law, any semiautomatic  
            handgun that has been temporarily altered to operate as a  
            single-shot weapon (i.e., a gun that can only hold a single  
            ammunition round at a given time) is exempt from the unsafe  
            handgun law.  As a result, manufacturers and dealers may sell  

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            these temporarily altered single-shot guns to purchasers, who  
            may then convert them back into semiautomatic handguns that  
            would not meet the state's safety requirements.  According to  
            the Department of Justice, sales of single-shot guns have  
            skyrocketed and more than 18,000 of these dangerous weapons  
            were sold in California in 2013 alone.  AB 1964 would amend  
            the law so that the unsafe handgun law's requirements apply to  
            any semiautomatic pistol, even if it has been temporarily or  
            permanently altered into a single-shot functionality.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    The California Association of  
          Federal Firearms Licensees states, in part:

            The clear intent of this measure is to further narrow  
            California's already onerous and overly burdensome "not  
            unsafe" handgun roster and eliminate more firearms from the  
            non-peace officer marketplace.  While AB 1964's passage would  
            certainly reinforce the arguments against the roster in  
            ongoing federal civil rights litigation (see, e.g., Peña v.  
            Lindley), we must remain opposed to AB 1964 on its merits. 

            There is no evidentiary need for the passage of AB 1964.  The  
            penal code, as it relates to firearms, is already overflowing  
            with laws that are not enforced or unenforceable.  AB 1964 is  
            a solution in search of a problem and may be the bill that  
            bursts the penal code levee. 

            In 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in  
            District of Columbia v. Heller that firearms in common use for  
            lawful purpose-such as those targeted for prohibition by AB  
            1964-are protected under the Second Amendment.  
           

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR :  48-25, 4/24/14
          AYES:  Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,  
            Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,  
            Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Fong, Garcia,  
            Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Pan,  
            Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber,  
            Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NOES:  Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,  
            Donnelly, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,  

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            Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Melendez, Nestande, Olsen,  
            Patterson, Salas, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Eggman, Gray, Harkey, Mansoor, Medina,  
            Nazarian, Vacancy


          JG:k  6/23/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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