BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1964|
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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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