BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 38 (de León) - Firearms prohibition: amnesty period.
Amended: April 11, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 13, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: This bill would require the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to establish a 15-day amnesty period commencing not later
than July 1, 2014, within which persons prohibited from firearm
ownership could surrender any firearms they possess to local law
enforcement agencies without being subject to criminal
prosecution for that possession. In addition, this bill:
Imposes a civil fine of up to $2,500 for each firearm
possessed by such persons after the amnesty period ends, in
addition to any criminal penalties.
Provides that persons convicted of a felony would not be
able to participate in the amnesty period.
Requires local law enforcement agencies receiving firearms
under this amnesty program to report specified information
to the DOJ regarding the firearms and the person
surrendering them.
Requires the DOJ to record in the Prohibited Arms Persons
File (APPS) the fact that specified firearms were
surrendered to law enforcement.
Authorizes the DOJ to conduct a public awareness campaign
in conjunction with local law enforcement to promote the
amnesty period.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time costs to the DOJ of less than $100,000 (General
Fund) to enter information received in the APPS to create a
record of each firearm surrendered during the amnesty
period.
Potential costs in the range of $500,000 (General Fund) to
the DOJ to conduct a public awareness campaign in
conjunction with local law enforcement to promote the
amnesty period.
Potential one-time state-reimbursable costs (General Fund)
for law enforcement agencies to report information to the
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DOJ regarding firearms surrendered during the amnesty
period.
Potentially significant costs savings in DOJ enforcement
costs to the extent the additional records result in a
reduced number of investigations related to APPS listings.
Potential cost savings in state and local incarceration
costs to the extent individuals who surrendered firearms
would have otherwise been charged and convicted of illegal
possession of firearms.
Potential increase in civil fine revenues to the extent
collection is pursued.
Background: Existing law prohibits persons who have been
convicted of specified crimes from owning or possessing
firearms. Under both federal and state law, for example, any
individual convicted of a felony offense is prohibited for life
from firearms ownership. Existing state law also imposes a
10-year firearms prohibition on any person convicted of numerous
misdemeanor offenses involving violence or the threat of
violence. A violation of this provision is an alternate
felony-misdemeanor (wobbler), punishable by imprisonment in a
state prison for 16 months, two, or three years, or in a county
jail for up to one year, a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.
In addition, state law imposes a 5-year firearms prohibition on
any person convicted of specified misdemeanors or found to be a
danger to themselves or others due to a mental illness, as
specified. A violation of these provisions is a wobbler,
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail or state prison
(with a prior conviction for a serious or violent felony) for 16
months, two, or three years, or in a county jail for not more
than one year.
Current law requires the Attorney General to maintain an online
database known as the Prohibited Armed Persons File (APPS). The
purpose of the file is to cross-reference persons who have
ownership or possession of a firearm on or after January 1,
1991, as indicated by a record in the Consolidated Firearms
Information System and who, subsequent to the date of that
ownership or possession of a firearm, fall within a class of
persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm.
According to the DOJ, there are approximately 20,000 persons
currently listed on the APPS. These prohibited persons are
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estimated to be in possession of over 34,000 handguns and 1,600
assault weapons. It is estimated that the list of armed
prohibited persons in California grows by about 15 to 20 people
per day. Without sufficient resources, the DOJ and local law
enforcement do not have the capability to confiscate the
enormous backlog of weapons, nor can they keep up with the daily
influx of newly prohibited persons. To reduce this backlog, the
Governor recently signed SB 140 (Leno) Chapter 2/2013 into law
on May 2, 2013, which appropriates $24 million to the DOJ to
enable additional resources to accelerate the identification and
confiscation of handguns and assault weapons owned by prohibited
persons.
Proposed Law: This bill would require the DOJ to establish a
15-day amnesty period commencing not later than July 1, 2014,
within which persons prohibited from firearm ownership, with
exceptions, could surrender any firearms they possess to local
law enforcement agencies without being subject to criminal
prosecution for that possession. In addition, this bill:
Imposes a civil fine of up to $2,500 for each firearm
possessed by such persons after the amnesty period ends, in
addition to any criminal penalties.
Requires local law enforcement agencies to submit the
following information to the DOJ for each surrendered
firearm:
o The name of the prohibited person who surrendered
the firearm.
o The person's date of birth.
o A description of the firearm or firearms
surrendered.
o The serial number of the firearm or firearms
surrendered.
o Any other information deemed necessary by the
department.
Requires the DOJ to record in the APPS the fact that
specified firearms were surrendered to law enforcement.
Provides that a prohibited person who surrenders a firearm
during the amnesty period shall not be charged with illegal
possession of firearms for any firearm the DOJ has on record
as having been surrendered.
Provides that persons convicted of a felony would not be
able to participate in the amnesty period.
Authorizes the DOJ to conduct a public awareness campaign
in conjunction with local law enforcement to promote the
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amnesty period described in this section and to educate
prohibited persons on how to surrender firearms to law
enforcement in a safe and secure manner.
Related Legislation: SB 755 (Wolk) 2013 expands the list of
misdemeanors that result in a 10-year prohibition from firearms
possession to include drug and alcohol-related offenses. This
bill is currently on the Suspense File of this committee.
Staff Comments: The DOJ would incur increased one-time costs of
less than $100,000 (General Fund) to enter the reports received
from local law enforcement agencies into the APPS system to
record information on firearms surrendered during the amnesty
period. As the bill requires local law enforcement agencies to
submit detailed information on each firearm received during the
amnesty period, this creates a reimbursable state mandate, the
costs of which would be dependent on the number of firearms
surrendered during the amnesty period and the time required to
collect and prepare the information to be submitted to the DOJ.
The DOJ has indicated the costs to conduct a public outreach
campaign are estimated at approximately $500,000 (General Fund).
Because transfer records for long guns are not currently
maintained by the DOJ, the firearms ownership records reflect
only handguns and/or assault weapons legally acquired prior to
becoming prohibited. Pursuant to AB 809 (Feuer) Chapter
745/2011, effective January 1, 2014, the requirements for
reporting and records retention involving the transfer of hand
guns will be extended to long guns. Because a prohibited person
participating in the amnesty program who surrenders a registered
handgun but possibly retains possession of an unregistered long
gun that DOJ has no record of, it is not clear how DOJ will
modify the APPS list, as there is currently no mechanism to
determine any potential long guns an individual may still
possess. But to the extent the additional records result in a
reduced number of investigations related to APPS listings, this
bill could result in very significant cost savings in DOJ
enforcement costs.
To the extent the provisions of this bill result in a reduced
number of individuals being charged and convicted of illegal
possession of firearms, this bill could additionally result in
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potential cost savings in court workload as well as local, and
to a lesser degree state, incarceration costs.