BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 47
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Date of Hearing: August 21, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 47 (Yee) - As Amended: August 6, 2013
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill amends the definition of an assault weapon to refer to
a rifle that has one of several specified military-style
features and "does not have a fixed magazine," rather than a gun
with one of those features and the "capacity to accept a
detachable magazine."
"Fixed magazine" is defined in the bill as "an ammunition
feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a
firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed
without disassembly of the firearm action." This proposed
definition is in contrast to the definition of a detachable
magazine in current Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations,
which define a detachable magazine as "any ammunition feeding
device that can be removed readily from the firearm with neither
disassembly of the firearm action nor use of a tool being
required. A bullet or ammunition cartridge is considered a
tool."
This bill also:
1)Provides that, notwithstanding the new definition of assault
weapon contained in this bill, the penalties for the
possession of an assault weapon (up to one year in county
jail, or 16 months, two, or three years in county jail
pursuant to correctional realignment, or, if the offender has
a serious or violent prior, the base offense may be doubled
and must be served in state prison) shall not apply to any
person who initially possessed such a weapon before January 1,
2014, and until July 1, 2015, if the person was eligible to
register that assault weapon, and lawfully possessed the
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weapon before January 1, 2014.
2)Provides that any person who, from January 1, 2001, to
December 31, 2013, inclusive, lawfully possessed an assault
weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as specified,
including those weapons with an ammunition feeding device that
can be removed readily from the gun with the use of a tool,
shall register the gun with DOJ before July 1, 2015. Requires
registrations be submitted electronically via the Internet.
3)Authorizes DOJ to charge a registration fee of up to $15 per
person, not to exceed reasonable processing costs, to be
deposited in the Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) Special
Account.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time special fund (DROS) costs in the $2.5 million range
over three years to DOJ to transform the current - and aging -
Assault Weapon Registration system into a system capable of
handling an estimated one million assault weapon registrations
by July 1, 2015. These costs would be fully offset by the $15
DROS fee authorized by this bill to cover DOJ costs.
2)Unknown, potentially significant annual state GF and local
incarceration costs, for additional commitments for
possession, manufacture or sale of an assault weapon under the
expanded definition, the penalty for which ranges from one
year in county jail to four, six, or eight years in county
jail, pursuant to correctional realignment. If the person
committing this offense has a violent or serious prior, the
penalty can be doubled and the sentence served in state
prison. Extrapolating from almost 1,000 arrests for possession
of an assault weapon in 2012, for every 10 persons with a
prior serious or violent felony conviction who are convicted
of possession of an assault weapon, pursuant to the definition
in this bill, the annual out-year GF cost would be about $1
million in four years, assuming an average term of two years
and full -per capita costs.
Local incarceration costs would be lower, given shorter terms
on average.
COMMENTS
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1)Rationale . This bill is intended to address the so-called
"bullet-button" issue by providing a new statutory definition
of a fixed magazine. While current law prohibits possession
of assault weapons, and defines an assault weapon (in part) as
a semiautomatic centerfire rifle that has the capacity to
accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of six
specified features - pistol grip, thumbhole stock, folding or
telescoping site, grenade or flare launcher, or flash
suppressor - current DOJ regulations cloud the issue,
defining a detachable magazine as "any ammunition feeding
device that can be removed readily from the firearm with
neither disassembly of the firearm action nor use of a tool
required. A bullet or ammunition cartridge is considered a
tool."
Due to this regulatory definition, magazines are not
considered detachable if a "tool" is required to remove the
magazine from the weapon. As a result, gun manufacturers have
built into their weapons recessed buttons that require a tool
- the tip of a bullet suffices - to quickly release the
magazine, allowing a replacement magazine to be inserted in
seconds. Compared to the release process for a detachable
magazine, the only difference is the use of a tool, which is
allowable under DOJ regulations.
While the linguistic distinction between not having a fixed
magazine and having the capacity to accept a detachable
magazine seems hazy, if not tortured, the proposed statutory
definition of fixed magazine, which follows in the bill, is
the key, and means the practical impact of this bill is to
make bullet-button magazine releases on semi-automatic rifles
with the specified features illegal.
According to the author, "This bill clarifies the
identification of assault weapons by defining 'fixed magazine'
in statute and provides the Department of Justice the
authority to bring existing regulations into conformity with
the original intent of California's Assault Weapon Ban.
Absent this bill, the assault weapon ban is effectively
subverted and severely weakened."
2)Registration and Takings Issues. This bill does not prohibit
possession of a gun that is currently legally owned. This bill
requires that the owner of a gun that is not currently
considered an assault weapon, but which would be deemed such
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under the new definition, to register the gun with DOJ before
July 1, 2015. Thus this bill avoids takings issues because
the owner of a legally acquired gun does not have to
relinquish it.
3)Support includes a long list of gun safety advocates, the CA
Nurses Association, and the CA Federation of Teachers.
According to the Attorney General, "Over the past five years,
this definition [of detachable magazine] has been exploited
through the creation of the 'bullet button,' a mechanism that
allows the quick release of a magazine. This mechanism
effectively defeats the intent of Senate Bill 23 [Perata, 1999
re assault weapons] by allowing quick-release magazines on
semi-automatic weapons with pistol grips, folding/telescoping
stocks, flash suppressors or forward pistol grips. Senate
Bill 47 seeks to close this loophole by describing an assault
weapon as a weapon that 'does not have a fixed magazine' and
has one of the specified characteristics. The legislation
also clearly defines 'fixed magazine.'"
4)Opposition includes gun-related sport groups and gun dealers.
According to the California Association of Federal Firearms
Licensees, "SB 47 would, effective July 1, 2014, ban and force
the registration of millions of semi-automatic rifles in
common use and protected under the Second Amendment to the
United States Constitution. It would also create new criminal
liability for hundreds of thousands of Californians and
California visitors - including sports competitors - without
so much as a simple outreach program, public service
announcement, or mandate that DOJ update the years-outdated
(and in some cases, grossly misleading) information it
promulgates in its publications and on its website but refuses
to correct in spite of the real consequences to law-abiding
people.
"However, as with Senator Steinberg's SB 347, the passage of SB
47 would have an unintended consequence that benefits our
members and California gun owners.
"SB 47, if passed, would help the gun industry and consumers
alike by providing a clear federal civil rights litigation
path and a vehicle for making the common semi-automatic
firearms that Senator Yee (and others) seek to ban here
forever off-limits to opportunistic politicians and bills like
this one."
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5)Related legislation , SB 374 (Steinberg), also before this
committee today, takes a different approach to closing the
bullet button loophole. SB 374 also requires a fixed
magazine, as defined, but eliminates the prohibited features
from the definition in current law. Thus, even a
"featureless" semiautomatic rifle would be required to have a
fixed magazine holding no more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081