BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 47 Page 1 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 SB 47 Page 2 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 SB 47 Page 3 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 SB 47 Page 4 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." SB 47 Page 5 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