BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 299
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Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 299 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
Policy Committee: Public Safety
Vote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill makes it a crime to fail to report the theft or loss
of a gun to a local law enforcement agency within 48 hours of
the time the owner should reasonably have known the gun was lost
or stolen. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires any person who has reported a lost or stolen gun to
notify local law enforcement within 48 hours if the gun is
recovered.
2)Specifies the penalty for a failure to report a lost or stolen
gun is an infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $100. A
second violation is an infraction punishable by a fine of up
to $1,000, and a third or subsequent violation is a
misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail
and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
3)Provides for exemptions for law enforcement, military and
federally-licensed gun dealers.
4)Makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in
county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000, to file a false
report regarding a lost or stolen gun, and further provides
that any person convicted of making a false report to a law
enforcement agency that a gun has been lost or stolen, who,
within 10 years of that conviction, possesses a gun, is guilty
of a public offense, punishable by up to one year in county
jail, or 16 months, two, or three years in state prison,
and/or a fine of up to $1,000. This offense is not deemed
eligible for county jail-only incarceration pursuant to
correctional realignment.
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5)Requires every sheriff or police chief to submit a description
of each gun reported lost or stolen to the Department of
Justice (DOJ) automated property system for guns.
6)Requires licensed gun dealers to conspicuously post a
specified warning regarding the duty to report lost or stolen
gun, and that a false report of a lost or stolen gun will
result in criminal prosecution and loss of the right to
possess a gun for 10 years.
7)Specifies that this bill does not preclude or preempt a local
ordinance that imposes additional penalties or requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Ongoing state incarceration costs, potentially in excess of
$150,000, as a result of making a false report of a stolen gun
an offense that triggers a 10-year prohibition on gun
possession, violation of which is punishable by 16 months,
two, or three years in state prison. Three felony convictions
would exceed $150,000, based on current per capita prison
costs.
2)Minor nonreimbursable local law enforcement costs offset to an
unknown degree by minor fine revenue.
3)Minor nonreimbursable local incarceration costs, to the extent
anyone is convicted of a misdemeanor for a third or subsequent
offense of failing to report a stolen gun, or for making a
false report regarding a stolen gun.
4)Minor potentially state-reimbursable local costs to local law
enforcement to provide a description of each reported lost or
stolen gun to DOJ.
5)Negligible state costs to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to
track and list additional lost or stolen serialized property.
(Current law requires DOJ to maintain a list of lost, stolen
and found serialized property, which includes guns.)
6)Minor state trial court costs to the extent that this bill
results in new misdemeanor charges and related court time.
COMMENTS
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1)Rationale . The author and proponents, including the cities of
L.A. and Oakland, the L.A. Sheriff, the San Francisco D.A.,
and the California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to End Gun
Violence, contend stolen guns are a significant source of arms
for criminals and that the lack of a mandatory reporting law
in California hinders tracking, enforcement and prosecution.
2)Under current law, gun dealers and manufacturers must report
lost or stolen guns within 48 hours, and local law enforcement
must enter reports of lost or stolen firearms into the state's
Automated Property System database. Gun owners, however, are
not required to do anything.
3)Opponents , primarily gun-related organizations, contend this
bill places an undue burden on those who have suffered the
loss or theft of a gun.
4)Suggested amendment . The author may wish to delete the
provision, added in the Assembly, which provides that any
person convicted of making a false report to a law enforcement
agency that a gun has been lost or stolen, who, within 10
years of that conviction, possesses a gun, is guilty of a
public offense, punishable by up to one year in county jail,
or 16 months, two, or three years in state prison, and/or a
fine of up to $1,000. (This provision was not in the author's
similar bill, which was vetoed last year.) This offense is
not deemed eligible for county jail-only incarceration
pursuant to correctional realignment, and could increase the
state prison population.
5)Similar Legislation Vetoed.
a) SB 1366 (DeSaulnier), 2012, was similar to this bill
and was vetoed by Gov. Brown. The governor stated, "This
bill makes it an infraction (or a misdemeanor for the
third offense) to fail to report the loss or theft of a
firearm to a local law enforcement agency within 48 hours
of the time the owner knew, or reasonably should have
known that the firearm was lost or stolen.
"The proponents urge that the bill will improve
identification of gun traffickers and help law enforcement
disarm people prohibited from possessing firearms. I am
not convinced. For the most part, responsible people report
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the loss or theft of a firearm and irresponsible people do
not. I am skeptical that this bill will change those
behaviors."
b) SB 59 (Lowenthal), 2006, was similar to this bill and
was vetoed by Gov. Schwarznegger. The governor stated,
"While I share the Legislature's concern about the criminal
use of lost or stolen weapons, the ambiguous manner in
which this bill was written would make compliance with the
law confusing for legitimate gun-owners and could result in
cases where law-abiding citizens face criminal penalties
simply because they were the victim of a crime, which is
particularly troubling given the unproven results of other
jurisdictions in California that have passed similar
measures."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081