BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 374
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 374 (Steinberg, et al.)
As Amended August 5, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :23-15
PUBLIC SAFETY 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 11-6
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Jones-Sawyer, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Quirk, Skinner | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Gomez, Hall, Holden, Pan, |
| | | |Quirk, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Melendez, Waldron |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Linder, |
| | | |Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Amends the definition of an assault weapon as it
pertains to rifles and defines "detachable magazines" and "fixed
magazines". Specifies that rifles which are not assault weapons
have fixed magazines. Specifically, this bill :
1)Amends the definition of an assault weapon as it pertains to
rifles only. The new definition is a rifle is an assault
weapon if it is:
a) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that does not have a
fixed magazine with the capacity to accept 10 rounds or
more; or,
b) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall
length of less than 30 inches.
2)Defines a "detachable magazine" as "an ammunition feeding
device that can be removed readily from the firearm without
disassembly of the firearm action."
3)Defines a "fixed magazine" as an ammunition feeding device
contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a
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manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly
of the firearm action.
4)Provides that a person who, between January 1, 2001, and prior
to January 1, 2014, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that
does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, and including
those weapons with an ammunition feeding device that can be
removed readily from the firearm with the use of a tool, shall
register the firearm by July 1, 2014, with the Department of
Justice (DOJ) pursuant to procedures determined by DOJ.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines an "assault weapon" as one of certain specified rifles
and pistols or as:
a) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity
to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the
following:
i) A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath
the action of the weapon;
ii) A thumbhole stock;
iii) A vertical handgrip;
iv) A folding or telescoping stock;
v) A grenade launcher or flare launcher;
vi) A flash suppressor; or,
vii) A forward handgrip.
b) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed
magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds;
c) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall
length of less than 30 inches;
d) A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a
detachable magazine and has at least one of the following:
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i) A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash
suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;
ii) A second handgrip;
iii) A shroud that is attached to, or partially or
completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer
to fire the weapon without burning his or her hand,
excepting a slide that encloses the barrel; or,
iv) The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some
location outside of the pistol grip.
e) A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has
the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds;
f) A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:
i) A folding or telescoping stock; and,
ii) A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath
the action of the weapon, thumbhole stock, or vertical
handgrip.
g) A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a
detachable magazine; and
h) Any shotgun that has a revolving cylinder.
2)Defines 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. Ammunition feeding device includes any
belted or linked ammunition, but does not include clips, en
bloc clips, or stripper clips that load cartridges into the
magazine.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time special fund Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) costs in
the $3 million range over three years to DOJ to transform the
current - and aging - Assault Weapon Registration system into
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a system capable of handling an estimated one million assault
weapon registrations by July 1, 2015, and to process these
registrations. 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 General Fund
(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 : According to the author, "The Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting is only one of many tragedies depicting the
devastating lethality of military-style, rapid-rate-of-fire
weapons. In July of 2012, twelve people were killed and 58
others were injured within a few minutes of an assailant
entering a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. That shooter was
armed with multiple assault rifles and high capacity magazines
able to hold up to 100 rounds. In July of 2011, a shooter armed
with a Ruger Mini-14 and a Glock 34 pistol shot, killed 69
people and wounded 110 others at a children's summer camp in
Norway. Both of the weapons used in Norway currently are legal
in California.
"The list of these shootings goes on and on and the common
characteristic of the firearms used in these mass shootings is
the ability to detach a magazine and rapidly reload. That is
why I introduced SB 374 which will prohibit the future sale,
purchase, manufacture, importation, or transfer in California of
semi-automatic rifles that can accept detachable magazines.
Rifles with detachable magazines have a virtually unlimited
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capacity to kill. It is this specific feature that this bill
targets: the ability to shoot unchecked semiautomatic gunfire.
By focusing on the function of these weapons and not just their
form this bill is aimed at the commercialization of mass killing
machines, not the rights of sporting gun and hunting
enthusiasts.
"Specifically, SB 374 will amend the current definition of
illegal 'assault weapon' to include a semiautomatic, or
centerfire rifle that does not have a fixed magazine with the
capacity to accept ten or fewer rounds.
"California has been a leader in regulating firearms and banning
military style weapons since 1989. But, even these laws have
loopholes and gaps that the gun manufacturers have exploited. SB
374 and the other seven bills in the LIFE Act (Life-saving
Intelligent Firearms Enforcement) Act - are merely updating
California's statutes to stop the work-arounds that
manufacturers have figured out.
"In 1989, California passed the first statewide law in the
nation designed to ban assault weapons. Soon after its passage,
however, the firearms industry made minor cosmetic changes to
many banned assault weapons evading the intent of the law and
allowing their continued sale. In 1999, California moved to
update the law to address the industry's actions again.
"And now manufactures have done it again. They have figured out
how to make a long gun into a rapid reload, military-style
weapon by just the push of a button.
"Well, I say enough. We can't trust manufacturers to follow the
intent of the law so we will change the law to require fixed
magazines on all long guns so manufacturers cannot create a work
around that guts the intent of California's laws."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
SB 374
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FN: 0002094