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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |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 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 SB 374 Page 2 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: SB 374 Page 3 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 SB 374 Page 4 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 SB 374 Page 5 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 Page 6 FN: 0002094