BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 567|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 567
Author: Jackson (D), et al.
Amended: 5/24/13
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/16/13
AYES: Hancock, Block, De León, Liu, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson, Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SUBJECT : Firearms: shotguns
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill amends the definition of shotgun as
specified, and adds language to state that a shotgun may include
a weapon with a rifled bore, as well as a smooth bore. This
bill authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to charge a fee
for registration of each assault weapon of up to $20 per
firearm, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Defines the following shotguns as assault weapons:
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A. A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:
A folding or telescoping stock; and
A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously
beneath the action of the weapon, thumbhole stock, or
vertical handgrip.
B. A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept
a detachable magazine.
C. Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
2. Defines a "shotgun" as a weapon designed or redesigned, made
or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and
designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy
of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a
smooth bore either a number of projectiles (ball shot) or a
single projectile for each pull of the trigger.
This bill:
1. Amends the definition of "shotgun" to delete language stating
that to be considered a shotgun, the weapon must be "intended
to be fired from the shoulder" and add language to state that
a shotgun may include a weapon with a rifled bore.
2. Requires that any person who from January 1, 2001, to
December 31, 2013, lawfully possessed a shotgun with a
revolving cylinder, as defined, register the firearm via
online submission before July 1, 2015, with DOJ, as
specified.
3. Authorizes the DOJ to charge a fee of up to $20 per person
but not to exceed the reasonable processing costs for this
registration.
Background
The enactment of the assault weapons ban in California is
described by the federal Court of Appeal from Silveira v.
Lockyer, 312 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2002), in part, as follows: In
response to a proliferation of shootings involving
semi-automatic weapons, the California Legislature passed the
Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act ("the AWCA") in 1989.
The immediate cause of the AWCA's enactment was a random
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shooting earlier that year at the Cleveland Elementary School in
Stockton, California. An individual armed with an AK-47
semi-automatic weapon opened fire on the schoolyard, where three
hundred pupils were enjoying their morning recess. Five
children aged six to nine were killed, and one teacher and 29
children were wounded.
The codified legislative findings and declarations of the AWCA
state, in part, "that the proliferation and use of assault
weapons poses a threat to the health, safety, and security of
all citizens of this state. The Legislature has restricted the
assault weapons based upon finding that each firearm has such a
high rate of fire and capacity for firepower that its function
as a legitimate sports or recreational firearm is substantially
outweighed by the danger that it can be used to kill and injure
human beings. It is the intent of the Legislature to place
restrictions on the use of assault weapons and to establish a
registration and permit procedure for their lawful sale and
possession.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriation Committee:
One-time DOJ costs of $0.6 million (Special Fund*) to redesign
the existing Assault Weapon Registration (AWR) system with a
new web user interface to enable online registration of the
specified firearms.**
Online registration processing costs of $0.2 million (Special
Fund*) over six months to be fully offset by fees collected
from registrants. Any additional workload to process
registrations after the initial batch is completed is
estimated to be minor.
Unknown, potential increase in annual state incarceration
costs (General Fund). For every 25 new felony convictions,
costs in the range of $0.7 million to $1.5 million,
compounding to $2.8 million to $6 million for overlapping
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sentences assuming the middle term of the triads for
violations of both manufacturing and possession.
Increased annual local incarceration costs (Local) for
possession of assault weapons without proper registration.
Potential near-term loss of sales tax revenue (General Fund)
to the extent shotgun sales in California are impacted by the
provisions of this bill. Future year impact is somewhat
mitigated to the extent consumers shift to purchases of
alternative firearms.
*Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) Special Account
**AWR redesign costs are also included in SB 47 (Yee). In the
event both SB 47 and this measure are enacted, the DOJ is only
incur this cost once.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/24/13)
American Association of University Women, Santa Barbara, Goleta
Valley Branch
American Association of University Women, Santa Maria Branch
Anti-Defamation League
Auburn Area Democratic Club
Bend the Arc
California Chapter of the American College of Emergency
Physicians
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
California Church Impact
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, California
Coalition Against Gun Violence
Courage Campaign
Credo Action
Doctors for America
Jewish Partnership for Justice
Laguna Woods Democratic Club
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Neighbors Untied to Protect our Communities
Orange County Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
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Violence
Orange County Democrats
PICO California
Santa Barbara Rape Crises Center
Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange
South County Citizens Against Gun Violence, Orange County
The Christy Lynn Wilson Foundation
Tri-Cities Democratic Forum
Tri-City Interfaith Council
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County
Women For: Orange County
Youth Alive!
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/24/13)
California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees
California Association of Firearm Retailers
California Rifle and Pistol Association
California Right to Carry
California Sportsmen's Lobby, Inc.
National Rifle Association
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Safari Club International
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Under California's existing assault weapons ban, smooth
bored shotguns with revolving cylinders are classified as
assault weapons and are illegal to sell, use or possess in
this state. Gun makers have begun manufacturing this same
banned shotgun, but with a "rifled" bore which is not
specifically banned in California even though it shoots the
same ammunition.
Because California's current definition of banned assault
weapons does not cover this newly designed shotgun that
manufacturers are now producing, the definition needs to be
updated to close a loophole that manufacturers are
exploiting.
The new "rifled" bore shotgun with a revolving cylinder has
characteristics similar to the "Street Sweeper" shotgun that
has been named as a banned assault shotgun since the
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Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Act of 1989. The same firearm
was deemed to be a Federal "destructive device" in 1994.
Failure to update the law to add "rifled" bore shotguns with
revolving cylinders to the ban on "smooth" bored shotguns
with revolving cylinders could result in "Street Sweeper"
guns reappearing on California streets.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Safari Club International
Foundation writes, "By changing the definition of a shotgun in
the California penal Code, the bill would ensnare virtually all
handguns making them unlawful to possess short barreled
shotguns. The bill would do so by eliminating the requirement
that a shotgun must be designed to be fired from the shoulder
and have a smooth bore, and because handgun ammunition is
available in most calibers that fires shot instead of bullets.
Such ammunition is used for pests and very small game at close
range.
"Many hunters enjoy hunting with handguns. Most hunting
handguns are used for larger game, and handgun shot shells are
not often used. Nonetheless, SB 567 could result in handguns
being declared unlawful short barreled shotguns.
The Department of Justice would lose $millions in lost Dealers
Record of Sale (DROS) fees, everyone who owns a handgun would
become an "instant felon", the cost of enforcement would
increase dramatically, and the incarceration problems that
spawned AB 109 would become many times larger."
JG:d 5/25/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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