BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 683|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 683
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 9/3/13
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
SENATE FLOOR : 28-11, 5/29/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, De León,
DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez,
Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Correa, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,
Knight, Nielsen, Roth, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-30, 9/9/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Firearms: firearm safety certificate
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill extends the safety certificate requirement
for handguns to all firearms and requires the performance of a
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safe handling demonstration to receive a long gun.
Assembly Amendments (1) add a safe handling demonstration
requirement, (2) exempt hunters with a valid or prior season's
hunter license from the firearm safety certificate; and (3)
exempt individuals with a valid handgun safety certificate (HSC)
from the firearm safety certificate for purchasing a handgun.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides that no person shall do either of the following:
A. Purchase or receive any handgun, except an antique
firearm, without a valid HSC.
B. Sell, deliver, loan, or transfer any handgun, except
an antique firearm, to any person who does not have a
valid HSC.
1. Requires the license applicant to complete and pass a
written test prescribed by the Department of Justice (DOJ)
and administered by an instructor certified by DOJ.
2. Provides that the DOJ shall develop HSCs to be issued by
instructors certified by the DOJ, to those persons who have
complied with specified requirements.
3. Allows the DOJ to charge a certified instructor up to $15
for each HSC issued by that instructor and requires the funds
to be deposited in the Firearms Safety and Enforcement
Special Fund (Special Fund), which is a continuously
appropriated fund.
This bill:
1. Extends the safety certificate requirement, starting January
1, 2015, for handguns to all firearms and makes conforming
changes.
2. Requires long-gun recipients, except as specified, to
perform a safe handling demonstration before receiving that
firearm from a licensed firearm dealer. Requires DOJ to
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adopt regulations by January 1, 2015, establishing a long-gun
safe-handling demonstration that includes, at a minimum,
loading and unloading the long gun.
3. Exempts individuals with valid current-season hunting
licenses, or valid hunting licenses from the hunting season
immediately preceding the calendar year, from the firearm
safety certificate requirement when acquiring a firearm other
than handguns. This exemption is in addition to the current
list of exemptions to the HSC requirements.
4. Exempts individuals with unexpired HSCs from the firearm
safety certificate requirement when acquiring only handguns.
Background
Beginning in 1993, possession of a HSC was required to transfer
firearms. The DOJ was required to create the requisite process
to obtain a HSC. Exemptions were provided for specified classes
of persons who did not need to either successfully take the
course or challenge the course with a specified exam.
SB 52 (Scott, Chapter 942, Statutes of 2001) repealed the Basic
Firearms Safety and Certificate Program and replaced that
Program with the more stringent Handgun Safety Licensing
Program. The bill provided that, effective January 1, 2003, no
person may purchase, transfer, receive, or sell a handgun
without a HSC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs of $716,000 (Special Fund) over two years to
DOJ to update program materials including safety guides,
certificates, the written test, safety video, and related
materials. Costs to be fully covered by fees.
Annual DOJ enforcement costs of about $500,000 (Special
Fund) to be covered by the $15 transaction fee.
Non-reimbursable local enforcement costs offset to a degree
by fine revenue.
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Non-reimbursable local incarceration costs to the extent
persons are convicted of the misdemeanor offenses of
falsifying a firearm safety certificate or conducting
transactions involving a firearm without a valid firearm
safety certificate.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/9/13)
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association of University Women of California
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: Jewish Partnership for Justice
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
California Church Impact
California Federation of Teachers
California Medical Association
Christy Lynne Wilson Foundation
City of Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
City of Santa Monica
CLUE California
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
County of Santa Clara
Courage Campaign
Credo Action
Democrat Women of Santa Barbara County
Diablo Valley Democratic Club
Doctors for America
Jewish Public Affairs Committee
Laguna Woods Democratic Club
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
League of Women Voters of California
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Moms Demand for Gun Sense in America - San Francisco Bay Area
Chapter
National Council of Jewish Women
Neighbors Untied to Protect our Communities
Niles Discovery Church
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Orange County Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Orange County Democrats
Partnership for Justice
Physicians for Social Responsibility
PICO California
Santa Barbara Rape Crises Center
Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange
South County Citizens Against Gun Violence
Tri-Cities Democratic Forum
Tri-City Interfaith Council
Violence Policy Center
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County
Women For: Orange County
Youth ALIVE!
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/9/13)
California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees
California Rifle and Pistol Association
National Rifle Association
Shasta County Cattlemen's Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
It is important that the State of California ensures that
everyone who buys a firearm is a responsible gun-owner with
demonstrated knowledge of safe handling and gun laws.
Currently, California requires potential handgun owners to
take and pass a safety certificate test designed to ensure
that the buyer understands the law and knows how to safely
handle a handgun. To buy a long gun, however, a buyer is not
required to show that he or she is proficient in the safe
handling of the gun or knows the laws associated with the
long gun.
Expanding the Safety Certificate to include long guns ensures
that everyone who buys a firearm is an educated and
responsible gun-owner. A long gun can be a dangerous weapon
without knowledge of proper handling procedures. First-time
buyers are often not aware of the proper and safe handling of
a firearm. They are also frequently unaware of California's
complicated firearm laws.
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This bill seeks to increase the number of responsible gun
owners by requiring a Firearm Safety Certificate to buy any
firearm. This will increase the knowledge gun owners have
regarding their own weapons for the purpose of encouraging
responsible gun ownership and use, and preventing accidents
from happening.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : California Association of Federal
Firearms Licensees writes:
This measure would make the qualification test for a "firearm
safety certificate" unnecessarily difficult as it will require
detailed knowledge of the many firearm types that a purchaser
doesn't - and may never - own.
Handgun purchasers seeking to exercise Second Amendment rights
acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court in D.C., at al. v.
Heller, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008), would no longer just need to
know the details of handguns. Under SB 683, they would also
need to learn, know, and pass a test on the intricacies of
firearm categories like rifles, shotguns, other long guns, and
firearms Federally classified as Any Other Weapons, each
having myriad action types such as lever, pump,
semi-automatic, single-shot, and others -- this despite the
fact that they may never chose to own any of them.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-30, 9/9/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Daly, Dickinson, Fong, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Pan, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Cooley, Dahle,
Donnelly, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,
Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez,
Morrell, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, V. Manuel Pérez, Salas,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Medina, Vacancy, Vacancy
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JG:k 9/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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