BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 808
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 808 (De Leon) - As Amended: August 4, 2014
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a process to create a permanent identifier
for 3-D plastic printer guns and other guns lacking a
distinguishing mark. This bill requires a person, beginning
July 1, 2016, to apply to and obtain from the state Department
of Justice (DOJ) a unique number or other distinguishing mark
prior to manufacturing or assembling a gun. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires any person who makes or assembles a gun, defined as
fabricating or fitting together the component parts of a gun
to make a gun, to:
a) Obtain a unique number or mark from DOJ before making or
assembling a gun.
b) Within 10 days of making or assembling the gun, to
permanently affix the unique number or mark to that gun.
c) If the gun is made of plastic, 3.7 ounces of stainless
steel must be embedded within the plastic upon
construction, with the unique number permanently affixed
pursuant to requirements imposed on licensed importers and
licensed manufacturers of guns pursuant to federal law.
d)Notify DOJ once the serial number or other mark is affixed to
the firearm.
2)Requires, by January 2017, any person who owns a gun that does
not bear a serial number, as specified, to follow (a), (b),
and (d), above.
3)Provides for exemptions to these requirements, including:
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a) A long gun made or assembled prior to December 1968.
b) A gun entered into the centralized registry before
January 1, 2015 with a unique identification mark.
c) A gun with an assigned identification number.
4)Prohibits the sale or transfer of any gun assembled pursuant
to this section, exempting transfers to law enforcement.
5)Requires, prior to DOJ providing a unique identification
number, the applicant to present proof he or she is not
prohibited from ownership by state or federal law; is of age;
has a valid gun safety certificate; and that the gun is not
prohibited, as specified. An applicant must also provide a
description of the gun, as proscribed by DOJ. Applications
must be granted or denied within 15 days.
6)Provides if the gun is a handgun, a violation of this section
is punishable by up to one year in county jail and/or a fine
of up to $1,000. For all other guns, a violation of this
section is punishable by up to six months in county jail
and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
7)Allows the DOJ to charge a fee of up to $19 (assuming the
statutory CPI adjustment) for the actual costs of assigning a
distinguishing number.
8)Authorizes DOJ to charge a separate $5 fee to each person
issued a distinguishing number for the manufacture or assembly
of a gun.
FISCAL EFFECT
The DOJ estimates ongoing special costs in the range of
$700,000, with additional one-time start-up costs in the range
of $700,000. Costs include information technology staff,
consulting services, servers, hardware and software.
The fees provided for in the bill - $24 in total - will be
insufficient to cover the costs of this measure. Based on DOJ
estimates that as many as 30,000 guns may be processed in the
first year of the program, dwindling thereafter to about 2,000
per year, fee revenue would be about $700,000 in the first year
of the program (assuming a separate fee for each gun),
decreasing to less than $50,000 annually going forward. DOJ
would presumably need a bridge loan from the existing Dealer
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Record of Sale Account or the Firearms Safety and Enforcement
Special Fund to get the program up and running. Even with a
bridge loan, however, a repayment and ongoing funding source
appears elusive.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author's intent is to create a process to
create a permanent identifier for 3-D plastic printer guns and
other guns lacking a distinguishing mark, such as guns
constructed from disparate parts.
The author notes that in December 2013, Congress extended the
U.S. Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 ban on undetectable
guns for 10 years. The Act prohibits the manufacture, sale,
and possession of guns that cannot be detected by metal
detection. Though H.R. 3626 was passed with bipartisan
support, efforts to amend the Act to cover plastic firearms
produced using three-dimensional printers, or additive
manufacturing, failed. As a result, federal law does not
address the threat posed by newly developed plastic guns.
According to the author, "The Act only broadly states that
guns must be detectable, and thus a detachable piece of metal
would suffice to meet the requirements of the law. Since
additive manufacturing produces plastic guns without permanent
metal components, an individual can smuggle a
three-dimensionally printed plastic gun through a metal
detector by simply removing any detectable components.
"The additive manufacturing technologies available today allow
amateur users to fabricate guns and gun parts at home. As
three-dimensional printing technology advances, so will the
accessibility and affordability of the printers. Without
specific measures that address the dangers posed by these
self-made guns, criminals and dangerous individuals will
exploit the technologies at the expense of public safety.
"Although additive manufacturing is the latest method by which
firearms can be built at home, it is by no means the only way.
The lawful sale of 80% assembled lowers and other gun parts
allows for an individual to assemble a fully functional
firearm and not be subject to a background check or
serialization by simply claiming that the gun is for personal
use. Therefore, detection is not the only issue raised by
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self-made and self-assembled guns. The development of
technologies that make the manufacture of weapons accessible
to the general public raises questions about whether homemade
guns are being made by dangerous individuals, including felons
and other prohibited individuals."
2)Current Law .
a) Federal law requires licensed importers and
manufacturers to identify each gun imported or manufactured
by using the serial number engraved or cast on the receiver
or frame.
b) The U.S. Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 makes it
illegal to manufacture, import, sell, possess, or receive
any gun that is not as detectable by walk-through metal
detection by containing at least 3.7 oz. of steel, or any
gun with major components that do not generate an accurate
image before standard airport imaging technology.
c) Allows the state DOJ, upon request, to assign a
distinguishing number or mark to any gun that lacks a
manufacturer's number or other mark of identification, or
if the manufacturer's number or other mark of
identification, or a distinguishing number or mark assigned
by the department has been destroyed.
d) Makes it a misdemeanor, with exceptions, to buy,
receive, sell, or possess a gun that has had the name of
the maker or model, or the manufacturer's number or other
mark of identification altered, or obliterated.
3)Opponents (to the previous version of the bill), including the
National Shooting Sports Foundation and the CA Association of
Federal Firearms Licensees, contend there are hundreds of
thousands, or even millions, of personally assembled guns in
California, and suggest the practical concerns of notifying
owners of the proposed requirements would preclude success.
4)Supporters (to the previous version of the bill), including
the CA Sheriffs Association, the CA Chapter of the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and the CA Chapter of the
American College of Emergency Physicians, contend this bill
will safeguard the public from undetectable guns.
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Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081