BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 892
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 7, 2015
Counsel: Gabriel Caswell
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
AB
892 (Achadjian) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
SUMMARY: Exempts from the prohibition on unsafe handguns the
purchase of a state-issued handgun by the spouse or domestic
partner of a peace officer who died in the line of duty.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that any person in California who manufactures or
causes to be manufactured, imports into the state for sale,
keeps for sale, offers or exposes for sale, gives, or lends
any unsafe handgun shall be punished by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year. (Pen. Code, § 32000,
subd. (a).)
a) Specifies that this section shall not apply to any of
the following (Pen. Code, § 32000, subd. (b).):
i) The manufacture in California, or importation into
this state, of any prototype pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person when
the manufacture or importation is for the sole purpose of
allowing an independent laboratory certified by the
Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct an independent
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test to determine whether that pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is
prohibited, inclusive, and, if not, allowing the
department to add the firearm to the roster of pistols,
revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed
upon the person that may be sold in this.
ii) The importation or lending of a pistol, revolver, or
other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person
by employees or authorized agents of entities determining
whether the weapon is prohibited by this section.
iii) Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in
federal law.
iv) The sale or purchase of any pistol, revolver, or
other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person,
if the pistol, revolver, or other firearm is sold to, or
purchased by, the Department of Justice, any police
department, any sheriff's official, any marshal's office,
the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, the California
Highway Patrol, any district attorney's office, or the
military or naval forces of this state or of the United
States for use in the discharge of their official duties.
Nor shall anything in this section prohibit the sale to,
or purchase by, sworn members of these agencies of any
pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person.
2)Specifies that violations of the unsafe handgun provisions are
cumulative with respect to each handgun and shall not be
construed as restricting the application of any other law.
(Pen. Code, § 32000, subd. (c).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Assembly Bill
892 would add an exemption for the spouse of domestic partner
of a peace officer who was killed in the line of duty, which
would allow them to receive their spouse or domestic partner's
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state-issued service weapon, regardless of whether it has been
deemed unsafe by the Department of Justice."
2)Safe Handgun Law: SB 15 (Polanco), Chapter 248, Statutes of
1999, made it a misdemeanor for any person in California to
manufacture, import for sale, offer for sale, give, or lend
any unsafe handgun, as defined, with certain specific
exceptions. SB 15 defined an "unsafe handgun" as follows:
(a) does not have a requisite safety device, (b) does not meet
specified firing tests, and (c) does not meet a specified drop
safety test.
a) Required Safety Device: The Safe Handgun Law requires a
revolver to have a safety device that, either automatically
in the case of a double-action firing mechanism or by
manual operation in the case of a single-action firing
mechanism, causes the hammer to retract to a point where
the firing pin does not rest upon the primer of the
cartridge or in the case of a pistol have a positive
manually operated safety device.
b) Firing Test: In order to meet the "firing requirements"
under the Safe Handgun Law, the manufacturer must submit
three unaltered handguns, of the make and model for which
certification is sought, to an independent laboratory
certified by the Attorney General. The laboratory shall
fire 600 rounds from each gun under certain conditions. A
handgun shall pass the test if each of the three test guns
fires the first 20 rounds without a malfunction, and fires
the full 600 rounds without more than six malfunctions and
without any crack or breakage of an operating part of the
handgun that increases the risk of injury to the user.
"Malfunction" is defined as a failure to properly feed,
fire or eject a round; failure of a pistol to accept or
reject a manufacturer-approved magazine; or failure of a
pistol's slide to remain open after a manufacturer approved
magazine has been expended.
c) Drop Test: The Safe Handgun Law provides that at the
conclusion of the firing test, the same three
manufacturer's handguns must undergo and pass a "drop
safety requirement" test. The three handguns are dropped a
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specified number of times, in specified ways, with a primed
case (no powder or projectile) inserted into the handgun,
and the primer is examined for indentations after each
drop. The handgun passes the test if each of the three
test guns does not fire the primer.
1)Failure to Pay a Fee may Result in a Weapon Being Deemed
Unsafe: The Department of Justice deems some weapons to be
"unsafe" because a particular gun manufacturer has not paid
the appropriate fees and/or submitted the proper paperwork.
The weapons themselves may be "safe" under the standards
listed above, but they are deemed "unsafe" for purposes of
categorization. Law enforcement agencies may still use these
weapons. Some of these weapons may be used on duty by
officers who have died. The spouse or domestic partners of a
deceased officer may wish to purchase these weapons for
sentimental reasons.
1)Argument in Support: According to the California Association
of Highway Patrolmen (CAHP), "AB 892, closes a loophole in
existing law related to the transfer of a state-issued handgun
to the spouse or domestic partner of a peace officer that was
killed in the line of duty.
"Existing law allows the department head to authorize the
transfer of a state-issued handgun to the widow or domestic
partner of a peace officer who was killed in the line of duty.
However, the Department of Justice maintains a list of
"unsafe handguns" and prohibits the manufacture, import, sale
and possession of such handgun. A violation constitutes
imprisonment in a county jail for no more than one year.
Since many of the state-issued handguns to law enforcement are
included on the list of unsafe handguns, a transfer of such
firearm is prohibited to the spouse and/or domestic partner.
"AB 892 adds an exemption for the spouse or domestic partner
of a peace officer who was killed in the line of duty, which
will essentially allow them to receive their spouse or
domestic partner's state-issued service weapon, regardless of
whether it has been deemed unsafe by the Department of
Justice.
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"In closing, we thank you again for authoring this
legislation, and we look forward to its successful passage."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744