BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                             Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:    AB 892        Hearing Date:    June 9, 2015    
          
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          |Author:    |Achadjian                                            |
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          |Version:   |February 26, 2015                                    |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |No               |
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          |Consultant:|JRD                                                  |
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               Subject:  Unsafe Handguns: Peace Officer's State-Issued  
 
                            Handguns: Transfer to Spouse



          HISTORY

          Source:   California Association of Highway Patrolmen

          Prior Legislation:AB 685 (Achadjian) - Chapter 16, Statutes of  
          2013

          Support:  California Police Chiefs Association; Los Angeles  
                    Deputy Sheriffs; Los Angeles Police Protective League,  
                    Riverside Sheriffs

          Opposition:None known

          Assembly Floor Vote:                 79 - 0


          PURPOSE

          The purpose of this legislation is to exempt the purchase of a  
          state-issued handgun by the spouse or domestic partner of a  
          peace officer who died in the line of duty from the prohibition  
          on unsafe handguns.









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          Existing law provides that commencing January 1, 2001, no  
          "unsafe handgun" may be manufactured or sold in California by a  
          licensed dealer, except as specified, and requires that the  
          Department of Justice (DOJ) prepare and maintain a roster of  
          handguns which are determined not to be unsafe handguns.   
          Private party sales (used or previously owned) and transfers of  
          handguns through a licensed dealer are exempted from those  
          restrictions.  (Penal Code §§ 27545, 32000, et seq., § 32110.)

          Existing law 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.  (Penal  
          Code § 32000(a).)  

          Existing law specifies that this prohibition does not apply to:

                 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 DOJ to  
               conduct an independent 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.

                 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.

                 Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in  
               federal law.

                 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,  









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               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.

          (Penal Code § 32000(b).)  

          Existing law contains numerous additional exemptions to the safe  
          handgun requirements, including an exemption for any transfer  
          that is not required to be made through a licensed dealer.  This  
          exemption alone includes within it another approximately 25  
          exemptions.  (Penal Code §§ 32110, 27850, et seq.)

          This bill would exempt the sale, purchase, or delivery of a  
          handgun, if the sale is of a state-issued handgun to the spouse  
          or domestic partner of a peace officer who died in the line of  
          duty.

                    RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
                                          
          For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized  
          legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential  
          impact on prison overcrowding.  Mindful of the United States  
          Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the  
          state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care  
          to its inmate population and the related issue of prison  
          overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a  
          content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that  
          the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison  
          overcrowding.   

          On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to  
          reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of  
          design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:   

                 143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
                 141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
                 137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016. 

          In February of this year the administration reported that as "of  
          February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34  
          adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed  









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          capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state  
          facilities.  This current population is now below the  
          court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."(  
          Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February  
          10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman  
          v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).

          While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison  
          population, the state now must stabilize these advances and  
          demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place  
          the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently  
          demanded" by the court.  (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and  
          Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December  
          31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,  
          Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14).  The Committee's  
          consideration of bills that may impact the prison population  
          therefore will be informed by the following questions:

              Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed  
               to reducing the prison population;
              Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety  
               or criminal activity for which there is no other  
               reasonable, appropriate remedy;
              Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly  
               dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there  
               is no other reasonably appropriate sanction; 
              Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or  
               legislative drafting error; and
              Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are  
               proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other  
               reasonably appropriate remedy.


            COMMENTS

          1.  Need for This Bill

          According to the author: 

          Currently, The Department of Justice maintains a list of  
          "unsafe handguns" and prohibits the manufacture, import,  
          sale and possession of such handguns. A violation  
          constitutes imprisonment in a county jail for no more than  
          one year.









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               Since many of the state-issued handguns to law  
               enforcement are listed on the DOJs list of unsafe  
               handguns, a transfer of such firearm is prohibited to  
               the spouse and/or domestic partner.
          
          2.  "Not Unsafe" Handgun Law and the Effect of This Bill   
          
          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.

          SB 489 (Scott), Chapter 500, Statutes of 2003, added to the  
          unsafe handgun law requirements for semiautomatic pistols that  
          became effective in 2006 and 2007.   The legislation requires  
          that for a new semiautomatic center-fire pistol firearm to be  
          added to the roster it has to be equipped with a chamber load  
          indicator<1> and a magazine disconnect<2> (if it has a  
          detachable magazine).  The legislation also requires that all  
          semiautomatic rimfire pistols, with a detachable magazine, have  
          a magazine disconnect.  All firearms that were on the not unsafe  
          handgun list prior to the effective dates were essentially  
          grandfathered in.  

          AB 1471 (Feuer), Chapter 572, Statutes of 2007, added  
          "microstamping" as a requirement for a firearm to be placed on  
          the not unsafe handgun roster beginning January 1, 2010,  
          "provided that the Department of Justice certifies that the  
          technology used to create the imprint is available to  more than  
          one manufacturer unencumbered by any patent restrictions."  The  
          Department of Justice issued the certification on May 17, 2013.   
          Like the other provisions, the "microstamping" requirement did  
          not apply to firearms already on the roster.  
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          <1> A chamber load indicator is a device that plainly indicates  
          that a cartridge is in the firing chamber.  (Penal Code §  
          16380.)  
          <2> A magazine disconnect is a mechanism that prevents a  
          semiautomatic pistol from operating when a detachable magazine  
          is not inserted in the semiautomatic pistol. (Penal Code §  
          16900.)








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          A number of peace officers are exempt from roster requirements  
          and, according to the California Association of Highway  
          Patrolmen, "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."   
          This legislation would create an exception to the not unsafe  
          firearms laws by allowing the sale of a state-issued handgun to  
          the spouse or domestic partner of a peace officer who died in  
          the line of duty.  


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