BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 892| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 892 Author: Achadjian (R) Introduced:2/26/15 Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/9/15 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 4/16/15 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Unsafe handguns: peace officers state-issued handguns: transfer to spouse SOURCE: California Association of Highway Patrolmen DIGEST: This bill exempts 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. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)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 AB 892 Page 2 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.) 2)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).) 3)Specifies, in Penal Code section 32000(b), that this prohibition does not apply to: a) 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 DOJ 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 state. b) 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. c) Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in federal law. d) 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 DOJ, 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 AB 892 Page 3 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. 4)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 exempts 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. Background 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 (a device that plainly indicates that a cartridge is in the firing chamber) and a magazine disconnect (a mechanism that prevents a semiautomatic pistol from operating when a detachable magazine is not inserted in the semiautomatic pistol). 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 AB 892 Page 4 "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. 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. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified6/9/15) California Association of Highway Patrolmen (source) California Police Chiefs Association Gun Owners of California Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs Los Angeles Police Protective League Riverside Sheriffs OPPOSITION: (Verified6/9/15) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the California Association of Highway Patrolmen (CAHP): AB 892 Page 5 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. In closing, we thank you again for authoring this legislation, and we look forward to its successful passage. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 4/16/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Quirk Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. / 6/18/15 19:00:39 AB 892 Page 6 **** END ****