BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1135|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1135
Author: Levine (D) and Ting (D), et al.
Amended: 5/11/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/10/16
AYES: Hancock, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning
NOES: Anderson, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/16/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Not relevant
SUBJECT: Firearms: assault weapons
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill (1) amends the definition of assault weapon
to refer to a firearm that has one of several specified
military-style features and does not have a "fixed magazine"
rather than a firearm that has one of those features and "has
the capacity to accept a detachable magazine;" (2) defines
"fixed magazine" as "an ammunition feeding device contained in,
or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the
device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm
action;" (3) provides that any person who was eligible to
register an assault weapon and lawfully possessed such a weapon
prior to January 1, 2017, will be exempt from penalties, if the
person registers the weapon by January 1, 2018; (4) requires
that any person who from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2016,
lawfully possessed an assault weapon that does not have a fixed
magazine, as defined, register the firearm before January 1,
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2018, with the Department of Justice (DOJ), as specified; (5)
provides that this registration be submitted online, as
specified; (6) authorizes DOJ to charge a fee of up to $15 per
person but not to exceed the reasonable processing costs of the
department for this registration; and (7) requires DOJ to
establish procedures for the purpose of carrying out this
registration requirement and to specify that these procedures
shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Contains legislative findings and declarations that the
proliferation and use of assault and .50 BMG rifles poses a
threat to the health, safety, and security of all citizens of
California. (Penal Code § 30505.)
2)States legislative intent to place restrictions on the use of
assault weapons and .50 BMG rifles and to establish a
registration and permit procedure for their lawful sale and
possession. (Penal Code § 30505.)
3)Defines "assault weapon" as one of certain specified rifles
and pistols (Penal Code § 30510) or as:
a) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity
to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the
following: a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously
beneath the action of the weapon; a thumbhole stock; a
vertical handgrip; a folding or telescoping stock; a
grenade launcher or flare launcher; a flash suppressor; or,
a forward handgrip.
b) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed
magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds;
c) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall
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length of less than 30 inches;
d) A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a
detachable magazine and has at least one of the following:
a threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor,
forward handgrip, or silencer; a second handgrip; a shroud
that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles,
the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon
without burning his or her hand, excepting a slide that
encloses the barrel; or, the capacity to accept a
detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol
grip.
e) A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has
the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds;
f) A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:
a folding or telescoping stock; and a pistol grip that
protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon,
thumbhole stock, or vertical handgrip.
g) A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a
detachable magazine; and
h) Any shotgun that has a revolving cylinder. (Penal Code
§ 30515.)
4)Defines a "detachable magazine" as any ammunition feeding
device that can be removed readily from the firearm with
neither disassembly of the firearm action nor use of a tool
being required. A bullet or ammunition cartridge is
considered a tool. Ammunition feeding device includes any
belted or linked ammunition, but does not include clips, en
bloc clips, or stripper clips that load cartridges into the
magazine. (11 Cal. Code of Regs. § 5469.)
5)Provides that unlawful possession of an assault weapon is an
alternate felony-misdemeanor and shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding one
year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 1170 (16 months, two or three years). Notwithstanding
the above, a first violation of these provisions is punishable
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by a fine not exceeding $500 if the person was found in
possession of no more than two firearms and certain specified
conditions are met. (Penal Code § 30605.)
6)Provides that any person who within California manufactures,
imports into California, offers for sale, or who gives or
lends any assault weapon with specified exceptions is guilty
of a felony punishable by imprisonment in state prison for
four, six, or eight years. (Penal Code § 30600.)
7)Defines a ".50 BMG rifle and cartridge," as specified. (Penal
Code §§ 30525, 30530.)
8)Exempts the DOJ, law enforcement agencies, military forces,
and other specified agencies from the prohibition against
sales to, purchase by, importation of, or possession of
assault weapons or .50 BMG rifles. (Penal Code § 30625.)
9)Requires that any person who lawfully possesses an assault
weapon, as specified, must register the firearm with DOJ, as
specified. (Penal Code § 30900 et. seq.)
This bill:
1)Amends the definition of assault weapon to refer to a firearm
that has one of several specified features and does not have a
"fixed magazine" rather than a firearm with one of those
features and the "capacity to accept a detachable magazine."
2)Defines "fixed magazine" as "an ammunition feeding device
contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a
manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly
of the firearm action."
3)Provides that, notwithstanding the new definition of assault
weapon contained in this bill, any person who possessed an
assault weapon prior to January 1, 2017, is exempt from
punishment pursuant to Section 30605, if all of the following
are applicable:
a) Prior to January 1, 2017, the person was eligible to
register that assault weapon pursuant to subdivision (c) of
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Section 30900;
b) The person lawfully possessed that assault weapon on
January 1, 2017; and
c) The person registers the assault weapon by January 1,
2018, as specified.
4)Provides that any person who, from January 1, 2001, to
December 31, 2016, inclusive, lawfully possessed an assault
weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as defined in
Section 30515, including those weapons with an ammunition
feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm
with the use of a tool, shall register the firearm before
January 1, 2018, with the department pursuant to those
procedures that the department may establish.
a) Registrations shall be submitted electronically via the
Internet utilizing a public-facing application made
available by the department.
b) The registration shall contain a description of the
firearm that identifies it uniquely, including all
identification marks, the date the firearm was acquired,
the name and address of the individual from whom, or
business from which, the firearm was acquired, as well as
the registrant's full name, address, telephone number, date
of birth, sex, height, weight, eye color, hair color, and
California driver's license number or California
identification card number.
c) The department may charge a fee of up to $15 per person
but not to exceed the reasonable processing costs of the
department. The fee shall be paid by debit or credit card
at the time that the electronic registration is submitted
to the department. The fee shall be deposited in the
Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) Special Account.
d) The department shall establish procedures for the
purpose of carrying out this subdivision. These procedures
shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act.
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Background
As the Court of Appeal explained, in 1999, the Assault Weapons
ban was amended to expand the definition of an assault weapon to
include a definition by the generic characteristics,
specifically, to include a "semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that
has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine" in addition to
one of several specified characteristics, such as a grenade
launcher or flash suppressor. (SB 23 (Perata, Chapter 129,
Statutes of 1999, § 7 et seq.) SB 23 was enacted in response to
the marketing of so-called "copycat" weapons, firearms that were
substantially similar to weapons on the prohibited list but
differed in some insignificant way, perhaps only the name of the
weapon, thereby defeating the intent of the ban. "SB 23 takes
weapons that are made, then modified, named and re-named off the
market. It fixes the loophole in current law that bans guns by
name, not by capability, by providing a generic definition of
the weapons." (Committee analysis of SB 23 (Perata), Assembly
Public Safety Committee.)
SB 23's generic definition of an assault weapon was intended to
close the loophole in the law created by its definition of
assault weapons as only those specified by make and model.
Regulations promulgated after the enactment of SB 23 define a
detachable magazine as "any ammunition feeding device that can
be removed readily from the firearm with neither disassembly of
the firearm action nor use of a tool being required. A bullet
or ammunition cartridge is considered a tool." (11 CFR §
5469(a).) In response to this definition, a new feature has
been developed by firearms manufacturers to make semi-automatic
rifles "California compliant," the bullet button.
In 2012, researchers at the nonprofit Violence Policy Center in
Washington, D.C. released a paper describing the phenomenon of
the bullet button and its effect on California's assault weapons
ban:
The "Bullet Button"-Assault Weapon Manufacturers' Gateway
to the California Market
Catalogs and websites from America's leading assault
rifle manufacturers are full of newly designed
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"California compliant" assault weapons. Number one and
two assault weapon manufacturers Bushmaster and DPMS,
joined by ArmaLite, Colt, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson, and
others are all introducing new rifles designed to
circumvent California's assault weapons ban and are
actively targeting the state in an effort to lift
now-sagging sales of this class of weapon. They are
accomplishing this with the addition of a minor design
change to their military-style weapons made possible by a
definitional loophole: the "bullet button." [Please see
the Appendix beginning on page six for 2012 catalog copy
featuring "California compliant" assault rifles utilizing
a "bullet button" from leading assault weapon
manufacturers.]
California law bans semiautomatic rifles with the
capacity to accept a detachable ammunition magazine and
any one of six enumerated additional assault weapon
characteristics (e.g., folding stock, flash suppressor,
pistol grip, or other military-style features).
High-capacity detachable ammunition magazines allow
shooters to expel large amounts of ammunition quickly and
have no sporting purpose. [Department of the Treasury
Study on the Sporting Suitability of Modified
Semiautomatic Assault Rifles, April 1998. (Bullet
Buttons, The Gun Industry's Attack on California's
Assault Weapons Ban, Violence Policy Center, Washington
D.C., May 2012.)] However, in California an ammunition
magazine is not viewed as detachable if a "tool" is
required to remove it from the weapon. The "bullet
button" is a release button for the ammunition magazine
that can be activated with the tip of a bullet. With the
tip of the bullet replacing the use of a finger in
activating the release, the button can be pushed and the
detachable ammunition magazine removed and replaced in
seconds. Compared to the release process for a standard
detachable ammunition magazine it is a distinction
without a difference.
This bill amends the definition of assault weapon to a firearm
that has one of several specified features and does not have a
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"fixed magazine," rather than a firearm that has one of those
features and "has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine."
It also defines, "fixed magazine" as "an ammunition feeding
device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in
such a manner that the device cannot be removed without
disassembly of the firearm action." So, a semiautomatic rifle
could have a detachable magazine, as long as it does not also
have any features or it could have the features as long as it
had a fixed magazine. The purpose of this change is to clarify
that equipping a weapon with a "bullet button" magazine release
does not take that weapon outside the definition of an assault
weapon.
This bill also requires any person who, from January 1, 2001, to
December 31, 2016, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that
does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, including those
weapons with an ammunition feeding device that can be removed
readily from the firearm with the use of a tool, in other words,
those weapons with a "bullet button" magazine release, to
register the firearm before January 1, 2018, with the department
pursuant to those procedures that the department may establish.
Because this bill clarifies that these are assault weapons, this
provision is consistent with the existing law that requires
assault weapons, lawfully possessed, to be registered with DOJ.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Registration process: Estimated costs of $1.7 million in FY
2016-17, $1.5 million in FY 2017-18, and $37,000 (DROS
Fund*/General Fund) annually thereafter, to be fully offset by
fees collected from registrants once fully implemented.
Appropriations staff notes the DROS Fund is structurally
imbalanced, and current revenues are insufficient to cover the
costs of this bill. As a result, a General Fund appropriation
may be required to enable completion of the activities within
the timelines prescribed.
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State prisons: Potentially significant increase in annual
state incarceration costs (General Fund) to the extent the
narrower definition of "assault weapon" results in additional
firearms violations. For every 10 new commitments to state
prison (five each for manufacturing and possession),
additional annual costs of $290,000, compounding to $1.2
million for overlapping sentences assuming the middle term of
the triads for violations of both manufacturing and
possession.
Firearms sales: Potential near-term loss of sales tax revenue
of $1.6 million (General Fund) per 10 percent of annual rifle
sales in California. Future year impact could be somewhat
mitigated to the extent consumers shift to purchases of
alternative firearms.
Local agencies: Potential future increase in local
enforcement and incarceration costs for unlawful possession or
sale/manufacture of assault weapons.
APPS [Armed Prohibited Persons System] enforcement: Unknown,
potential increase in DOJ enforcement costs (Special Fund*) to
the extent additional persons are placed on the armed
prohibited persons list resulting from the provisions of this
bill.
* DROS Special Account - Appropriations staff notes that the
DROS Account is structurally imbalanced, with an estimated
reserve balance of less than $1 million by year-end FY
2016-17. As a result, an appropriation from another fund
source, potentially the General Fund, may be required to
support the activities required by this bill.
SUPPORT: (Verified5/17/16)
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Coalition Against Gun Violence, a Santa Barbara County Coalition
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
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OPPOSITION: (Verified5/17/16)
California Sportsman's Lobby
California State Sheriffs' Association
Crossroads of the West
Firearms Policy Coalition
National Rifle Association
National Shooting Sports Foundation
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Safari Club International
Several Individuals
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The California Chapters of the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence state:
California's existing assault weapons statute prohibits
semi-automatic centerfire rifles or semiautomatic pistols that
have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and are
equipped with any of the following features: a pistol grip, a
thumbhole stock, a folding or telescoping stock, a grenade or
flare launcher, a flash suppressor, or a forward pistol grip.
These features are not found on sporting guns and were
designed specifically to facilitate the killing of human
beings in battle.
The California Brady Campaign Chapters support prohibiting
military-style semi-automatic assault weapons. The rapid and
controlled spray of bullets associated with assault weapons is
a threat to police officers, families, and communities. As
was shown by the tragedy at Sandy Hook School and more
recently in San Bernardino, an assault weapon escalates the
lethality and number of victims in a mass shooting incident.
Unfortunately, firearm manufactures have found ways to enable
the dangerous quick reloading that the California's assault
weapons law sought to ban. For example, the "bullet button"
is a feature that enables the firearm owner to use a bullet or
other pointed object to quickly detach and replace the
weapon's ammunition magazine. Because the use of a bullet or
other "tool" is required to remove the magazine, the sale of
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bullet button-equipped guns has been allowed, even though the
California assault weapons law prohibits weapons that have
"the capacity to accept a detachable magazine." In fact, in
the first eleven months after the retention of records for
long guns became operational (January 1, 2014 to December 2,
2014), there were 50,574 sales or transfers of military-style
weapons with a bullet-button or other similar feature that
allows for the rapid exchange of the magazine.
The California Brady Campaign Chapters support clarifying and
strengthening California's assault weapons law as proposed by
AB 1135. The bill recasts existing law by listing as assault
weapons those firearms with military-style features that do
not have a fixed magazine. A fixed magazine is defined as an
ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently
attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot
be removed without disassembly of the firearm action. A
weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, and
has any one of the military-style features would be unlawful.
AB 1135 would require any person who lawfully possessed from
January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2016 an assault weapon that
does not have a fixed magazine as defined in the bill to
register the weapon before January 1, 2018 with the California
Department of Justice. This record would enable law
enforcement to disarm the person through the Armed Prohibited
Persons System program if the person were to become prohibited
from possessing firearms and assist law enforcement in the
tracing of crime guns.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:According to the National Rifle
Association:
AB 1135 would make serious changes to California's firearm
laws - banning hundreds of thousands of constitutionally
protected firearms that have no association with crime.
These changes would happen quickly with great individual
costs to many gun owners and no public notice.
This bill has two major components. The first would change
the definition of "detachable magazine," which would in turn
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change expand the number of firearms that California
considers "assault weapons." The process of defining
"assault weapon" began with legislation authored by the late
Assemblyman, Art Agnos, in 1985. The definition that became
law in the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon Control Act of 1989
has been modified or expanded multiple times since. AB 1135
would change the existing definition for detachable magazine
to mean "an ammunition feeding device that can be removed
readily from the firearm without disassembly of the firearm
action, including an ammunition feeding device that can be
removed readily from the firearm with the use of a tool."
Changing the definition of "detachable magazine" would
strike a major blow to competitive high-power rifle
competition in California. "Bullet button" equipped rifles
are also commonly used for hunting and self protection. AB
1135 would subject them to the onerous transfer and use
restrictions imposed on "assault weapons" - and future sales
in California would be banned.
The owners of firearms covered by these proposed changes
would have no way of knowing what was required of them. The
widow of a firearm enthusiast who purchased a modern
sporting rifle for varmint hunting, competition shooting
and/or self-defense or the grandson who inherited his
grandfather's rifle could and would easily become
inadvertent criminals.
The second element of this bill would require that on or
before July 1, 2018, every individual who lawfully possesses
a newly defined "assault weapon" must register it with the
Department of Justice. This is not about crime control -
it's a blatant attack on lawful gun owners.
By banning what amounts to hundreds of thousands of commonly
owned sporting rifles, AB 1135 plainly conflicts with the
Second Amendment. As the Supreme Court noted, arms
"typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful
purposes" or those "in common use" are protected. District
of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. at 624-25. Should AB 1135
be enacted, it will result in immediate litigation against
the state to prevent enforcement of what amounts to a de
facto ban on a massive number of lawfully-owned firearms
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that have no association with crime.
Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. /
5/18/16 16:21:32
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