BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1663
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1663 (Chiu) - As Introduced January 14, 2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|5 - 2 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill amends the definition of an assault weapon as it
pertains to rifles and defines "detachable magazines" and "fixed
magazines". Specifically, this bill:
1)Classifies a semiautomatic centerfire rifle which does not
have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept no more than
10 rounds, as an assault weapon.
AB 1663
Page 2
2)Eliminates specific characteristics from the definition of
what constitutes an assault weapon; thus expanding the
universe of firearms that qualify as assault weapons.
3)Requires registration with the Department of Justice (DOJ) of
any assault weapon that does not have a fixed magazine and was
lawfully possessed between January 1, 2001, and December 31,
2016, including those weapons with an ammunition feeding
device that can be removed readily from the firearm with the
use of a tool, and by the person who, on or after January 1,
2017, lawfully possesses that firearm. Registration of the
firearm must occur by July 1, 2018.
4)All other existing prohibitions on possession, sale or
manufacture of assault weapons apply to firearms redefined as
assault weapons.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Significant cost to DOJ (Dealers' Record of Sale Account),
$1.8 million in 2016-17, $2.7 million in 2017-18, and $1.3
million annually thereafter. DOJ estimates two million
assault weapons will be registered to 500,000 different
owners. These costs include additional staff, adoption of
regulations, and one-time information technology development
to implement a public-facing application that allows the
public to register firearms classified as assault weapons. AB
1663 allows DOJ to charge a fee of up to $15 per person.
2)The use of a "new" assault weapon by an individual in the
commission of a crime may result in additional time served in
state prison or county jail. Failure to register an assault
weapon is a misdemeanor. This cost may be moderate, however,
AB 1663
Page 3
difficult to quantify:
a) According to the California Department of Corrections
(CDCR), the contracted out-of-state bed rate is $29,000.
If every year, two individuals serve four additional years
in state prison, the first-year cost would be $58,000,
$116,000 the second, $174,000 the third, and $232,000 every
year thereafter.
b) Local costs for incarceration are nonreimbursable, but
are offset to a degree by fine revenue.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. In response to a proliferation of shootings
involving semi-automatic weapons, the California Legislature
passed the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act (AWCA) in
1989. The immediate cause of the AWCA's enactment was a
random shooting earlier that year at the Cleveland Elementary
School in Stockton, California. An individual armed with an
AK-47 semi-automatic weapon opened fire on the schoolyard,
where 300 pupils were enjoying their morning recess. Five
children ages six to nine were killed, and one teacher and 29
children were wounded. In 1999, the Legislature amended the
AWCA in order to broaden its coverage and to render it more
flexible in response to technological developments in the
manufacture of semiautomatic weapons.
Current law defines an "assault weapon" as one of certain
specified rifles and pistols, including a semiautomatic,
centerfire rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable
magazine and has at least one of the following:
a) A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the
action of the weapon;
b) A thumbhole stock;
AB 1663
Page 4
c) A vertical handgrip;
d) A folding or telescoping stock;
e) A grenade launcher or flare launcher;
f) A flash suppressor; or,
g) A forward handgrip.
Current law 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.
Current law also provides that unlawful possession of an
assault weapon is an alternate felony-misdemeanor and it is
punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not
exceeding one year, or by imprisonment for 16 months, two or
three years. However, a first violation of these provisions
is punishable 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.
Furthermore, under current law, 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.
2)Purpose. According to the author, AB 1663 addresses the heart
of the limitations in the AWCA, and fulfills its original
intent: to prohibit firearms that provide the ability to
detach a magazine and rapidly reload, resulting in what
ultimately is the power of the shooter to have virtually
unlimited killing capacity. AB 1663 prohibits the future
sale, purchase, manufacture, importation, or transfer in
California of semi-automatic rifles that can accept detachable
magazines.
AB 1663
Page 5
High-capacity detachable ammunition magazines allow shooters
to expel large amounts of ammunition quickly and have no
sporting purpose. 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.
This bill would do away with the six prohibited features in
current law. The argument is that a rifle outfitted with the
features that make a gun look like a military-style weapon,
e.g., pistol grip, flash suppressor, collapsible stock,
etcetera, may be more dangerous than one that lacks these
features, but these features may not pose the greatest public
safety concern. Conversely, the lack of these features does
not make a rifle less lethal than one that has them. Under
this bill, even a "featureless" semiautomatic rifle, like the
Mini-14, would be required to have a fixed magazine, holding
no more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
The use of an assault weapon in the commission of a crime
carries additional punishments, and in some cases the sentence
is served in state prison instead of county jail. By
expanding the universe of assault weapons, this bill will
result in additional commitments to county jails and state
prison.
3)Support: According to the California Chapters of the Brady
Campaign, " the industry has been able to exploit a loophole
in the [ACWA] regulations that allows for the continued sale
and possession of fully functional assault weapons. Assembly
Bill 1663 seeks to definitively close the loopholes in a
manner that will prevent the firearm industry from continuing
to market these lethal military-style weapons in California.
AB 1663
Page 6
"Mass shootings perpetrated by unbalanced individuals using
assault weapons are reported all too often in the news. As
was tragically demonstrated at Sandy Hook School and in the
recent San Bernardino shooting, the ability to rapidly reload
adds enormously to the carnage. An exchangeable magazine can
be reloaded in one second and is the key feature that enables
the rapid rate of continuous fire that can kill many people
very quickly. Requiring a fixed magazine on future sales or
transfers of long guns would, over time, decrease the
lethality in future mass shootings."
4)Opposition: According to the Firearms Policy Coalition, "AB
1663 seeks to vastly expand the Assault Weapons Control Act,
regulations that ban (by several methods, including make and
model, function, cosmetic features, and caliber) popular,
constitutionally-protected firearms that are in common use for
lawful purposes across the United States.
"AB 1663 would move the goal posts yet again for the millions
of law abiding residents and visitors who have quite
reasonably, given the volume, struggled for years to keep up
with the frenetic pace of California's ever-increasing firearm
regulations?"
5)Related Legislation: SB 1664 (Levine), would redefine what
constitutes an assault weapon in order to close the bullet
button loophole. SB 1664 would also require registration of
weapons which now fall under the new definition but which
previously were not prohibited. SB 1664 is also scheduled for
hearing in today.
6)Prior Legislation:
a) SB 47 (Yee), of the 2013-2014 Legislative Session, would
have closed the bullet button loophole by redefining an
assault weapon in statute as 'a semiautomatic, centerfire
rifle that does not have a fixed magazine' and has any one
of several specified features. SB 47 was held on this
AB 1663
Page 7
Committee's Suspense file.
b) SB 374 (Steinberg), of the 2013-2014 Legislative
Session, would have closed the bullet button loophole by
redefining an assault weapon as it pertains to rifles and
defines "detachable magazines" and "fixed magazines."
Specifies that rifles which are not assault weapons have
fixed magazines. SB 347 was vetoed by the Governor. SB 347
was vetoed by the Governor. In his veto message, the
Governor stated, in part:
"The State of California already has some of the
strictest gun laws in the country, including bans on
military-style assault rifles and high-capacity
ammunition magazines.
"Moreover, hundreds of thousands of current gun owners
would have to register their rifles as assault weapons
and would be banned from selling or transferring them
in the future.
"I don't believe that this bill's blanket ban on
semi-automatic rifles would reduce criminal activity
or enhance public safety enough to warrant this
infringement on gun owners' rights."
c) SB 249 (Yee), of the 2011-12 Legislative Session, would
have prohibited any person from importing, making, selling,
loaning, transferring or possessing any conversion kit
designed to convert certain firearms with a fixed magazine
into firearms with a detachable magazine. SB 249 was held
on this Committee's Suspense file.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1663
Page 8