BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1673|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 1673
          Author:   Gipson (D), et al.
          Amended:  6/22/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:  5-2, 6/14/16
           AYES:  Hancock, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning
           NOES:  Anderson, Stone

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  5-2, 6/20/16
           AYES:  Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
           NOES:  Bates, Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  44-33, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Firearms:  unfinished frame or receiver


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This bill expands the definition of firearm to include  
          a frame or receiver blank, casting, or machined body, that is  
          designed and clearly identifiable as a component of a functional  
          weapon, from which is expelled through a barrel, a projectile by  
          the force of an explosion or other form of combustion.


          Senate Floor Amendments of 6/22/16 add a definition of "frame"  
          and "receiver."  In addition, the amendments add chaptering  
          language to avoid conflict with SB 894 (Jackson), SB 1407  
          (DeLeón), and AB 857 (Cooper).









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          ANALYSIS:  


          Existing law:

          1)Requires licensed firearms dealers, before they may deliver a  
            firearm to a purchaser, to perform a background check on the  
            purchaser through the federal National Instant Criminal  
            Background Check System ("NICS").  (18 U.S.C §§ 921, et seq.)

          2)Requires licensed importers and licensed manufacturers to  
            identify each firearm imported or manufactured by using the  
            serial number engraved or cast on the receiver or frame of the  
            weapon, in such manner as prescribed by the Attorney General.   
            (18 U.S.C. § 923(i).) 

          3)Makes it illegal to manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver,  
            possess, transfer, or receive any firearm that is not as  
            detectable by walk-through metal detection as a security  
            exemplar containing 3.7 oz of steel, or any firearm with major  
            components that do not generate an accurate image before  
            standard airport imaging technology.  (18 U.S.C. § 922(p).)  

          4)Requires all sales, loans, and transfers of firearms to be  
            processed through or by a state-licensed firearms dealer or a  
            local law enforcement agency.  (Penal Code § 27545.)

          5)Defines "firearm" as a device, designed to be used as a  
            weapon, from which is expelled through a barrel, a projectile  
            by the force of an explosion or other form of combustion.   
            (Penal Code § 16520.)

          6)Provides that there is a 10-day waiting period when purchasing  
            a firearm through a firearms dealer.  During which time, a  
            background check is conducted.  (Penal Code §§ 26815 and  
            27540.)

          7)Requires a person be at least 18 years of age to purchase a  
            rifle or shotgun.  To purchase a handgun, a person must be at  
            least 21 years of age.  As part of the Dealer Record of Sales  
            (DROS) process, the purchaser must present "clear evidence of  
            identity and age" which is defined as a valid, non-expired  
            California Driver's License or Identification Card issued by  







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            the Department of Motor Vehicles.  (Penal Code §§ 27510 and  
            16400.) 

          8)Requires purchasers to present a handgun safety certificate  
            prior to the submission of DROS information for a handgun or  
            provide the dealer with proof of exemption pursuant to  
            California Penal Code Section 31700.  Beginning on January 1,  
            2015, this requirement was extended to all firearms.  (Penal  
            Code § 26840.)

          9)Requires that firearms dealers obtain certain identifying  
            information from firearms purchasers and forward that  
            information, via electronic transfer to the Department of  
            Justice (DOJ) to perform a background check on the purchaser  
            to determine whether he or she is prohibited from possessing  
            a firearm.  (Penal Code §§ 28160-28220.)

          10)Requires firearms to be centrally registered at the time of  
            transfer or sale by way of transfer forms centrally compiled  
            by DOJ.  The DOJ is required to keep a registry from data sent  
            to DOJ indicating who owns what firearm by make, model, and  
            serial number and the date thereof.  (Penal Code § 11106(a)  
            and (c).) 

          11)Requires that, upon receipt of the purchaser's information,  
            DOJ shall examine its records, as well as those records that  
            it is authorized to request from the State Department of  
            Mental Health pursuant to Section 8104 of the Welfare and  
            Institutions Code, in order to determine if the purchaser is  
            prohibited from purchasing a firearm because of a prior felony  
            conviction or because they had previously purchased a handgun  
            within the last 30 days, or because they had received  
            inpatient treatment for a mental health disorder, as  
            specified.  (Penal Code § 28220.) 

          12)Allows the DOJ to require the dealer to charge each firearm  
            purchaser a fee not to exceed $14, except that the fee may be  
            increased at a rate not to exceed any increase in the  
            California Consumer Price Index as compiled and reported by  
            the Department of Industrial Relations.  This fee, known as  
            the DROS fee, shall be no more than is necessary to fund  
            specific codified costs.  (Penal Code § 28225.)

          13)Allows the DOJ to charge a fee sufficient to reimburse it for  







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            each a number of enumerated items, but not to exceed fourteen  
            dollars ($14), except that the fee may be increased at a rate  
            not to exceed any increase in the California Consumer Price  
            Index as compiled and reported by the Department of Industrial  
            Relations.  (Penal Code §28230.)

          14)Requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain an  
            online database to be known as the Prohibited Armed Persons  
            File.  The purpose of the file is to cross-reference persons  
            who have ownership or possession of a firearm on or after  
            January 1, 1991, as indicated by a record in the Consolidated  
            Firearms Information System, and who, subsequent to the date  
            of that ownership or possession of a firearm, fall within a  
            class of persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing  
            a firearm.  (Penal Code § 30000.) 

          This bill expands the definition of "firearm" to include a frame  
          or receiver blank, casting, or machined body, that is designed  
          and clearly identifiable as a component of a functional weapon,  
          from which is expelled through a barrel, a projectile by the  
          force of an explosion or other form of combustion.
          
          Background 

          This bill makes "the frame or receiver of the weapon or a frame  
          or receiver 'blank,' 'casting' or 'machined body' that is  
          designed and clearly identifiable as a component of a functional  
          weapon, from which is expelled through a barrel, a projectile by  
          the force of an explosion or other form of combustion" a firearm  
          in California.  Items that fall under this new definition of  
          firearms would be treated like other firearms in California.   
          Specifically, to purchase one, a person would have to go through  
          a dealer, have a background check and would be subject to a  
          10-day wait.   Additionally, a prohibited person would not be  
          allowed to possess them.  


          Note:  See Senate Public Safety Committee analysis for  
          additional comments.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes








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          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 

           DOJ:  Estimated one-time costs of $250,000 in FY 2016-17,  
            $270,000 in FY 2017-18, and $42,000 in FY 2018-19 (Special  
            Fund*/General Fund) to complete the necessary enhancements to  
            various automation systems. Costs include staff overtime and  
            external consultants for software development, testing, and  
            implementation to enable the registration of additional  
            firearms, as redefined. 
           Firearms violations:  Potential state and local incarceration  
            costs (General Fund/Local Funds) to the extent the expanded  
            definition of firearm results in the enforcement of felony and  
            misdemeanor violations related to the registration, purchase,  
            possession, and/or transfer of firearms, as redefined.  
           APPS enforcement/administration:  Potential increase in costs  
            to the DOJ for administration and enforcement of the Armed  
            Prohibited Persons List (Special Fund*) resulting from the  
            revised definition of a firearm.
           Potential litigation:  Unknown, potentially significant future  
            costs for litigation (General Fund) to the extent the revised  
            definition of "firearm" is challenged as unconstitutionally  
            vague. 

          *Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) Account - Senate Appropriations  
           staff notes the DROS Account is structurally imbalanced, with  
           an estimated reserve balance of less than $1 million by  
           year-end FY 2016-17. Current revenues to the DROS Account may  
           be insufficient to cover the costs of this bill in conjunction  
           with the numerous other legislative measures requiring funding  
           from the DROS Account, should they be enacted. As a result, an  
           appropriation from an alternate fund source, potentially the  
           General Fund, may be required to support the costs of this  
           measure.


          SUPPORT:   (Verified6/27/16)


          American Academy of Pediatrics
          California Chapters of the Brady Campaign
          California Civil Liberties Advocacy
          City of Carson
          City of Santa Monica







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          Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
          Los Angeles Professional Peace Officers Association


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified6/23/16)


          California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees
          California Rifle and Pistol Association
          California Sportsmen's Lobby
          Crossroads of the West Gun Shows
          Firearms Policy Coalition
          Gun Owners of California
          National Rifle Association
          National Shooting Sports Foundation
          Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
          Safari Club International
          Several individuals


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:     According to the California Chapters  
          of the Brady Campaign:

            A priority policy objective for the California Brady  
            Campaign is to ensure that every firearm owner has passed  
            a background check and that all firearm transfers include  
            a thorough background check, 10-day waiting period, and a  
            record of the transaction that includes the serial number  
            of the firearm.  There have been numerous studies  
            indicating that these requirements are good strategies  
            for reducing gun violence and clearly, they further our  
            core goal of keeping weapons out of dangerous hands.   
            Although existing California law requires background  
            checks and the retention of transfer records, people have  
            found that they can avoid these requirements and other  
            California gun laws by creating and marketing partially  
            complete or "80 percent" lower receivers or frames.   
            According to media reports and law enforcement, there is  
            a growing number of firearms assembled from partially  
            complete receivers and fames and these firearms are  
            increasingly used in crime.  AB 1673 will address this  
            problem.

            The lower receiver is that part of a long gun that  







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            contains the trigger, firing pin, and ammunition feeding  
            mechanisms.  Lower receivers are treated the same as a  
            long gun and are currently legally available, provided  
            that the purchaser passes a background check, the lower  
            receiver has a serial number, and a record of the  
            purchase is created.  Similarly, a frame for a pistol is  
            treated as a handgun and has a serial number.  However,  
            partially complete or "80 percent" lower receivers and  
            frames are not considered to be firearms, but with a few  
            simple modifications, they can become fully functional.   
            A person with a drill press can easily drill the  
            necessary holes to complete the receiver or frame and  
            advances in 3D printing technology are increasing the  
            availability of unfinished lower receivers and frames.   
            Firearms assembled from these partially complete lower  
            receivers and frames are untraceable for law enforcement.  
             

            AB 1673 will deal with this problem by expanding the  
            definition of "firearm" to include a frame or receiver  
            blank, casting, or machined body, that is designed and  
            clearly identifiable as a component of a functional  
            weapon, from which is expelled through a barrel, a  
            projectile by the force of an explosion or other form of  
            combustion.  The Brady Campaign supports this change and  
            believes that weapons assembled from unfinished lower  
            receivers and frames should be subject to the full extent  
            of the law.  Determining at what point a piece of metal  
            or other material should be considered a firearm is  
            difficult to establish, but the expanded definition is a  
            good approach.  

            The shooter in the 2013 Santa Monica shooting, in which  
            six people were killed, was prohibited from purchasing  
            firearms.  Instead, he machined himself an AR-15-type  
            semiautomatic rifle from an aluminum partial lower  
            receiver.  This is an example of why it is essential that  
            guns assembled from partial lower receivers and frames be  
            regulated.  AB 1673 will help keep weapons out of the  
            hands of those considered at risk of violence, such as  
            criminals, children, and persons with severe mental  
            illness.









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          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:     According to the Firearms Policy  
          Coalition:

            We specialize in firearms policy and have no idea what  
            the new definition means 

            Put simply, AB 1673 would change the definition of a  
            firearm to include things that are not firearms. 

            In the interest of clarity, and because the best comedy  
            requires no punch line, we offer here the entire  
            substance of AB 1673 (amending § 16520(b) of the Penal  
            Code): 
            
            "weapon, or a frame or receiver blank, casting, or  
            machined body, that is designed and clearly identifiable  
            as a component of a functional weapon, from which is  
            expelled through a barrel, a projectile by the force of  
            an explosion or other form of combustion."

            Clearly identifiable to whom? 
                 
            This baffling new definition will result in untold thousands  
            of arrests and incarcerations as "firearm" becomes defined by  
            a strange mish-mash of words, disconnected from any known  
            understanding or reality of what has been understood as  
            working definitions of "firearm" for centuries. Maybe roadside  
            analysis between peace officers and motorists would be able to  
            hash out the "I'll know it when I see it" approach to writing  
            criminal law. 

            Have a piece of metal or plastic-GO TO JAIL 
            It is difficult to imagine the enforcement of hundreds of  
            firearms laws and criminal enhancements that will be impacted  
            by AB1673. A sample of the hundreds of new crimes this bill  
            creates includes; 
             Possession of a "blank" in a "gun free zone" 
             Unloaded open carry of a "casting"
              Unlawful concealed carry of a "machined body" 
              Unlawful transfer of a "?receiver blank, casting, or  
              machined body, that is designed and clearly identifiable as  
              a component of a functional weapon?" 
              Brandishing a "receiver blank" 
              Failure to wait 10 days to "cool off" after acquiring a  







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              "machined body" 

            Persons could end up in the Un-Armed Prohibited Person System?  
            

            Should the non-firearm firearm owner ever be found or thought  
            to be prohibited from firearm possession, the person would be  
            placed into the DOJ's failed Armed Prohibited Persons System  
            so DOJ agents or local law enforcement could confiscate the  
            non-firearm firearm. 

            Implementation Nightmare 

            The DOJ will have to update every regulation, every form,  
            every database and every storefront interface to accept the  
            new definition of firearms-- which is challenging given that  
            the new definition targets things that are clearly not  
            firearms at all. 

            In order to comply with AB 1673, non-firearm firearms would  
            need to be taken to and transferred through a licensed (real)  
            firearms dealer. These "clearly identifiable" pieces of  
            plastic, wood, aluminum, iron, or steel would then need to be  
            entered into the DOJ Dealer's Record of Sale Entry System  
            (DROS DES) in order to provide the DOJ with the information  
            required to register the non-firearm with the state. 

            The law is sacred and it affects real people in real  
            communities. The Legislature is entrusted with passing laws  
            that the governed can comply with and the executive can  
            enforce. With that in mind, AB 1673 is simply not ready for  
            serious consideration. 

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  44-33, 6/1/16
          AYES:  Alejo, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonta, Brown, Burke,  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly,  
            Dodd, Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,  
            Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Roger Hernández, Holden,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Mullin, Nazarian,  
            O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Santiago, Mark Stone,  
            Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon
          NOES:  Achadjian, Travis Allen, Arambula, Bigelow, Brough,  
            Chang, Chávez, Cooley, Dahle, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher,  
            Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder,  







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            Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Medina, Melendez, Obernolte,  
            Olsen, Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bonilla, Irwin, Rodriguez

          Prepared by:Jessica  Devencenzi / PUB. S. / 
          6/27/16 11:54:20


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