BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1695 (Bonta) - Firearms: false reports of stolen firearms
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|Version: May 31, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 5 - 2 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: June 20, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1695 would make it a misdemeanor to falsely report
that a firearm has been lost or stolen, as specified, and would
add this new misdemeanor to the list of offenses for which a
conviction results in a 10-year prohibition from possession of a
firearm.
Fiscal
Impact:
New misdemeanor : Potential non-reimbursable local costs for
enforcement and incarceration offset to a degree by fine
revenue for convictions for falsely reporting to a local law
enforcement agency that a firearm has been lost or stolen.
APPS enforcement administration : Potential increase in DOJ
administration and enforcement costs (Special Fund*) for
increases to the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) list
resulting from the expanded application of the 10-year
firearms prohibition. The workload impact would be dependent
on the number of persons convicted of the new misdemeanor
established by this measure.
Violations of the 10-year firearms ban : Potential increase in
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state (General Fund) and local (Local Funds) incarceration
costs for violations of the 10-year firearms ban, which is an
alternate felony-misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in
state prison for 16 months, two years, or three years, or in
county jail for up to one year. CDCR data indicates only 20
commitments per year for violations of the 10-year firearms
prohibition. While the impact of this measure on the state
prison population is likely minor, even two commitments to
state prison in any one year would cost $58,000 based on the
estimated contract bed cost of $29,000 per inmate.
*Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) Account - 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
additional costs resulting from this bill in conjunction with
the numerous other legislative measures requiring funding from
the DROS Account, should they be enacted.
Background: Under existing law, licensed firearms manufacturers and
dealers are required to report the loss or theft of firearms
within 48 hours to specified law enforcement agencies, however,
there is not a similar requirement on firearm owners whose
firearms are lost or stolen.
The failure to report firearms as lost or stolen, as well as the
false reporting of firearms as lost or stolen, creates barriers
to accurately tracking these firearms. Concerns exist that a
straw purchaser, who legally buys a firearm with the intent to
illegally sell it to another individual, could falsely report
that firearm as lost or stolen in order to disassociate himself
or herself with any future crimes committed with that firearm.
This bill seeks to address that issue by making it a misdemeanor
to file such a false report.
Existing law prohibits persons who have been convicted of
specified crimes from owning or possessing firearms. Under both
federal and state law, for example, any individual convicted of
a felony offense is prohibited for life from firearms ownership.
Existing state law also imposes a 10-year firearms prohibition
on any person convicted of numerous misdemeanor offenses
involving violence or the threat of violence. A violation of
this provision is an alternate felony-misdemeanor (wobbler),
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punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, two
years, or three years, or in a county jail for up to one year, a
fine not exceeding $1,000, or both. (Penal Code (PC) § 29805.)
This bill would add the new misdemeanor of falsely reporting a
lost or stolen firearm to the list of offenses subject to the
10-year prohibition on firearms possession.
Proposed
Law: This bill would make it a misdemeanor to report to a local
law enforcement agency that a firearm has been lost or stolen,
knowing the report to be false. Additionally, this bill would
add falsely reporting that a firearm has been lost or stolen to
the list of offenses for which a conviction results in a 10-year
prohibition from possession of a firearm, as specified.
Staff
Comments: By creating a new misdemeanor for reporting to a local law
enforcement agency that a firearm has been lost or stolen,
knowing the report to be false, this bill could result in
non-reimbursable local enforcement and incarceration costs,
offset to a degree by fine revenue.
By expanding the list of misdemeanors subject to the 10-year
firearms prohibition to include falsely reporting a lost/stolen
firearm, this bill could result in future increases in
commitments to county jail and state prison for violations of
the 10-year firearms ban, which is an alternate
felony-misdemeanor, subject to imprisonment in a state prison
for 16 months, two years, or three years, or in a county jail
for up to one year, a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both the
fine and imprisonment.
Data from the CDCR indicates only 20 individuals per year have
been committed to state prison on average over a three-year
period (2012-2014) for a violation of the 10-year prohibition on
firearms possession for existing crimes subject to the ban. As a
result, it is likely the impact of this measure on the state
prison population will be minor. Local jails could additionally
incur increases in local costs under the provisions of this
measure for new commitments to county jail for misdemeanor
violations of the 10-year firearms ban.
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Expanding the list of misdemeanors subject to the 10-year
firearms prohibition will potentially result in additional
persons added to the APPS list, resulting in additional
administration and enforcement costs to the DOJ. The workload
impact would be dependent on the number of persons convicted of
the new misdemeanor established by this measure, which is
unknown at this time.
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