BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1695| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1695 Author: Bonta (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: 51-28, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Firearms: false reports of stolen firearms SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill (1) specifies that existing laws relating to filing a false report apply to a person who reports that a firearm has been lost or stolen, knowing the report to be false, as specified; and (2) adds falsely reporting that a firearm has been stolen to offenses for which a conviction results in a 10-year prohibition on possession of a firearm, as specified. Senate Floor Amendments of 6/22/16 clarify that the existing code section that makes filing a false police report a misdemeanor includes filing a false report that a firearm has been lost or stolen. ANALYSIS: AB 1695 Page 2 Existing law: 1)Provides that persons licensed to make, import, collect, or deal in firearms are required to report the loss or theft of firearms they possess, to a law enforcement agency. For example, Penal Code Section 26885 requires licensed dealers to report losses within 48 hours and Penal Code Section 29115(a) requires licensed firearms manufacturers - whether of handguns or long guns - to report the loss or theft of firearms within 48 hours to specified law enforcement agencies. 2)Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to keep a registry from data sent to DOJ indicating who owns firearms by make, model, and serial number and the date thereof. (Penal Code § 11106(a) and (c).) Law enforcement agencies must promptly report to DOJ all reports they receive of lost, stolen, and found property. (Penal Code §§ 11107, 11108.) DOJ must keep a centralized and computerized list of all lost, stolen, and found serialized property reported to it. (Penal Code § 11106(a).) 3)Provides that in addition to the requirements of Section 11108 that apply to a local law enforcement agency's duty to report to the DOJ the recovery of a firearm, a police or sheriff's department shall, and any other law enforcement agency or agent may, report to the department in a manner determined by the Attorney General (AG) in consultation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all available information necessary to identify and trace the history of all recovered firearms that are illegally possessed, have been used in a crime, or are suspected of having been used in a crime. In addition, any law enforcement agency or agent may report to the AG pursuant to this section all information pertaining to any firearm taken into custody, except where the firearm has been voluntarily placed with the law enforcement agency for storage. (Penal Code § 11108.3.) AB 1695 Page 3 4)Provides that if any weapon has been stolen and is thereafter recovered from the thief or his or her transferee, or is used in such a manner as to constitute a nuisance because it was unlawfully carried or used without the prior knowledge of its lawful owner that it would be so used, it shall be restored to the lawful owner, as soon as its use as evidence has been completed. The lawful owner must identify the weapon and provide proof of ownership. (Penal Code § 18005(b).) 5)Requires that any person seeking the return of a firearm in the custody or control of a court or law enforcement agency must submit specified information, including for handguns the firearm's make, model, caliber, barrel length, handgun type, country of origin, and serial number. If the firearm has been reported lost or stolen to a law enforcement agency, as specified, the agency shall notify the owner or person entitled to possession of the firearm. The person seeking return of the firearm shall be subject to a background check, as specified. (Penal Code §§ 33850, 33855.) 6)Requires that firearms dealers obtain certain identifying information from firearms purchasers and forward that information, via electronic transfer to 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.) 7)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. (Penal Code § 28220.) 8)Prohibits anyone convicted of numerous misdemeanors involving violence or threats of violence are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm for 10 years. And, provides that a violation of these provisions is a wobbler, as specified. (Penal Code § 29805.) AB 1695 Page 4 This bill: 1)Specifies that existing laws relating to filing a false report apply to a person who reports that a firearm has been lost or stolen, knowing the report to be false. 2)Adds falsely reporting that a firearm has been stolen to offenses for which a conviction results in a 10-year prohibition on possession of a firearm, as specified. Comments Current state and federal laws prohibit persons who have been convicted of specific crimes from owning or possessing firearms. For example, anyone convicted of any felony offense is prohibited for life from firearms ownership under both federal and state law. (18 U.S.C. § 922(g); Penal Code § 29800.) California goes further and imposes a 10-year firearms prohibition on persons convicted of numerous misdemeanor offenses that involve either violence or the threat of violence. (Penal Code § 29805.) Additionally, anyone who has been found to be a danger to themselves or others due to mental illness is subject to a five-year prohibition (Welfare and Institutions Code §§ 8100, 8103(f)), and people under domestic violence restraining orders are subject to a prohibition for the duration of that court order. (Penal Code § 29825.) According to a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association: Handgun purchasers with only 1 prior misdemeanor conviction and no convictions for offenses involving firearms or violence were nearly 5 times as likely as those with no prior criminal history to be charged with new offenses involving firearms or violence. AB 1695 Page 5 (Wintemute GJ. Prior Misdemeanor Convictions as a Risk Factor for Later Violent and Firearm Related Criminal Activity Among Authorized Purchasers of Handguns. Journal of the American Medical Association 1998; 280: 2083-2087.) To this end, this bill does not only make it a misdemeanor to falsely report a firearm lost or stolen, but also expands the number of misdemeanor convictions resulting in a 10-year prohibition by adding falsely reporting a lost or stolen firearm. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 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 bill. Violations of the 10-year firearms ban: Potential increase in 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. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data indicates only 20 commitments per year for violations of the 10-year firearms prohibition. While the AB 1695 Page 6 impact of this bill 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 - Appropriation Committee 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. SUPPORT: (Verified6/24/16) American Academy of Pediatrics California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence California Police Chiefs Association City of Oakland Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence OPPOSITION: (Verified6/24/16) Firearms Policy Coalition National Rifle Association National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California Safari Club International The California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc. Several individuals ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author: The failure to report firearms as lost or stolen, as well AB 1695 Page 7 as the false reporting of firearms as lost or stolen, remains a significant hindrance to the tracking of these firearms. There is a concern that a straw purchaser, who legally buys a firearm with the intent of illegally selling it to another individual, would falsely report that firearm as lost or stolen in order to place distance between themselves and any crimes committed with that firearm. AB 1695 makes filing a report that a firearm has been lost or stolen-knowing the report to be false-a misdemeanor. Additionally, AB 1695 places the convicted individual on the prohibited persons list, barring them from owning a firearm for the following ten years. This prohibition will prevent an individual convicted of this crime from subsequently acquiring additional firearms and making further illegal sales. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The Firearms Policy Coalition states: AB 1695 creates a new misdemeanor crime of falsifying a report of a lost or stolen firearm, then makes that crime one which subjects the violator to a 10-year total prohibition on firearm possession for a non-violent, victimless paperwork crime. With more than 500 law enforcement agencies in the State-some which are tasked with enforcing local ordinances that mandate specific reporting requirements-it's difficult to conceive of a uniform prosecution scheme under AB 1695. Each city, county, and special district may have its own form. Some might take the report online, and some might require a phone report. And some require that you report to the jurisdiction where the firearm was lost or stolen, not the city in which you live. The potential for mistakes and misinformation is great. As California continues to find new and creative ways to reform our criminal justice system, it is ironic that the prison beds it seeks to empty are being reserved for the otherwise law-abiding gun owners of California instead. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-28, 6/1/16 AB 1695 Page 8 AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Dahle, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Olsen Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. / 6/24/16 14:33:52 **** END ****