BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1999 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016 Consultant: Matt Dean ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair AB 1999 (Achadjian) - As Amended March 15, 2016 SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to both complete an initial review of a match in the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) within seven days of the match being placed in the queue, and periodically reassess whether the department can complete reviews of APPS matches more efficiently. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires DOJ to complete an initial review of a match in the daily queue of APPS within seven days of the match being placed in the queue. 2)Requires DOJ to periodically reassess whether the department can complete reviews of APPS matches within the daily queue more efficiently. 3)Defines the "Armed Prohibited Persons System" (APPS) as "an online database with the purpose of cross-referencing persons who have ownership or possession of a firearm as indicated by 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." AB 1999 Page 2 4)Defines "match" as "an entry into the Automated Criminal History System, or into any department automated information system, of the name and other information of an individual who may be prohibited from acquiring, owning, or possessing a firearm, matched with a corresponding record of ownership or possession of a firearm by that individual, as specified." EXISTING LAW: 1)Provides for an automated system for tracking firearms and assault weapon owners who might fall into a prohibited status. The online database, which is currently known as the APPS, cross-references all handgun and assault weapon owners across the state against criminal history records to determine persons who have been, or will become, prohibited from possessing a firearm subsequent to the legal acquisition or registration of a firearm or assault weapon. (Pen. Code, § 30000, et seq.) 2)Prohibits persons who know or have reasonable cause to believe that the recipient is prohibited from having firearms and ammunition to supply or provide the same with firearms or ammunition. (Pen. Code, §§ 27500 and 30306; and Welf. & Inst. Code, § 8101.) 3)Provides that various categories of persons are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, including persons convicted of certain violent offenses, and persons who have been adjudicated as having a mental disorder, among others. (Pen. Code, §§ 29800 to 29825, inclusive, 29900, 29905, 30305; and Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 8100 and 8103.) 4)Establishes the Dealer's Record of Sale (DROS) Account, a special fund, which receives various firearm registration fees, and which may be used by the DOJ for firearms related regulatory activities, including enforcement activities related to possession. (Pen. Code, §§ 28225 and 28235.) 5)Establishes the Firearms Safety and Enforcement Special Fund (FSESF), a continuously appropriated fund, for use by the DOJ for specified purposes related to weapons and firearms regulation. Monies in the fund may be used for the following purposes: AB 1999 Page 3 a) Implementing and enforcing the provisions of the Firearm Safety Certificate program; b) Implementing and enforcing various gun law enforcement programs; and, c) Establishment, maintenance, and upgrading of equipment and services necessary for firearms dealers to comply with the DROS system. (Pen. Code, §28300.) 6)Requires the DOJ, upon submission of firearm purchaser information, to examine its records to determine if the purchaser is prohibited from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm. Existing law prohibits the delivery of a firearm within 10 days of the application to purchase, or, after notice by the department, within 10 days of the submission to the department of any corrections to the application to purchase, or within 10 days of the submission to the department of a specified fee. (Pen. Code, §§ 28200 to 28250.) 7)Mandates those dealers notify DOJ that persons in applications actually took possession of their firearms. (Pen. Code, § 28255.) 8)Requires if a dealer cannot legally deliver a firearm to return the firearm to the transferor, seller, or person loaning the firearm. (Pen. Code, § 28050, subd. (d).) 9)Requires that in connection with any sale, loan or transfer of a firearm, a licensed dealer must provide the DOJ with specified personal information about the seller and purchaser as well as the name and address of the dealer. This personal information of buyer and seller required to be provided includes the name; address; phone number; date of birth; place of birth; occupation; eye color; hair color; height; weight; race; sex; citizenship status; and a driver's license number; California identification card number; or, military identification number. A copy of the DROS, containing the buyer and seller's personal information, must be provided to the buyer or seller upon request. (Pen. Code, §§ 28160, AB 1999 Page 4 28210, and 28215.) 10)Appropriates $24,000,000 from the DROS Special Account to DOJ to address the backlog in APPS and the illegal possession of firearms by individuals in APPS. (Pen. Code, § 30015.) 11)Requires DOJ to report, until March 1, 2019, on the following APPS statistics: a) The degree to which the backlog in APPS has been reduced or eliminated; b) The number of agents hired for enforcement of APPS; c) The number of people cleared from APPS; d) The number of people added to APPS; e) The number of people in APPS before and after the relevant reporting period, including a breakdown of why each person in APPS is prohibited from possessing a firearm; f) The number of firearms recovered due to enforcement of APPS; g) The number of contacts made during the APPS enforcement efforts; and h) Information regarding task forces or collaboration with local law enforcement on reducing the APPS backlog. (Pen. Code, § 30015, subds. (b) and (c).) FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown COMMENTS: 1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "AB 1999 fulfills the recommendations of the State Auditor in requiring the Department of Justice to review an initial match in the Armed Prohibited Persons daily queue within 7 days and periodically reassess whether the Department can complete AB 1999 Page 5 those reviews more efficiently. "This bill ensures the Department of Justice manages its priorities and reviews potentially armed prohibited persons accurately and promptly." 2)Prohibited Persons: California has several laws that prohibit certain persons from purchasing firearms. All felony convictions lead to a lifetime prohibition, while specified misdemeanors will result in a 10-year prohibition. A person may be prohibited due to a protective order or as a condition of probation. Another prohibition is based on the mental health of the individual. If a person communicates to his or her psychotherapist a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably-identifiable victim or victims, the person is prohibited from owning or purchasing a firearm for five years, starting from the date the psychotherapist reports to local law enforcement the identity of the person making the threat. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 8100, subd. (b)(1).) If a person is admitted into a facility because that person is a danger to himself, herself, or to others, the person is prohibited from owning or purchasing a firearm for five years. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 8103, subd. (f).) For the provisions prohibiting a person from owning or possessing a firearm based on a serious threat of violence or based on admittance into a facility as a threat to self or others, the person has the right to request a hearing whereby the person could restore his or her right to own or possess a firearm if a court determines that the person is likely to use firearms or other deadly weapons in a safe and lawful manner. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 8100, subd. (b)(1) and 8103, subd. (f).) DOJ developed APPS for tracking handgun and assault weapon owners in California who may pose a threat to public safety. (Pen. Code, § 30000 et seq.) APPS collects information about persons who have been, or will become, prohibited from possessing a firearm subsequent to the legal acquisition or registration of a firearm or assault weapon. DOJ receives automatic notifications from state and federal criminal history systems to determine if there is a match in the APPS for a current California gun owner. DOJ also receives information from courts, local law enforcement and state hospitals as well as public and private mental hospitals to AB 1999 Page 6 determine whether someone is in a prohibited status. When a match is found, DOJ has the authority to investigate the person's status and confiscate any firearms or weapons in the person's possession. Local law enforcement also may request from DOJ the status of an individual, or may request a list of prohibited persons within their jurisdiction, and conduct an investigation of those persons. (Pen. Code, § 30010.) Since the development of APPS, California has added long-gun transactions to the list of registered firearms and has added restraining orders to the list of prohibiting events. (< http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/publications/sb-14 0-supp-budget-report.pdf >) These additional requirements have contributed to a backlog in processing APPS matches. 3)Backlog of Match Review in APPS: DOJ has two queues through which it processes matches between any potentially prohibited person and any registered firearm owner or applicant. Although steady progress has been made to reduce the backlog in APPS's two queues, currently there is an average backlog of 3,600 matches of potentially prohibited persons to firearm owners in the daily queue of APPS and a backlog of approximately 257,000 potentially prohibited person matches in the historical queue. The historical queue includes all matched prohibited persons not in the daily queue, which includes all potentially prohibited persons whose reviews were pending before DOJ implemented APPS in 2006. The daily queue receives information daily from courts and mental health providers regarding individuals who should be prohibited from owning a firearm, as specified, and automatically creates matches of anyone who is currently a firearm owner or who has applied to own a firearm. (< https://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/factsheets/2015-504.pdf >) To avoid instances of incorrect identification, DOJ conducts a manual review of any person who has been automatically matched in APPS. This avoids denying access or ownership of firearms to improperly matched individuals, i.e. makes sure that no one is mistakenly prohibited from owning or purchasing a firearm due to any clerical error or other incorrect identifier. This manual review is the initial review referred to in this bill. AB 1999 Page 7 This bill would require this initial review to be completed by DOJ seven days after the automated match is generated in APPS, as recommended by the State Auditor after DOJ received an appropriation for this purpose. In 2013, the Legislature appropriated $24 million to DOJ to help clear the APPS backlogs. However, DOJ assigned APPS unit staff to handle firearm background checks, which have a statutory maximum time period during which background checks must be completed. APPS, on the other hand, has no such statutory deadline. In order to further reduce the backlog, the State Auditor has recommended DOJ be mandated to complete the aforementioned initial review of prohibited person matches in APPS daily queue within seven days. This bill would mandate the State Auditor's recommendation. 4)Related Legislation: SB 1332 (Mendoza), would require the Department of Justice to modify its registration form so that both spouses or both domestic partners may register as the owners of the firearm and would require the department to maintain both names on the firearm's registry. This bill passed as amended from the Senate Committee on Public Safety and was re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations on April 5, 2016. 5)Prior Legislation: a) SB 580 (Jackson), of the 2013-2014 Legislative Session, would have would appropriated the sum of $5,000,000 from the FSESF to the DOJ to contract with local law enforcement agencies to reduce the backlog of individuals who are identified by APPS as illegally possessing firearms. This bill died in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. b) SB 140 (Leno), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2013, appropriated $24 million from the DROS Special Account to the DOJ for costs associated with regulatory and enforcement of illegal possession of firearms by prohibited persons. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support AB 1999 Page 8 None Opposition None Analysis Prepared by: Matt Dean / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744