Amended in Senate August 19, 2016

Amended in Senate June 28, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 7, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2165

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Gonzalez, Roger Hernández, Lackey, and Wilk)

(Coauthor: Senator Roth)

February 17, 2016

An act to amend Section 32000 of the Penal Code, relating to firearms.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2165, as amended, Bonta. Firearms: prohibitions: exemptions.

Existing law makes it a crime for any person in this state to manufacture, import into the state for sale, keep for sale, offer or expose for sale, give, or lend an unsafe handgun. Under existing law, this prohibition does not apply to the sale or purchase of a handgun if the handgun is sold to, or purchased by, a police department, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or any federal law enforcement agency, among other entities.

This bill would also make the above prohibition inapplicable to the sale or purchase of a handgun if the handgun is sold to, or purchased by, specified entities or sworn members of those entities who have satisfactorily completed the firearms portion of a training course prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. The bill would prohibit a begin delete person who obtains an unsafe handgun pursuant to this exemption from selling the handgun or otherwise transferring ownership of the handgun to a person who is not exempt from the above prohibition. end delete begin insert licensed firearms dealer from processing the sale or transfer of an unsafe handgun between a person who has obtained an unsafe handgun pursuant to this exemption and a person who is not exempt. end insert

This bill would require a person, with exceptions, who obtains an unsafe handgun pursuant to this exemption to, when leaving the handgun in an unattended vehicle, as defined, lock the handgun in the vehicle’s trunk or lock the handgun in a locked container, as defined, and place the container out of plain view. The bill would make a violation of this provision an infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 32000 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

32000.  

(a) A person in this state who manufactures or causes
to be manufactured, imports into the state for sale, keeps for sale,
offers or exposes for sale, gives, or lends an unsafe handgun shall
be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year.

(b) This section shall not apply to any of the following:

(1) The manufacture in this state, or importation into this state,
of a prototype handgun when the manufacture or importation is
for the sole purpose of allowing an independent laboratory certified
by the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 32010 to conduct
an independent test to determine whether that handgun is prohibited
by Sections 31900 to 32110, inclusive, and, if not, allowing the
department to add the firearm to the roster of handguns that may
be sold in this state pursuant to Section 32015.

(2) The importation or lending of a handgun by employees or
authorized agents of entities determining whether the weapon is
prohibited by this section.

(3) Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in Section
478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(4) The sale or purchase of a handgun, if the handgun is sold
to, or purchased by, the Department of Justice, a police department,
a sheriff’s official, a marshal’s office, the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Department of the California
Highway Patrol, any district attorney’s office, any federal law
enforcement agency, or the military or naval forces of this state
or of the United States for use in the discharge of their official
duties. This section does not prohibit the sale to, or purchase by,
sworn members of these agencies of a handgun.

(5) The sale, purchase, or delivery of a handgun, if the sale,
purchase, or delivery of the handgun is made pursuant to
subdivision (d) of Section 10334 of the Public Contract Code.

(6) Subject to the limitations set forth in subdivision (c), the
sale or purchase of a handgun, if the handgun is sold to, or
purchased by, any of the following entities or sworn members of
these entities who have satisfactorily completed the firearms
portion of a training course prescribed by the Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training pursuant to Section 832:

(A) The Department of Parks and Recreation.

(B) The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

(C) The Division of Investigation of the Department of
Consumer Affairs.

(D) The Department of Motor Vehicles.

(E) The Fraud Division of the Department of Insurance.

(F) The State Department of State Hospitals.

begin insert

(G) The Department of Fish and Wildlife.

end insert begin delete

(G)

end delete

begin insert (H) end insert  The State Department of Developmental Services.

begin delete

(H) The State Fire Marshal.

end delete begin insert

(I) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

end insert begin delete

(I)

end delete

begin insert (J) end insert  A county probation department.

begin delete

(J)

end delete

begin insert (K) end insert  The Los Angeles World Airports, as defined in Section
830.15.

begin delete

(K)

end delete

begin insert (L) end insert  A K-12 public school district for use by a school police
officer, as described in Section 830.32.

begin delete

(L)

end delete

begin insert (M) end insert  A municipal water district for use by a park ranger, as
described in Section 830.34.

begin delete

(M)

end delete

begin insert (N) end insert  A county for use by a welfare fraud investigator or inspector,
as described in Section 830.35.

begin delete

(N)

end delete

begin insert (O) end insert  A county for use by the coroner or the deputy coroner, as
described in Section 830.35.

begin delete

(O)

end delete

begin insert (P) end insert  The Supreme Court and the courts of appeal for use by
marshals of the Supreme Court and bailiffs of the courts of appeal,
and coordinators of security for the judicial branch, as described
in Section 830.36.

begin delete

(P)

end delete

begin insert (Q) end insert  A fire department or fire protection agency of a county,
city, city and county, district, or the state for use by either of the
following:

(i) A member of an arson-investigating unit, regularly paid and
employed in that capacity pursuant to Section 830.37.

(ii) A member other than a member of an arson-investigating
unit, regularly paid and employed in that capacity pursuant to
Section 830.37.

begin delete

(c) (1) A person who obtains an unsafe handgun pursuant to
paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) shall not sell the handgun or
otherwise transfer ownership of the handgun to a person who is
not exempt from this section pursuant to subdivision (b).

end delete begin insert

(R) The University of California Police Department, or the
California State University Police Departments, as described in
Section 830.2.

end insert begin insert

(S) A California Community College police department, as
described in Section 830.32.

end insert begin insert

(c) (1) Notwithstanding Section 26825, a person licensed
pursuant to Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, shall not process
the sale or transfer of an unsafe handgun between a person who
has obtained an unsafe handgun pursuant to an exemption specified
in paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) and a person who is not exempt
from the requirements of this section.

end insert

(2) (A) A person who obtains an unsafe handgun pursuant to
paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) shall, when leaving the handgun
in an unattended vehicle, lock the handgun in the vehicle’s begin delete trunk
or end delete begin insert trunk, end insert lock the handgun in a locked container and place the
container out of plain begin delete view. end delete begin insert view, or lock the handgun in a locked
container that is permanently affixed to the vehicle’s interior and
not in plain view. end insert

(B) A violation of subparagraph (A) is an infraction punishable
by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions
shall apply:

(i) “Vehicle” has the same meaning as defined in Section 670
of the Vehicle Code.

(ii) A vehicle is “unattended” when a person who is lawfully
carrying or transporting a handgun in the vehicle is not within
close proximity to the vehicle to reasonably prevent unauthorized
access to the vehicle or its contents.

(iii) “Locked container” has the same meaning as defined in
Section 16850.

(D) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to a peace officer during
circumstances requiring immediate aid or action that are within
the course of his or her official duties.

begin insert

(E) This paragraph does not supersede any local ordinance that
regulates the storage of handguns in unattended vehicles if the
ordinance was in effect before the date of the enactment of the act
that added this subparagraph.

end insert

(d) Violations of subdivision (a) are cumulative with respect to
each handgun and shall not be construed as restricting the
application of any other law. However, an act or omission
punishable in different ways by this section and other provisions
of law shall not be punished under more than one provision, but
the penalty to be imposed shall be determined as set forth in Section
654.

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.