BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 347 (Jackson) - Firearms: prohibited persons
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|Version: April 21, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 4 - 2 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 4, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 347 would add specified offenses to the list of
misdemeanors that result in a 10-year prohibition on firearms
possession.
Fiscal
Impact:
State prisons : Potential increase in state costs
potentially in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars
(General Fund) annually for additional commitments to state
prison under the expanded list of crimes subject to the
10-year firearms ban resulting in felony convictions. Any
cost savings due to a greater number of wobbler offenses
prospectively being charged as misdemeanors instead of
felonies are estimated to result in local savings, as the
applicable wobbler offenses specify jail felonies pursuant
to PC § 1170(h). To the extent the prohibition is applied
retroactively would significantly increase the potential
fiscal impact to the state.
County jails : Potentially major increases and decreases
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in non-reimbursable local costs in the millions of dollars
(Local) as a result of: 1) new admissions to jail for
violations of the 10-year firearms ban under the expanded
list of applicable crimes resulting in misdemeanor
convictions; and, 2) reductions in jail terms for wobbler
offenses that otherwise would have been charged as jail
felonies that are instead charged as misdemeanors with
shorter jail sentences. To the extent the prohibition is
applied retroactively would significantly increase the
potential fiscal impact to counties. To the extent local
agencies incur a net increase in overall costs, a subvention
of funds could be required from the State (General Fund*).
Department of Justice (DOJ) : Potentially significant
increase in DOJ administration and enforcement costs of
about $200,000 (Special Fund**) for increases to the Armed
Prohibited Persons System (APPS) list resulting from the
expanded application of the firearms prohibition.
*Proposition 30 (2012) provides that legislation enacted after
September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of increasing the
costs already borne by a local agency for public safety
services, as defined, are not subject to mandate reimbursement,
however, apply to local agencies only to the extent the State
provides annual funding for the cost increase. Legislation
creating a new crime or changing the definition of an existing
crime is exempt from this funding provision, however,
legislation changing the penalty for a crime is not similarly
exempted. It is not clear that expanding the application of the
10-year firearms ban to a larger class of individuals would
constitute a change in the definition of a crime. To the extent
it is determined that the provisions of this bill instead change
the penalty for the specified misdemeanor crimes by applying the
firearms ban to those misdemeanor convictions, any net increase
in costs to local agencies attributable to provisions of this
legislation could potentially require annual funding from the
State.
**Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) Special Account
Background: 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
SB 347 (Jackson) Page 2 of
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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),
punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, two,
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.)
Proposed Law:
This bill expands the list of misdemeanor offenses subject to
the 10-year firearms prohibition in existing law to include the
following:
Theft, if the property is a firearm (PC § 490.2);
Receipt of stolen property, if the property is a firearm
(PC § 496);
Sale of a firearm without a license (PC § 26500);
Sale of ammunition to an underage person (PC § 30300);
Possession of ammunition by a person prohibited from
possessing a firearm (PC § 30305);
Sale or supplying ammunition to a person prohibited from
possessing a firearm (PC § 30306);
Bringing ammunition on school grounds (PC § 30310);
Carrying a concealed firearm where the person has been
convicted of a drug offense or of a crime against a person
or property (PC § 25400(c)(5));
Carrying a concealed firearm where the firearm was
loaded and not registered to the person in possession (PC §
25400(c)(6));
Carrying a loaded firearm in public where the person has
been convicted of a drug offense or of a crime against a
person or property (PC § 25850(c)(5));
Carrying a loaded firearm in public where the firearm
was not registered to the person in possession. (PC §
25850(c)(6)); and
Prohibited person in possession of a firearm. (PC §
29805).
Prior
Legislation: SB 755 (Wolk) 2014 was similar but broader in
scope than this measure. This bill was vetoed by the Governor
with the following message:
I am returning Senate Bill 755 without my signature. This bill
adds substance-abuse offenses and court orders to undergo mental
health outpatient treatment to criteria that result in a 10-year
SB 347 (Jackson) Page 3 of
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prohibition on firearms possession. I am not persuaded that it
is necessary to bar gun ownership on the basis of crimes that
are non-felonies, non-violent and do not involve misuse of a
firearm.
Staff
Comments: By expanding the list of misdemeanors subject to the 10-year
firearms prohibition, this bill could result in future increases
in commitments to state prison for violations of the firearms
ban resulting in felony convictions. Data from the DOJ indicates
over 3,000 misdemeanor convictions per year on average over the
last three years (2012-2014) for the enumerated crimes in this
bill. Staff notes the offense of "receipt of stolen property,"
which constitutes 93 percent of total convictions, cannot be
broken out specifically to stolen property of a firearm,
however.
Data from the CDCR indicates that only 20 individuals per year
have been committed to state prison on average over the past
three years (2012-2014) for a violation of the 10-year
prohibition on firearms possession for existing crimes subject
to the ban. While it is unknown how many additional individuals
will be committed to state prison under this provision of law,
future costs could potentially be significant given the size of
the applicable population, especially if the application is
determined to be retroactive. For every 10 new commitments to
state prison, costs would be $340,000 per year, assuming the
in-state contract bed cost of $34,000 per year. To the extent
the number of individuals impacted is greater or fewer, costs
would be affected accordingly.
Local jails will potentially incur significant increases and
decreases in local costs under the provisions of this measure.
New commitments to county jail for misdemeanor violations of the
10-year firearms ban under the expanded list of applicable
crimes will result in increased costs of an unknown, but
potentially significant amount.
Staff notes that most of the enumerated offenses specified in
this measure are alternate felony/misdemeanors, with felony
convictions subject to punishment pursuant to PC § 1170(h).
Unless the defendant has been formerly convicted of a serious or
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violent felony, or a felony requiring sex offender registration,
the felony sentence will be served in county jail. Data from the
DOJ indicates over 7,000 felony convictions per year on average
attributable to the offenses specified in this measure. To the
extent some percentage of felony convictions resulting in county
jail sentences are instead charged as misdemeanors, local jails
would realize cost savings due to shorter jail sentences. While
the net impact to local agencies cannot be known with certainty
and would vary by county, it is estimated the amount of
potential savings to county jails could be substantial given the
number of felony convictions annually.
Under 2011 Realignment Legislation, the state provided funding
to the counties to place offenders in county jail for specified
felonies that previously would have required a state prison
sentence. Pursuant to Proposition 30 (2012), legislation enacted
after September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of
increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for
programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment
Legislation apply to local agencies only to the extent that the
state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Proposition
30 specifies that legislation defining a new crime or changing
the definition of an existing crime is not subject to this
provision, however, legislation changing the penalty for a crime
is not similarly exempted. It is not clear that expanding the
application of the 10-year firearms ban to a larger class of
individuals would constitute a change in the definition of a
crime. To the extent it is determined that the provisions of
this bill instead change the penalty for the specified
misdemeanor crimes by applying the 10-year firearms ban to those
misdemeanor convictions, any net increase in costs to local
agencies could potentially require annual funding from the State
(General Fund).
Staff notes that it is unclear whether the firearms prohibition
would apply retroactively to those persons convicted of
applicable misdemeanors prior to the effective date of this bill
should it be enacted. As a result, the estimated fiscal impacts
to the state and counties could vary widely.
Similarly, to the extent the firearms prohibition is applied
retroactively to prior misdemeanor convictions could result in a
significant increase in DOJ administration and enforcement costs
(Special Fund*) to input and address new listings on APPS.
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The Three-Judge Court has ordered the State to reduce its prison
population to 137.5 percent of the prison system's design
capacity by February 28, 2016. Pursuant to its February 10, 2014
order, the Court has ordered the CDCR to implement several
population reduction measures, prohibited an increase in the
population of inmates housed in out-of-state facilities, and
indicated the Court will maintain jurisdiction over the State
for as long as necessary to ensure that the State's compliance
with the 137.5 percent final benchmark is durable, and that such
durability is firmly established. Any future increases to the
State's prison population challenge the ability of the State to
reach and maintain such a "durable solution," and could require
the State to pursue one of several options, including
contracting-out for additional bed space or releasing current
inmates early onto parole.
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