BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 347|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 347
Author: Jackson (D)
Amended: 9/2/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 4-2, 4/14/15
AYES: Hancock, Leno, McGuire, Monning
NOES: Anderson, Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-1, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE FLOOR: 24-15, 6/3/15
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Jackson, Lara, Leno,
Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines,
Huff, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Roth, Runner, Stone,
Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hueso
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 46-30, 9/8/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Firearms: prohibited persons
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill adds specified offenses to the list of
misdemeanors that result in the defendant being prohibited from
possessing a firearm for 10 years.
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Page 2
Assembly Amendments limit the specified offenses to include: (1)
bringing or carrying ammunition onto school grounds; (2) petty
theft if the property taken was a firearm; and, (3) buying or
receiving stolen property if the property consists of a firearm.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Requires that firearms dealers obtain certain identifying
information from firearms purchasers and forward that
information, via electronic transfer to Department of Justice
(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.)
2) 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.)
3) Requires firearms to be centrally registered at time of
transfer or sale by way of transfer forms centrally compiled
by DOJ. DOJ is required to keep a registry from data sent to
DOJ indicating who owns what firearm by make, model, and
serial number and the date thereof. (Penal Code § 11106(a)
and (c).)
4) Requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain an
online database to be known as Armed Prohibited Persons
System (APPS). The purpose of the file is to cross-reference
persons who have ownership or possession of a firearm on or
after January 1, 1991, as indicated by a record in the
Consolidated Firearms Information System (CFIS), 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. The information
contained in APPS shall only be available to specified
entities through the California Law Enforcement
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Telecommunications System, for the purpose of determining if
persons are armed and prohibited from possessing firearms.
(Penal Code § 30000.)
5) Provides, in Section 933(g) of Title 18 of the United States
Code, that certain people are prohibited from owning or
possessing a firearm, as specified.
6) Provides, in Penal Code Sections 29800, 23515 and 29805,
that certain people are subject to a lifetime ban on owning
or possessing a firearm, including:
a) Anyone convicted of a felony;
b) Anyone addicted to a narcotic drug;
c) Any juvenile convicted of a violent crime with a gun
and tried in adult court;
d) Any person convicted of a federal crime that would be
a felony in California and sentenced to more than 30 days
in prison, or a fine of more than $1,000;
e) Anyone convicted of certain violent misdemeanors,
e.g., assault with a firearm, inflicting corporal injury
on a spouse or significant other, or brandishing a firearm
in the presence of a police officer.
7) Makes it a felony for a person subject to a lifetime ban to
own or possess a firearm, as specified. (Id.)
8) Provides that anyone convicted of numerous misdemeanors
involving violence or threats of violence is subject to a
10-year prohibition on prohibition on possession of a
firearm. (Penal Code § 29805.)
9) Makes it a wobbler (can be charged as a felony or
misdemeanor) for a person subject to a 10-year prohibition to
own or possess a firearm, as specified. (Id.)
10)States that any person taken into custody, assessed, and
admitted to a designated facility due to that person being
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found to be a danger to themselves or others as a result of a
mental disorder, is prohibited from possessing a firearm
during treatment and for five years from the date of their
discharge. (Welfare and Institutions Code §§ 8100 and
8103(f).)
11)Makes it a wobbler (can be charged as a felony or
misdemeanor) for a person subject to a five-year prohibition
to own or possess a firearm, as specified. (Id.)
12)States that persons who are bound by a temporary restraining
order or injunction or a protective order issued under the
Family Code or the Welfare and Institutions Code, may be
prohibited from firearms ownership for the duration of that
court order. (Penal Code § 29825.)
13)Makes it a wobbler (can be charged as a felony or
misdemeanor) or a misdemeanor for a person subject to a
temporary restraining order or injunction or a protective
order issued under the Family Code or the Welfare and
Institutions Code, as specified, to own or possess a firearm,
as specified. (Id.)
This bill:
1) Adds the following misdemeanor offenses to the list of
crimes that result in a 10-year prohibition on possession of
a firearm:
a) Theft of a firearm (Penal Code § 490.2);
b) Receipt of stolen property, if the property is a
firearm (Penal Code § 496); and,
c) Bringing ammunition on school grounds (Penal Code §
30310).
2) States that, with the exception of misdemeanor firearm
theft, its provisions apply prospectively.
Background
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As detailed above, 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 the author:
[S]tudies demonstrate the need to strengthen our firearms
regulations. In particular, certain firearm-related
misdemeanors should have been originally included in the
10-year ban on firearm purchases.
To this end, this bill expands the number of misdemeanor
convictions resulting in a 10-year prohibition.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Annual ongoing costs of over $220,000 (Dealer's Record of Sale
Fund) to DOJ to address the additional workload and enhance
CFIS and the Automated Firearms System.
2)Unknown nonreimbursable local law enforcement and
incarceration costs offset to a degree by increased fine
revenue.
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SUPPORT: (Verified 9/8/15)
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
California State Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police
City of Santa Barbara
Coalition Against Gun Violence
Courage Campaign
Friends Committee on Legislation in California
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sacramento Chapter
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff's Association
San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County
Youth ALIVE
Five individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/8/15)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
California Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc.
California Sportsman's Lobby
California Waterfowl Association
Firearms Policy Coalition
Gun Owners of California
National Rifle Association of America
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Shasta County Sheriff, Tom Bosenko
Safari Club International
Two individuals
SB 347
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 46-30, 9/8/15
AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, 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, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Santiago,
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,
Dahle, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gray, Grove, Hadley,
Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Salas,
Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Cooley, Perea, Rodriguez
Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. /
9/8/15 21:55:25
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