Senate BillNo. 678


Introduced by Senator Hill

February 27, 2015


An act to add Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 33700) to Division 10 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code, relating to firearms.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 678, as introduced, Hill. User-authorized firearms.

Existing law generally regulates deadly weapons, including firearms. Existing law generally requires any firearm sold or transferred in this state to include or be accompanied by a firearm safety device.

This bill would make it a misdemeanor for a person to sell, lend, or give a user-authorized firearm that does not meet specified requirements. The bill would define a user-authorized firearm as a firearm that will only fire when activated by an authorized user. The bill would require that user-authorized firearms meet certain requirements and be tested and certified by the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. 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:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 33700)
2is added to Division 10 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code, to
3read:

4 

5Chapter  11. User-Authorized Firearms
6

 

7

33700.  

As used in this chapter, a “user-authorized firearm”
8means any firearm, interchangeably referred to as an
9owner-authorized firearm, intelligent firearm, or smart firearm,
10that incorporates technology within its design and that is integral
11to the firearm, whether part of its original manufacture or
12retrofitted, that renders the firearm incapable of being fired except
13when activated by the lawful owner or other users authorized by
14the lawful owner. The technology may include, but is not limited
15to, biometrics, radio frequency tagging, touch memory, fingerprint
16recognition, palm print recognition, grip recognition, magnetic
17encoding, retinal recognition, iris recognition, and other means of
18utilizing biometric or electronic systems.

19

33701.  

(a) A person who keeps for sale, offers or exposes for
20sale, or gives, lends, sells, a user-authorized firearm that does not
21meet the requirements of subdivision (b) is guilty of a
22misdemeanor.

23(b) (1) A user-authorized firearm shall meet all of the following
24requirements:

25(A) The firearm shall not fail to recognize the authorized user,
26and shall not falsely recognize an unauthorized user, more than
27one time per 1,000 recognition attempts.

28(B) The time from first contact with the authorized user to use
29recognition and firearm enablement shall be no more than 0.3
30seconds.

31(C) The time from loss of contact with the authorized user to
32disablement shall be no more than 0.3 seconds.

33(D) Enabling authorized user information shall be stored in the
34firearm as a permanent memory that is restored when power is
35restored.

36(E) The firearm shall be capable of use by more than one
37authorized user and, if the firearm uses hand recognition
38technology, it shall recognize either of the authorized user’s hands.

P3    1(2) (A) The firearm shall be submitted to a laboratory certified
2by the United States Army Armament Research, Development and
3Engineering Center (ARDEC) for testing and evaluation of all the
4various components of the engineered system of the firearm,
5including the firing mechanism, ammunition, safety mechanisms,
6 electrical, and power components.

7(B) The firearm shall be certified by ARDEC as reliably
8performing its intended functions and meeting all of the criteria
9standards specified in paragraph (1).

10(C) The firearm shall be certified by ARDEC as having a proven
11system in its final form at a technology readiness level 9 as defined
12by the United States Department of Defense in its April 2011
13Technology Readiness Assessment Guidance.

14(c) A user-authorized firearm that is a handgun shall also comply
15with the requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section
1631900) of Chapter 4 and Article 5 (commencing with Section
1732000) of Chapter 4.

18(d) A user-authorized firearm that satisfies the requirements of
19this chapter shall not be required to comply with Division 2
20 (commencing with Section 23620).

21

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
22Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
23the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
24district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
25infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
26for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
27the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
28the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
29Constitution.



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