BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  1





          Date of Hearing:  June 14, 2016


          Counsel:               Gabriel Caswell








                         ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY


                       Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair





          SB  
          880 (Hall) - As Amended May 17, 2016





          SUMMARY: Redefines what constitutes an assault weapon in order  
          to close the bullet button loophole.  Also requires registration  
          of weapons previously not prohibited, under the new definition.   
          Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Revises the definition of "assault weapon" to mean "a  
            semiautomatic centerfire rifle, or a semiautomatic pistol that  
            does not have a fixed magazine but has any one of those  
            specified attributes." 
          2)Defines "fixed magazine" to mean "an ammunition feeding device  
            contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  2





            manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly  
            of the firearm action." 


          3)Exempts a person who possessed an assault weapon prior to  
            January 1, 2017, if specified requirements are met.


          4)Requires that any person who, from January 1, 2001, to  
            December 31, 2016, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that  
            does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, register the  
            firearm with the Department of Justice (DOJ) before January 1,  
            2018. 


          5)Permits the DOJ to increase the $20 registration fee as long  
            as it does not exceed the reasonable processing costs of the  
            department. 


          6)Requires registrations to be submitted electronically via the  
            Internet utilizing a public-facing application made available  
            by the DOJ. 


          7)Requires the registration to contain specified information,  
            including, but not limited to, a description of the firearm  
            that identifies it uniquely and specified information about  
            the registrant. 


          8)Permits the DOJ to charge a fee of up to $15 per person for  
            registration through the internet, not to exceed the  
            reasonable processing costs of the department to be paid and  
            deposited, as specified, for purposes of the registration  
            program. 


          9)Requires the DOJ to adopt regulations for the purpose of  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  3





            implementing those provisions and would exempt those  
            regulations from the Administrative Procedure Act. 








          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Contains legislative findings and declarations that the  
            proliferation and use of assault and .50 BMG rifles poses a  
            threat to the health, safety, and security of all citizens of  
            California.  (Pen. Code, § 30505.)

          2)States legislative intent to place restrictions on the use of  
            assault weapons and .50 BMG rifles and to establish a  
            registration and permit procedure for their lawful sale and  
            possession.  (Pen. Code, § 30505.)

          3)Prohibits several categories of assault weapons:

             a)   Specified firearms listed by name and others listed by  
               series (Pen. Code, § 30510); 

             b)   Semiautomatic centerfire rifles or semiautomatic pistols  
               having the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and  
               also having one of several specified characteristics; 

             c)   Semiautomatic centerfire rifles or semiautomatic pistols  
               with a fixed magazine having the capacity to hold more than  
               10 rounds; 

             d)   Semiautomatic centerfire rifles with an overall length  
               of less than 30 inches; 









                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  4





             e)   Semiautomatic shotguns having two specified  
               characteristics; 

             f)   Semiautomatic shotguns having the capacity to accept a  
               detachable magazine; and,

             g)   Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.  (Pen. Code, §  
               30515.)

          4)Defines a "detachable magazine" as any ammunition feeding  
            device that can be removed readily from the firearm with  
            neither disassembly of the firearm action nor use of a tool  
            being required.  A bullet or ammunition cartridge is  
            considered a tool.  Ammunition feeding device includes any  
            belted or linked ammunition, but does not include clips, en  
            bloc clips, or stripper clips that load cartridges into the  
            magazine.  (11 Cal. Code Regs. Section 5469.)

          5)Bans the manufacture, distribution, transportation,  
            importation, sale, gift or loan of an assault weapon.  (Pen.  
            Code, § 30600, subd. (a).)

          6)Makes the possession of an assault weapon a criminal offense,  
            subject to certain exceptions.  (Pen. Code, § 30605.)

          7)Defines a ".50 BMG rifle" as "a center fire rifle that can  
            fire a .50 BMG cartridge and is not already an assault weapon  
            or a machinegun."  (Pen. Code, § 30530.)

          8)Bans the manufacture, distribution, transportation,  
            importation, sale, gift, loan, or possession of .50 BMG  
            rifles.  (Pen. Code §§ 30600 & 30610.) 

          9)Exempts the DOJ, law enforcement agencies, military forces,  
            and other specified agencies from the prohibition against  
            sales to, purchase by, importation of, or possession of  
            assault weapons or .50 BMG rifles.  (Pen. Code, § 30625.)

          10)Requires that any person who lawfully possesses an assault  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  5





            weapon prior to the date it was specified as an assault weapon  
            to register the firearm with DOJ, as specified.  (Pen. Code, §  
            30900 et. seq.)

          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS: 


          1)Author's Statement:  According to the author, "bullet  
            button-equipped semi-automatic weapons have no legitimate use  
            for sport hunters or competitive shooters. They are designed  
            only to facilitate the maximum destruction of human life. Such  
            weapons have been used in a number of recent gun attacks  
            including the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino that  
            left 14 Californians dead and 21 injured. Too many  
            Californians have died at the hands of these dangerous  
            weapons. 


            "SB 880 will make our communities safer and upholds our  
            commitment to reduce gun violence in California by closing the  
            bullet button loophole in California's Assault Weapons Ban.  
            This bill clarifies the definition of assault weapons and  
            provides the DOJ the authority to bring existing regulations  
            into conformity with the original intent of California's  
            Assault Weapon Ban. Absent this bill, the assault weapon ban  
            is severely weakened, and these types of military-style  
            firearms will continue to proliferate on our streets and in  
            our neighborhoods."


          2)California's Assault Weapons Ban:  The origin of and  
            subsequent modifications to the assault weapons ban in  
            California are described by the federal Court of Appeal in the  
            following extended excerpt from Silveira v. Lockyer, 312 F.3d  
            1052 (9th Cir. 2002) (as amend. Jan. 27, 2003). 









                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  6





            In response to a proliferation of shootings involving  
            semi-automatic weapons, the California Legislature passed the  
            Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act (AWCA) in 1989.  The  
            immediate cause of the AWCA's enactment was a random shooting  
            earlier that year at the Cleveland Elementary School in  
            Stockton, California.  An individual armed with an AK-47  
            semi-automatic weapon opened fire on the schoolyard, where 300  
            pupils were enjoying their morning recess.  Five children ages  
            six to nine were killed, and one teacher and 29 children were  
            wounded. 


            The California Assembly met soon thereafter in an  
            extraordinary session called for the purpose of enacting a  
            response to the Stockton shooting. The legislation that  
            followed, the AWCA, was the first legislative restriction on  
            assault weapons in the nation, and was the model for a similar  
            federal statute enacted in 1994.  The AWCA renders it a felony  
            offense to manufacture in California any of the semi-automatic  
            weapons specified in the statute, or to possess, sell,  
            transfer, or import into the state such weapons without a  
            permit.  The statute contains a grandfather clause that  
            permits the ownership of assault weapons by individuals who  
            lawfully purchased them before the statute's enactment, so  
            long as the owners register the weapons with DOJ.  The  
            grandfather clause, however, imposes significant restrictions  
            on the use of weapons that are registered pursuant to its  
            provisions.  Approximately 40 models of firearms are listed in  
            the statute as subject to its restrictions.  The specified  
            weapons include "civilian" models of military weapons that  
            feature slightly less firepower than the military-issue  
            versions, such as the Uzi, an Israeli-made military rifle; the  
            AR-15, a semi-automatic version of the United States  
            military's standard-issue machine gun, the M-16; and the  
            AK-47, a Russian-designed and Chinese-produced military rifle.  
             The AWCA also includes a mechanism for the Attorney General  
            to seek a judicial declaration in certain California superior  
            courts that weapons identical to the listed firearms are also  
            subject to the statutory restrictions. 








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  7







            The AWCA includes a provision that codifies the legislative  
            findings and expresses the legislature's reasons for passing  
            the law:  "The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the  
            proliferation and use of assault weapons poses a threat to the  
            health, safety, and security of all citizens of this state.   
            The Legislature has restricted the assault weapons specified  
            in [the statute] based upon finding that each firearm has such  
            a high rate of fire and capacity for firepower that its  
            function as a legitimate sports or recreational firearm is  
            substantially outweighed by the danger that it can be used to  
            kill and injure human beings.  It is the intent of the  
            Legislature in enacting this chapter to place restrictions on  
            the use of assault weapons and to establish a registration and  
            permit procedure for their lawful sale and possession.  It is  
            not, however, the intent of the Legislature by this chapter to  
            place restrictions on the use of those weapons which are  
            primarily designed and intended for hunting, target practice,  
            or other legitimate sports or recreational activities."


            In 1999, the Legislature amended the AWCA in order to broaden  
            its coverage and to render it more flexible in response to  
            technological developments in the manufacture of semiautomatic  
            weapons.  The amended AWCA retains both the original list of  
            models of restricted weapons, and the judicial declaration  
            procedure by which models may be added to the list.  The 1999  
            amendments to the AWCA statute add a third method of defining  
            the class of restricted weapons:  the amendments provide that  
            a weapon constitutes a restricted assault weapon if it  
            possesses certain generic characteristics listed in the  
            statute.  Examples of the types of weapons restricted by the  
            revised AWCA include a "semiautomatic, center-fire rifle that  
            has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10  
            rounds," and a semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the  
            capacity to accept a detachable magazine and also features a  
            flash suppressor, a grenade launcher, or a flare launcher.   
            The amended AWCA also restricts assault weapons equipped with  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  8





            "barrel shrouds," which protect the user's hands from the  
            intense heat created by the rapid firing of the weapon, as  
            well as semiautomatic weapons equipped with silencers. 


          3)Changes This Bill Makes to the AWCA:  As the Court explained,  
            in 1999 the assault weapons ban was amended to expand the  
            definition of an assault weapon to include a definition by the  
            generic characteristics, specifically, to include a  
            "semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity to  
            accept a detachable magazine" in addition to one of several  
            specified characteristics, such as a grenade launcher or flash  
            suppressor.  [SB 23 (Perata) Statutes of 1999, Chapter 129,  
            Section 7 et seq.]  SB 23 was enacted in response to the  
            marketing of so-called "copycat" weapons - firearms that were  
            substantially similar to weapons on the prohibited list but  
            differed in some insignificant way, perhaps only the name of  
            the weapon, thereby defeating the intent of the ban. 

            SB 23's generic definition of an assault weapon was intended  
            to close the loophole in the law created by its definition of  
            assault weapons as only those specified by make and model.   
            Regulations promulgated after the enactment of SB 23 define a  
            detachable magazine as any ammunition feeding device that can  
            be removed readily from the firearm with neither disassembly  
            of the firearm action nor use of a tool being required.  A  
            bullet or ammunition cartridge is considered a tool.  In  
            response to this definition, a new feature has been developed  
            by firearms manufacturers to make military-style,  
            high-powered, semi-automatic rifles "California compliant,"  
            the bullet button.


            In 2012, researchers at the nonprofit Violence Policy Center  
            in Washington, D.C. released a paper describing the phenomenon  
            of the bullet button and its effect on California's assault  
            weapons ban:










                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  9





               The "Bullet Button"-Assault Weapon Manufacturers'  
               Gateway to the California Market


               Catalogs and websites from America's leading assault  
               rifle manufacturers are full of newly designed  
               "California compliant" assault weapons. Number one and  
               two assault weapon manufacturers Bushmaster and DPMS,  
               joined by ArmaLite, Colt, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson,  
               and others are all introducing new rifles designed to  
               circumvent California's assault weapons ban and are  
               actively targeting the state in an effort to lift  
               now-sagging sales of this class of weapon. They are  
               accomplishing this with the addition of a minor design  
               change to their military-style weapons made possible  
               by a definitional loophole: the "bullet button."  
               [Please see the Appendix beginning on page six for  
               2012 catalog copy featuring "California compliant"  
               assault rifles utilizing a "bullet button" from  
               leading assault weapon manufacturers.]


               California law bans semiautomatic rifles with the  
               capacity to accept a detachable ammunition magazine  
               and any one of six enumerated additional assault  
               weapon characteristics (e.g., folding stock, flash  
               suppressor, pistol grip, or other military-style  
               features). 


               High-capacity detachable ammunition magazines allow  
               shooters to expel large amounts of ammunition quickly  
               and have no sporting purpose.  However, in California  
               an ammunition magazine is not viewed as detachable if  
               a "tool" is required to remove it from the weapon. The  
               "bullet button" is a release button for the ammunition  
               magazine that can be activated with the tip of a  
               bullet. With the tip of the bullet replacing the use  
               of a finger in activating the release, the button can  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  10





               be pushed and the detachable ammunition magazine  
               removed and replaced in seconds. Compared to the  
               release process for a standard detachable ammunition  
               magazine it is a distinction without a difference.   
               (Bullet Buttons, The Gun Industry's Attack on  
               California's Assault Weapons Ban, Violence Policy  
               Center, Washington D.C., May 2012. )


            One approach to this issue, taken by SB 249 (Yee) in 2012 and  
            SB 47 (Yee) of 2014, as well as AB 1664 (Levine) of this  
            session, and this bill, amends the statute to replace the  
            language regarding detachable magazines This approach also  
            defines a "detachable magazine" as "an ammunition feeding  
            device that can be removed readily from the firearm without  
            disassembly of the firearm action, including an ammunition  
            feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm  
            with the use of a tool."  In other words, a semiautomatic  
            rifle could have a detachable magazine, as long as that rifle  
            did not also have any of the six prohibited features or that  
            rifle could have the prohibited features as long as it had a  
            fixed magazine.



            Proponents argue the feature that makes one semi-automatic  
            rifle capable of killing or wounding more people in a shorter  
            amount of time than another is the capacity to rapidly reload  
            large amounts of ammunition.  For example, proponents note  
            that, in 2011, a man opened fire on teenagers at a summer  
            youth camp in Norway, killing 69 and wounding another 110,  
            using a high-powered, semi-automatic rifle, the .223 caliber  
            Ruger Mini-14.  That rifle had none of the features listed in  
            California's definition of an assault weapon and it is a  
            perfectly legal weapon in California; supporters of this bill  
            submit that what made that weapon such an effective tool of  
            mass murder is the fact that the killer was able to rapidly  
            reload one magazine after another of ammunition.  
          4)Constitutionality:  The Constitutionality of California's  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  11





            assault weapons ban has been upheld by both the California  
            Supreme Court [Kasler v. Lockyer, 23 Cal. 4th 472 (2000)] and  
            the federal Court of Appeal.  [Silveira v. Lockyer, 312 F.3d  
            1052 (9th Cir. 2002) (as amend. Jan. 27, 2003).]  While the  
            California Supreme Court rejected allegations that the law  
            violated equal protection guarantees, the separation of  
            powers, and failed to provide adequate notice of what was  
            prohibited under the law, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal  
            decision in Silveira was based largely on its interpretation  
            of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.  The  
            Second Amendment of the Constitution states, "A well regulated  
            Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the  
            right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be  
            infringed."  (United States Const. Amend. 2.)  The Silveira  
            Court based its ruling on the widely held interpretation of  
            the Second Amendment known as the "collective rights" view,  
            that the right secured by the Second Amendment relates to  
            firearm ownership only in the context of a "well regulated  
            militia."  [Silveira v. Lockyer, 312 F.3d 1052, 1086 (9th Cir.  
            Cal. 2002).]

            The Silveira Court's interpretation of the meaning of the  
            Second Amendment has since been squarely rejected by the U.S.  
            Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570  
            (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020  
            (2010).  Whether the Heller and McDonald cases mean that  
            California's assault weapons ban violates the Second Amendment  
            and is, therefore, unconstitutional is a different matter. 


            In Heller, the Supreme Court rejected the "collective rights"  
            view of the Second Amendment and, instead, endorsed the  
            "individual rights" interpretation, that the Second Amendment  
            protects the right of each citizen to firearm ownership.   
            After adopting this reading of the Second Amendment, the  
            Supreme Court held that federal law may not prevent citizens  
            from owning a handgun in their home.  (District of Columbia v.  
            Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 683-684.)  In the McDonald case, the  
            Supreme Court extended this ruling to apply to laws passed by  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  12





            the 50 states. (McDonald v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020,  
            3050.)


            In deciding that the Second Amendment guaranteed the right to  
            own a handgun in the home for self-defense, the Supreme Court  
            stated that this ruling has its limitations:


            "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment  
            is not unlimited.  From Blackstone through the 19th-century  
            cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the  
            right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever  
            in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.  For  
            example, the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider  
            the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed  
            weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state  
            analogues.  Although we do not undertake an exhaustive  
            historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second  
            Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast  
            doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of  
            firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding  
            the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools  
            and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and  
            qualifications on the commercial sale of arms."


          5)Governor's Veto Message of 2013's SB 374 (Steinberg):   
            Governor Brown vetoed somewhat similar legislation (requiring  
            a fixed magazine) in 2013 with the following veto message:  
            
               "I am returning Senate Bill 374 without my signature. 



               "The State of California already has some of the strictest  
               gun laws in the country, including bans on military-style  
               assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines. 









                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  13





               "While the author's intent is to strengthen these  
               restrictions, this bill goes much farther by banning any  
               semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine. This ban  
                                              covers low-capacity rifles that are commonly used for  
               hunting, firearms training, and marksmanship practice, as  
               well as some historical and collectible firearms. Moreover,  
               hundreds of thousands of current gun owners would have to  
               register their rifles as assault weapons and would be  
               banned from selling or transferring them in the future. 

               "Today I signed a number of bills that strengthen  
               California's gun laws, including AB 48, which closes a  
               loophole in the existing ban on dangerous high-capacity  
               magazines. I also signed AB 1131 and SB 127, which restrict  
               the ability of mentally unstable people to purchase or  
               possess guns.

               "I don't believe that this bill's blanket ban on  
               semi-automatic rifles would reduce criminal activity or  
               enhance public safety enough to warrant this infringement  
               on gun owners' rights."
          6)Argument in Support:  According to the Law Center to Prevent  
            Gun Violence, "The California Legislature recognized long  
            ago-after a gunman with an assault weapon shot 34 children at  
            Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California-that these  
            military-grade weapons of war have no place in our  
            communities.  Since 1989, California has led the nation in  
            enacting common sense gun safety laws to keep assault weapons  
            off our streets.  However, the gun industry has repeatedly  
            skirted the limits of this law and exploited its loopholes in  
            order to continue selling military-style weaponry within the  
            state.


            "Existing California law defines prohibited assault weapons to  
            include firearms that have both the capacity to accept a  
            detachable magazine and specified military-style features.   
            The ability to accept a detachable magazine allows a shooter  
            to quickly reload an assault weapon to continue firing and  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  14





            killing without interruption.  


            "California's assault weapons ban does not define the term  
            'detachable magazine,' however.  Perplexingly, current DOJ  
            regulations define 'detachable magazine' in a manner that runs  
            counter to both the spirit and the letter of the state's  
            assault weapons ban.  Under these regulations' definition, a  
            weapon is not considered to have a detachable magazine, and is  
            therefore not a prohibited assault weapon, if a 'tool' is used  
            to release the firearm's magazine instead of the shooter's  
            finger alone.  The regulations specifically state that "a  
            bullet or an ammunition feeding device is considered a  
            tool.<1>


            "The gun industry has exploited this dangerous loophole in  
            recent years by marketing 'California compliant' assault  
            weapons that are equipped with a 'bullet button.'  These  
            weapons are the functional equivalents of illegal assault  
            weapons in every respect, except that the shooter uses a  
            bullet, magnet, or other instrument, instead of his or her  
            finger, to depress the button that releases the weapon's  
            magazine.  These weapons may be reloaded as quickly and  
            efficiently as prohibited assault weapons, but they have been  
            permitted to flood into this state at an alarming rate,  
            threatening Californians' safety.


            "SB 880 would further the letter and spirit of California's  
            assault weapons law by adding a statutory definition of 'fixed  
            magazine' to clarify that bullet button weapons are illegal  
            assault weapons.  This definition would establish that  
            firearms like bullet button weapons, whose magazines may be  
            --------------------------


            <1>


           11 CCR 5469.






                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  15





            removed and reloaded without disassembling the firearm action,  
            do not have 'fixed magazines.'  Individuals who lawfully  
            obtained these weapons prior to January 1, 2017, would be  
            required to register their weapons with DOJ.


            "A December 2015 mass shooting tragedy illustrates the  
            compelling need for this legislation.  On that day, two  
            radicalized assailants used bullet button weapons to shoot 36  
            people in a San Bernardino community building in the span of  
            less than four minutes.  The 'California compliant' bullet  
            button weapons they used were designed to inflict maximal  
            carnage on military battlefields and were nearly  
            indistinguishable from illegal assault weapons.  Any  
            legitimate function these weapons might serve in sport or  
            recreation is substantially outweighed by the danger that they  
            may be used to-and in fact have been used to-quickly and  
            efficiently take large numbers of human lives.  By prohibiting  
            all future manufacturing, possession, and sale of these  
            weapons, SB 880 would help protect the public and law  
            enforcement from battlefield weaponry that has no place in our  
            civilian communities.  


            "This legislation is substantively similar to AB 1664  
            (Levine), which recently passed with strong support in this  
            Committee and on the Assembly floor."


          7)Argument in Opposition:  According to the Firearms Policy  
            Coalition, "On behalf of the members and supporters of  
            Firearms Policy Coalition, I respectfully submit our  
            opposition to Senate Bill 880 (Hall and Glazer) and  
            respectfully request your 'NO' vote. 


            "SB 880 seeks to expand the ban on so-called 'assault weapon'   
            through vague language, by re-defining the term 'detachable  
            magazine' to mean 'an ammunition feeding device that can be  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  16





            removed readily from the firearm without disassembly of the  
            firearm action, including an ammunition feeding device that  
            can be removed readily from the firearm with the use of a  
            tool.'


            "SB 880 would ban millions of semi-automatic rifles protected  
            by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and  
            violate the civil rights of every law-abiding person in (and  
            visitor to) California, moving the goal posts yet again for  
            the millions of law abiding residents and visitors who have  
            [quite reasonably, given the volume] struggled for years to  
            keep up with the frenetic pace of California's ever-increasing  
            and expensive firearm regulations. 





            "The California Department of Justice (DOJ) will have to start  
            from scratch to create new regulations, new forms, new  
            databases and new online interfaces. Even with modest  
            compliance by the public, the already struggling DOJ will have  
            to hire or re-purpose dozens of staff in order to process  
            millions of firearms lawfully owned by hundreds of thousands  
            of California residents. 





            "Law enforcement will find cause to arrest thousands of  
            residents and visitors annually as SB 880 wraps in tens of  
            millions of firearms owned by millions of Californians and  
            visitors. This will burden the courts and the correctional  
            system-with people who are otherwise law-abiding.


            "To summarize; 








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  17










                           "SB 880's uninformed new definitions put  
                    millions of law-abiding residents and visitors in to  
                    our jails and prisons and therefore probation and  
                    parole. 



                           "SB 880 contains no provision for outreach to  
                    the millions of Californians who have lawfully  
                    acquired firearms that would be subject to SB 880's  
                    reach. 



                           "SB 880 contains no provision for educating  
                    law enforcement officers or prosecutors-the very  
                    people who will have to interpret and enforce it-which  
                    will lead to false arrests and ruined lives. 



            "SB 880 creates overnight felons for mere possession,  
            transfer, transport or inheritance of common, constitutionally  
            protected items, creating a crisis for residents and visitors  
            who have been law abiding all their lives and could lose all  
            they have worked for -by simply exercising a fundamental  
            right."


          1)Related Legislation:


             a)   AB 1663 (Chiu) takes a different approach to closing the  
               bullet button loophole.  AB 1663 was held in Assembly  








                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  18





               Appropriations Committee.


             b)   AB 1664 (Levine) is substantially similar to this  
               legislation.  AB 1664 is currently awaiting a hearing in  
               Senate Public Safety.  


          2)Prior Legislation:


             a)   SB 47 (Yee), of the 2013-2014 Legislative Session, would  
               have closed the bullet button loophole by redefining an  
               assault weapon in statute as 'a semiautomatic, centerfire  
               rifle that does not have a fixed magazine' and has any one  
               of several specified features.  SB 47 was held on the  
               Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.

             b)   SB 374 (Steinberg), of the 2013-2014 Legislative  
               Session, would have closed the bullet button loophole by  
               redefining an assault weapon as it pertains to rifles and  
               defines "detachable magazines" and "fixed magazines."   
               Specifies that rifles which are not assault weapons have  
               fixed magazines.  SB 347 was vetoed by the Governor.

             c)   SB 249 (Yee), of the 2011-12 Legislative Session, would  
               have prohibited any person from importing, making, selling,  
               loaning, transferring or possessing any conversion kit  
               designed to convert certain firearms with a fixed magazine  
               into firearms with a detachable magazine.  SB 249 was held  
               on the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.
          


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:












                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  19





          Support


          American Academy of Pediatrics 


          American College of Emergency Physicians, California Chapter


          Bend the Arc 


          Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Orange County  


          Brotherhood Crusade 


          California Attorney General 


          California Academy of Family Physicians 


          California Catholic Conference


          California Chapters of the Brady Campaign  


          California Communities United Institute


          California State PTA  


          Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science  










                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  20





          City of Berkeley 


          City of Long Beach 


          City of Los Angeles 


          City of Oakland 


          Coalition Against Gun Violence 


          Community Clinic Association


          Courage Campaign 


          International Health and Epidermiology Research Center  


          Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence 


          Laguna Woods Democratic Club 


          Nevada County Democrats 


          Peace Over Violence 


          Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sacramento 










                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  21





          Physicians for Social Responsibility, San Francisco Bay 


          Rainbow Services 


          Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors  


          Violence Prevention Coalition 


          Youth Alive 





          31 private individual 




          Opposition


          California Rifle and Pistol Association 


          California Sportsman's Lobby 


          California State Sheriffs' Association 
          California Waterfowl Association 


          Crossroads of the West 










                                                                     SB 880


                                                                    Page  22





          Gun Owners of California 


          Firearms Policy Coalition 


          National Rifle Association 


          National Shooting Sports Foundation 


          Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California 


          Rick Farinelli, District 3 Supervisor, Madera County  


          Safari Club International 


          San Bernardino Sheriff's Office 





          Analysis Prepared by:Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)  
          319-3744