BILL NUMBER: AB 106 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Scott and Aroner
DECEMBER 22, 1998
An act to add Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 12087) to
Chapter 4 of Title 2 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to firearm
safety devices.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 106, as introduced, Scott. Firearms: safety devices.
Existing law generally regulates the transfer and possession of
firearms.
This bill would establish the Aroner-Scott Child Gun Accident
Prevention Act of 1999 (the act) and would prohibit any person, firm,
or corporation from importing firearms unless licensed by the
Attorney General.
This bill would require that, effective January 1, 2001, all
firearms sold or transferred in this state, or delivered for sale in
this state by a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or a
licensed dealer be accompanied by a child accident prevention device
approved by the Attorney General.
This bill would require the Attorney General, not later than
January 1, 2000, to begin development of minimum safety standards for
child accident prevention devices that are designed to reduce the
risk of unintentional injury by firearms.
This bill would require any packaging or other descriptive
material that accompanies a firearm sold or transferred in this
state, or delivered for sale in this state by any licensed
manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed California dealer to
bear a label with a specified warning. The bill would also require
the warning label be affixed to the firearm if the firearm is sold,
transferred or delivered in this state without accompanying
packaging.
This bill would authorize the Attorney General to recall any
firearm or child accident prevention device distributed in this state
after January 1, 2001, that does not conform to specified provisions
of the act.
This bill would require each licensed manufacturer, licensed
importer, or licensed California dealer to report specified
information to the Attorney General in connection with unintentional
gunshot wounds sustained by children after the effective date of the
act.
This bill would provide that any violation of specified provisions
of the act would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1,000. A
second violation of those provisions would be punishable by a fine
of $1,000 and would render a licensed manufacturer, licensed
importer, or a licensed California dealer ineligible to manufacture
or sell firearms for 30 days in this state. A third violation of
those provisions would render a licensed manufacturer, licensed
importer, or a licensed California dealer permanently ineligible to
manufacture, import, or sell, respectively, firearms in this state.
By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
This bill would declare that the act does not relieve any person
from liability to any other person as may be imposed pursuant to
common law, statutory law, or local ordinance. This bill would also
declare that the act does not require or prohibit local ordinances
that place more stringent requirements upon firearms manufacturers,
importers, or California dealers regarding firearm use-limitation
devices or trigger locks.
This bill would declare that the act does not apply to the
commerce of certain firearms, as specified.
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. Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 12087) is added to
Chapter 4 of Title 2 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:
Article 4.5. Child Accident Prevention Devices
12087. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
"Aroner-Scott Child Gun Accident Prevention Act of 1999."
12087.5. The Legislature makes the following findings:
(a) In the last 10 years more than 2,300 American children 14
years of age and younger have died from unintentional shootings. In
1994 alone, 185 children were shot and killed unintentionally. Thus,
more than 15 children every month, or one child every other day were
shot or killed unintentionally in firearms-related incidents.
(b) The United States leads the industrialized world in the rates
of children and youth lost to unintentional, firearms-related death.
A 1997 study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reveals that for unintentional firearm-related deaths for
children under the age of 15, the rate in the United States was nine
times higher than in 25 other industrialized countries combined.
(c) While the number of unintentional deaths from firearms is an
unacceptable toll on America's children, nearly eight times that
number are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms each year for
nonfatal unintentional gunshot wounds.
(d) A study of unintentional firearm deaths among children in
California found that unintentional gunshot wounds most often involve
handguns.
(e) A study in the December 1995 issue of the Archives of
Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children as young as
three years old are strong enough to fire most commercially available
handguns. The study revealed that 25 percent of three to four year
olds and 70 percent of five to six year olds had sufficient finger
strength to fire 59 (92 percent) of the 64 commonly available
handguns referenced in the study.
(f) The Government Accounting Office (GAO), in its March 1991
study, "Accidental Shootings: Many Deaths and Injuries Caused by
Firearms Could be Prevented," estimates that 31 percent of accidental
deaths caused by firearms might be prevented by the addition of two
safety devices: a child-resistant safety device that automatically
engages and a device that indicates whether the gun is loaded.
According to the study results, of the 107 unintentional
firearms-related fatalities the GAO examined for the calendar years
1988 and 1989, eight percent could have been prevented had the
firearm been equipped with a child-resistant safety device. This
eight percent represents instances in which children under the age of
six unintentionally shot and killed themselves or other persons.
(g) Currently, firearms are the only products manufactured in the
United Stated that are not subject to minimum safety standards.
(h) A 1997 public opinion poll conducted by the National Opinion
Research Center at the University of Chicago in conjunction with the
Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research found that 74
percent of Americans support safety regulation of the firearms
industry.
(i) Many currently available trigger locks and other similar
devices are inadequate to prevent the accidental discharge of the
firearms to which they are attached, or to prevent children from
gaining access to the firearm.
12088. (a) Beginning July 1, 2000, no person, firm or corporation
may import firearms into California unless licensed by the Attorney
General.
(b) Beginning August 1, 2000, all licensed firearm importers shall
require that each employee obtain a certificate of eligibility
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 12071, which
shall be renewed annually, prior to being allowed to come into
contact with any firearm.
(c) The licensee shall prohibit any employee who the licensee
knows or reasonably should know is within a class of persons
prohibited from possessing firearms pursuant to Section 12021 or
12021.1 of this code, or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, from coming into contact with any firearm.
12088.1. Effective January 1, 2001:
(a) All firearms sold or transferred in this state, or delivered
by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer to a licensed dealer
for sale in this state, shall include or be accompanied by a child
accident prevention device approved by the Attorney General.
(b) All firearms sold or transferred in this state, or delivered
by a licensed dealer for sale in this state, shall include or be
accompanied by the approved child accident prevention device supplied
to the dealer by the licensed manufacturer or importer. If the
firearm was produced prior to January 1, 2001, the firearm shall be
sold with a child accident prevention device approved by the Attorney
General.
(c) All firearms sold or transferred in this state, or delivered
by a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer for
sale in this state shall bear the warning label or labels prescribed
in Section 12088.3.
12088.2. (a) No later than January 1, 2000, the Attorney General
shall commence development of regulations to implement a minimum
safety standard for child accident prevention devices to
significantly reduce the risk of firearms-related injuries to
children 18 years of age and younger. The final standard shall do all
of the following:
(1) Address the risk of injury from unintentional gunshot wounds.
(2) Address the risk of injury from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
(3) Include provisions to ensure that all child accident
prevention devices are of adequate quality and construction to
prevent children from firing the firearm and to ensure that these
devices cannot be removed from the firearm except by an authorized
adult user utilizing the key, combination, or other method of access
intended by the manufacturer of the device.
(4) Include additional provisions as appropriate.
(b) The Attorney General shall consult, for the purposes of
guidance in development of the standard, test protocols such as those
described in Title 16 (commencing with Part 1700) of the Code of
Federal Regulations, relating to poison prevention packaging
standards. The Attorney General shall also give appropriate
consideration to the use of devices that are not detachable, but are
permanently installed and incorporated into the design of a firearm.
The Attorney General shall adopt and issue regulations implementing
a final standard not later than July 1, 2000. The final standard
shall be effective January 1, 2001.
12088.3. (a) The packaging of any firearm and any descriptive
materials that accompany any firearm sold or transferred in this
state, or delivered for sale in this state, by any licensed
manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer, shall bear a
label containing the following warning statement:
WARNING
Children are attracted to and can operate firearms that can cause
severe injuries or death.
Prevent child access by always keeping handguns locked away and
unloaded.
A yellow triangle containing an exclamation mark shall appear
immediately before the word "Warning" on the label.
(b) If the firearm is sold or transferred without accompanying
packaging, the warning label shall be affixed to the firearm itself
by a method to be prescribed by regulation of the Attorney General.
(c) The warning statement required under subdivisions (a) and (b)
shall be:
(1) Displayed in its entirety on the principal display panel of
the firearm's package, and on any descriptive materials that
accompany the firearm.
(2) Displayed in both English and Spanish in conspicuous and
legible type in contrast by typography, layout, or color with other
printed matter on that package or descriptive materials in a manner
consistent with Part 1500.121 of Title 16, of the Code of Federal
Regulations, or successor regulations thereto.
12088.4. (a) If at any time the Attorney General determines that
a firearm or child accident prevention device subject to the
provisions of this article and distributed after January 1, 2001,
does not conform with the standards and warnings required by
Sections 12088.1, 12088.2, and 12088.3, the Attorney General may
order the recall and replacement of the firearm or child accident
prevention device by the licensed manufacturer, or order that the
licensed manufacturer bring the firearm or child accident prevention
device into conformity with those requirements. If only the child
accident prevention device is recalled, the licensed manufacturer of
the child accident prevention device shall immediately provide a
conforming replacement.
12088.5. (a) Each licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or
licensed dealer shall report to the Attorney General any information
obtained by the manufacturer, importer, or dealer which reasonably
supports the conclusion that:
(1) Any incident in which a child 18 years of age or younger
suffered an unintentional or self-inflicted gunshot wound inflicted
by a firearm that was sold or transferred in this state, or delivered
for sale in this state, by the licensed manufacturer, licensed
importer, or licensed dealer, after the effective date of this
article.
(2) Whether as a result of that incident the child died, suffered
serious injury, or was treated for an injury by a medical
professional.
12088.6. Any violation of Sections 12088, 12088.1, 12088.3, or
12088.5 is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one thousand dollars
($1,000). On the second violation of any of those sections, the
licensed firearm manufacturer shall be ineligible to manufacture, the
licensed firearm importer shall be ineligible to import, or the
licensed firearm dealer shall be ineligible to sell, firearms in this
state for 30 days, and shall be punished by a fine of one thousand
dollars ($1,000). On the third violation of any of those sections, a
firearm manufacturer shall be permanently ineligible to manufacture
firearms in this state. On the third violation of any of those
sections, a licensed firearm importer shall be permanently ineligible
to import firearms into this state for sale in this state. On the
third violation of any of those sections, a licensed firearm dealer
shall be permanently ineligible to sell firearms in this state.
12088.7. (a) Compliance with the requirements set forth in this
article shall not relieve any person from liability to any other
person as may be imposed pursuant to common law, statutory law, or
local ordinance.
(b) Nothing in this article shall require or prohibit any local
ordinance which places a more stringent requirement upon firearms
manufacturers, importers, or dealers regarding firearm use-limitation
devices or trigger locks.
12088.8. (a) This article does not apply to the commerce of any
firearm defined as an "antique firearm" in paragraph (16) of
subsection (a) of Section 921 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(b) This article does not apply to the commerce of any firearm
defined as a relic or curio in Part 178.11 of Title 27 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, or any firearm that is an item of memorabilia
or a display firearm.
(c) This article shall not apply to the commerce of any firearm
intended to be used by a full-time, paid peace officer as defined in
Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB 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 XIIIB of the California Constitution.
Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless
otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become
operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the
California Constitution.