BILL ANALYSIS
AB 106
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Date of Hearing: March 23, 1999
Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mike Honda, Chair
AB 106 (Scott) - As Amended: March 18, 1999
SUMMARY : Requires the Attorney General (AG) to develop and
implement minimum safety standards for firearms safety devices,
and mandates that all firearms manufactured in California or
sold or transferred by a licensed firearms dealer be accompanied
by an approved firearms safety device and bear a safety warning
label as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that effective January 1, 2002 all firearms sold or
transferred in California, by a licensed firearms dealer,
including private transfers through a dealer, and all firearms
manufactured include or be accompanied by a firearms safety
device approved by the AG.
2)Requires the AG, not later than January 1, 2000, to commence
development of regulations to implement a minimum safety
standard for firearm safety devices to reduce the risk of
firearms-related injuries to children.
3)Requires that the AG adopt and issue regulations regarding a
final safety standard for firearm safety devices and report
these standards to the Legislature by January 1, 2001, and
that these standards be effective January 1, 2002.
4)Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to certify
laboratories to test firearm safety devices in order to verify
compliance with standards, and to compile and publish a roster
of approved safety devices that have met the DOJ's standards.
5)Authorizes the AG after January 1, 2002 to order recall and
replacement of any firearm or firearm safety device that does
not conform to the standards and warnings required by the
provisions of this bill, requires that the licensed
manufacturer bring the firearm or the firearm safety device
into conformity, or provide a replacement.
6)Requires that all firearms sold or transferred in California
by a licensed firearms dealer, including private transfers
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through a dealer, and all firearms manufactured bear a
specific warning label.
7)Requires that law enforcement investigating an incident must
report to the AG any incident in which a child 18 years of age
or younger suffered an unintentional or self-inflicted gunshot
wound in which the child suffered serious injury or was
treated for an injury by a medical professional.
8)Provides that a violation of this bill is punishable by a fine
of $1,000; a second violation is punishable by a fine of
$1,000 and a 30-day license suspension; and a third violation
results in a permanent loss of a license.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies prohibitions and requirements with regard to the
circumstances under which a person licensed to sell firearms
may sell or transfer a firearm. (Penal Code Section 12071.)
2)Requires that a licensee offer to provide a specified
informational pamphlet to each purchaser or transferee of a
firearm or person being loaned a firearm. (Penal Code Section
12071.)
3)Establishes the crime of criminal storage of a firearm which
arises when a person keeps a loaded firearm and knows or
reasonably should know that a child under the age of 14 is
likely to gain access to the firearm, and the child gains
access and causes death, injury, or exhibits the firearm as
specified, (Penal Code Section 12035.)
4)Provides that the DOJ must issue a certificate of eligibility
to an applicant if DOJ's records indicate that the applicant
is not a person prohibited from possessing a firearm. (Penal
Code Section 12071(a)(4).)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement . According to the author, "In the years
1987 to 1996, nearly 2,200 children in the United States under
the age of 15 years died in unintentional shootings. In 1996
alone, 138 children were shot and killed unintentionally.
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Thus on average, more than 11 children every month, or one
child every three days, were shot or killed unintentionally in
firearms-related incidents.
"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 Center for Disease
Control and Prevention reveals that for unintentional in
firearm-related deaths for children under the age of 15, the
rate the United States was nine times higher than in 25 other
industrialized nations.
"To prevent unintentional shootings, fifteen of the nation's
firearms manufacturers agreed to sell their firearms with
trigger locks in 1997. However, there are no standards for
these safety devices, and neither the federal nor state
government requires safety devices to be sold with firearms.
In addition, many manufacturers (including all the California
manufacturers) refused to sign onto this agreement, and the
sale of 'used' guns. For these reasons, many firearms sold in
California do not come with an adequate safety device.
"The Aroner/Scott/Hayden Firearms Safety Act would do a great
deal to prevent unintentional shootings by: (a) creating
standards for firearms safety devices, (b) requiring devices
sold in California to meet these standards, and (c) mandating
that safety devices be included with all firearms sold along
with firearms.
"86% of Americans surveyed support legislation requiring
handguns to be childproof. Over 30 California cities have
passed ordinances requiring safety devices to be sold with
firearms. The time has come for statewide legislation that
certifies firearms safety devices, requires California
manufacturers to package firearms with these devices and
mandates that devices be sold along with firearms."
2)Minimum Safety Standards . This bill requires the AG to
develop and implement minimum safety standards for firearms
safety devices to significantly reduce the risk of
firearms-related injuries to children 18 years of age and
younger. The bill has proposed guidelines for use by the AG
in developing the standards, including addressing the risk of
injury from unintentional gunshot wounds and addressing the
risk from self-inflicted gunshot wounds by unauthorized users,
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including provisions to ensure that firearms safety devices
are reusable and of adequate quality to prevent unauthorized
users from firing the firearm and to ensure that these devices
cannot be readily removed from the firearm except by an
authorized adult user using the appropriate method of access.
This bill also states that the AG should give appropriate
consideration to the use of devices that are not detachable,
but are permanently installed and incorporated into the design
of the firearm. The AG has the authority to implement
regulations requiring that firearm safety device be
incorporated into the design of the firearm which would
prevent the sale or transfer of older firearms not so
equipped. If the AG were to require that the firearm safety
device be of a type that might prove to be costly or
expensive, the AG could prevent the sale or transfer of
firearms. However, this bill does require that the AG report
the final standards to the Legislature one year prior to
implementation.
3)Mandatory Law Enforcement Reporting Requirement . This bill
requires that a law enforcement agency investigating an
incident report to the AG any incident in which a child 18
years of age or younger suffered an unintentional or
self-inflicted gunshot wound or where a child died, suffered
serious injury, or was treated for an injury by a medical
professional as a result of the incident. This requirement
will place additional costs and burdens on local law
enforcement, and this bill does not state the purpose for the
requirement or what the AG is to do with this information.
This bill does not require that the AG establish a data bank
or do anything with the material collected. Is this provision
really necessary?
4)Prior Legislation .
a) AB 1124 (Aroner), of the 1997-98 Legislative Session,
required a person licensed to sell firearms to provide each
buyer with a trigger lock. AB 1124 was vetoed by the
Governor.
b) SB 1550 (Hayden), of the 1997-98 Legislative Session,
required firearms dealers to offer use-limitation devices
to firearm purchasers. SB 1550 was vetoed by the Governor.
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5)Arguments in Support .
a) Handgun Control Inc. states "AB 106 would expressly
require California-based gun manufacturers as well as
dealers to equip all firearms sold or transferred with a
safety locking device approved by the DOJ. Further, the
proposed bill requires the DOJ to publish a list of
approved child- safety locking devices."
b) Public Health Institute states, "One child killed by a
gun is one child too many. Keeping firearms at home in
which children are present is a risky business. At a
minimum, those weapons should be locked, unloaded, and
separated from ammunition. AB 106 takes an important step
towards protecting children by mandating the sale of
approved locking devices with all firearms."
6)Arguments in Opposition . California Rifle and Pistol
Association states "AB 106 as too complex in its provisions,
and would be much simpler, and no doubt equally a effective,
to just require that firearms sold by a dealer be accompanied
by a device that is reliable in preventing the firearm for
which it was intended from being discharged by an unauthorized
user."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Academy of Pediatrics
Attorney General's Office
California Church Impact
California Organization of Police and Sheriffs
California Organization of Police and Sheriffs
Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Handgun Control, Inc.
Legal Community Against Violence
Lutheran Office of Public Policy
Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence
Public Health Institute
Saf-T-Lok Corporation
Trauma Foundation of San Francisco
Women Against Gun Violence
One Private Citizen
AB 106
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Opposition
California Rifle and Pistol Association
One Private Citizen
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / apubs / (916) 319-3744