BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 106|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 106
Author: Scott (D), et al
Amended: 6/29/99 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/22/99
AYES: Vasconcellos, McPherson, Polanco, Rainey
NOT VOTING: Burton, Johnston
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-3, 7/12/99
AYES: Johnston, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Karnette,
McPherson, Perata, Vasconcellos
NOES: Kelley, Leslie, Mountjoy
NOT VOTING: Johnson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-19, 6/4/99 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Firearms: safety devices
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill would enact the "Aroner-Scott-Hayden
Firearms Safety Act of 1999. The purpose of this bill is
to require that after January 1, 2002, all firearms sold,
transferred, or manufactured in this state be accompanied
by both an approved firearms safety device and "warning"
materials; to require that the Attorney General/Department
of Justice set standards for such devices and certify
laboratories to verify compliance of such devices with the
standards; to set timelines for the implementation of this
bill; to require all law enforcement agencies, effective
CONTINUED
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January 1, 2000, to report to the Attorney General about
incidents involving unintentional or self-inflicted
firearms wounds to minors; to enact legislative finding
about firearms injuries to children; and to make related
changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires that after January 1,
2002, all firearms sold, transferred, or manufactured in
this state be accompanied by both an approved firearms
safety device and "warning" materials; to require that the
Attorney General/Department of Justice set standards for
such devices and certify laboratories to verify compliance
of such devices with the standards; to set timelines for
the implementation of this bill; to require all law
enforcement agencies, effective January 1, 2000, to report
to the Attorney General about incidents involving
unintentional or self-inflicted firearms wounds to minors;
to enact legislative finding about firearms injuries to
children; and to make related changes.
Existing law generally requires that any sale, loan, or
transfer of a firearm shall be made through a licensed
firearms dealer or, in counties of fewer than 200,000
persons, a sheriff's department that elects to provide such
services.
Existing law requires licensed dealers to follow specified
procedures for such transactions, including that the dealer
initiate a background check, obtain a basic firearms safety
certificate for handgun transactions, and offer to provide
the purchaser or transferee a copy of the Department of
Justice pamphlet on firearms laws. Violations generally
subject the dealer to forfeiture of the dealer's license or
a misdemeanor penalty (some felony penalties apply for
specified violations).
Existing law "caps" the amount which the Department of
Justice may require a licensed dealer to charge a firearms
purchaser for specified items pertaining to the requisite
background check required by law. That amount is no more
than $14 adjusted for California Consumer Price Index
changes since that "cap" was enacted in 1997.
Existing law requires that the basic firearms safety
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certificate required for all handgun sales and transfers
does involve a course or test which addresses issues of
"safe use, handling, and storage" and childproofing methods
for handguns.
Existing law provides criminal penalties for the criminal
storage of a firearm in the first and second degrees, where
a minor sixteen years of age or younger obtains access to a
firearm, and requires licensed dealers to post warnings
about those penalties.
Existing law states it is the intention of the Legislature
to occupy the whole field of regulation of the registration
or licensing of commercially manufactured firearms as
encompassed by the provisions of the Penal Code, and such
provisions shall be exclusive of all local regulations,
relating to registration or licensing of commercially
manufactured firearms, by any political subdivision, as
defined.
This bill does the following:
1.Enacts legislative findings about the number of
unintentional shootings of minors.
2.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 in this state include or be
accompanied by a firearms safety device on the roster of
approved devices maintained by the Attorney General.
3.Exempts from the requirement for firearms safety devices
purchasers who either (a) own a gun safe which meets
specified standards to be set by the Attorney General and
the purchaser presents specified proof of ownership of
the gun safe, or, (b) the purchaser purchases an approved
device within 30 days of the time the purchaser or
transferee takes possession of the firearm.
4.Requires that all firearms sold or transferred in
California by a licensed firearms dealer, including
private transfers through a dealer, and all firearms
manufactured in this state bear a specific warning label
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- effective January 1, 2002.
5.Requires the Attorney General to commence development of
regulations no later than January 1, 2000, to implement a
minimum safety standard for firearm safety devices to
reduce the risk of firearms-related injuries to children
17 years of age and younger.
6.Requires that the Attorney General 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.
7.Requires, effective January 1, 2001, that the Department
of Justice (DOJ) shall certify laboratories to test
firearm safety devices in order to verify compliance with
standards (allows fee to laboratory for certification,
including costs for developing and approving regulations
and standards for this act.)
8.Requires certified laboratories, at a manufacturer's or
dealer's expense, to test firearms safety devices and
send results to the DOJ along with the firearms safety
device.
9. Requires that, on and after July 1, 2001, the DOJ shall
compile, publish, and maintain a roster of approved
safety devices that have met the DOJ's standards.
10.Authorizes the Attorney General after January 1, 2002,
to order recall and replacement - or order that the
items be brought in compliance - of any firearm safety
device or gun safe that does not conform to the
standards 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, as specified.
11.Requires that, effective January 1, 2000, each lead law
enforcement agency investigating an incident must report
to the State Department of Health Services any incident
in which a child eighteen years of age or younger
suffered an unintentional or self-inflicted gunshot
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wound in which the child suffered serious injury or was
treated for an injury by a medical professional.
12.Provides that a violation of this bill - by dealers or
manufacturers - 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.
13.Provides an exemption from the requirements of this bill
for peace officers, as specified, and for commerce of
any "antique firearm" as defined in federal law.
14.Provides that nothing in this article shall preclude
local governments, local agencies, or state law
enforcement agencies from requiring their peace officers
to store their firearms in gun safes or attach firearms
safety devices to those firearms.
15.Provides that 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.
16.Authorizes the Department of Justice to require a
firearm dealer to charge a firearm purchaser or
transferee a fee, not to exceed one dollar, for each
firearm transaction, with the fee used for the purpose
of supporting various department program costs to
implementing this act.
17. Provides that these new provisions of law shall be
known and cited as the "Aroner-Scott-Hayden Firearms
Safety Act of 1999."
18. Adds related changes to law.
Prior Legislation
SB 1550 (Hayden), 1998, passed the Senate 23-13 (Noes:
Brulte, Haynes, Hurtt, Johannessen, Johnson, Kelley,
Knight, Lewis, Monteith, Mountjoy, Rainey, Thompson,
Wright) but was vetoed by the Governor. His message reads:
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"This bill would, commencing July 1, 1999, require a
licensed firearms dealer to offer for sale to each
purchaser at least one use-limitation device, as defined,
appropriate for each firearm that the dealer offers for
sale, if such use-limitation devices are commercially
available.
"Last year I vetoed AB 1124 (Aroner) which would have
required licensed gun dealers to include a trigger
locking device with the sale of any firearm. At that
time I observed that some new guns were being shipped
from the factory with triggerlocks and that pending
federal legislation requiring the offer but not sale of
triggerlocks was an alternative approach.
"SB 1550 is responsive to the concerns I expressed in the
veto of AB 1124.
"However, despite his expressed desire that his bill not
do so, it clearly
would violate standing state policy to preempt local
regulation of firearms as provided in the unambiguous
language of Government Code Section 53071, which
declares:
"It is the intention of the Legislature to occupy the
whole field of regulation of the registration or
licensing of commercially manufactured firearms as
encompassed by the provisions of the Penal Code, and such
provisions shall be exclusive of all local regulations,
relating to registration or licensing of commercially
manufactured firearms, by any political subdivision as
defined in Section 1721 of the Labor Code."
"SB 1550 by its own terms would not prohibit as does
section 53071 a local ordinance which places a more
stringent requirement upon firearms dealers regarding
use-limitation devices or triggerlocks.
"The regulation of firearms, including requirements
governing use-limitation devices, requires a standard of
statewide uniformity. Without the language relating to
local ordinances, SB 1550 could have provided such a
useful standard. With it, it threatens to undermine the
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present wise policy of state preemption."
AB 1124 (Aroner), 1997, passed the Senate 22-15 (Noes:
Brulte, Haynes, Johannessen, Johnson, Kelley, Knight,
Leslie, Lewis, Maddy, Monteith, Mountjoy, Peace, Rainey,
Thompson, Wright) but was vetoed by the Governor. His
message reads:
"This bill would require a person licensed to sell a
firearm to provide each purchaser or transferee of a
firearm with a trigger lock or similar device designed to
prevent the unintentional discharge of the firearm. This
bill would also require the pamphlet that is provided
upon purchase of the firearm to include a statement of
the penalties for improper storage of a firearm and
statistics for firearms used in suicides and accidental
shootings. Violation of these provisions would be a
misdemeanor.
"AB 1124 is materially the same as SB 134 (Kopp, Vetoed,
1991) and suffers the same deficiencies.
"I have signed legislation mandating instruction for gun
purchasers, which emphasizes the safe use and storage of
firearms, including methods of child proofing those
firearms. In addition, I signed the law which imposes
penalties for the criminal storage of firearms. These
laws encourage the use of firearm safes, trigger locks,
and other safety devices.
"In contrast this bill, like SB 134, would impose a
mandate, indeed a criminal penalty, on legitimate firearm
sales when there are more effective and less intrusive
ways to encourage gun safety.
"While Smith and Wesson recently announced its intent to
package its firearms with trigger locks, at least one
popular handgun is factory equipped with a safety device
which could be disabled by a trigger lock.
"One alternative is incorporated in Federal Legislation
(S 10, Hatch) which would require firearm sellers to
offer trigger locks but would not presume that they are
universally appropriate or mandate their sale."
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Related legislation
SB 130 (Hayden), which passed Senate Public Safety
Committee in substantially the same form as this bill
(except for the $1 fee), is currently on the Assembly
Appropriations Suspense file.
Related Federal Legislation
There are currently several measures under discussion in
Congress which contain provisions requiring that "trigger
lock" devices be sold or provided with at least handguns
sold by licensed dealers (which would not apply to private
transfers in the majority of states which do not require
that private party transactions be made through dealers or
law enforcement, as California law does require).
For example, S. 254, contains a requirement that, except as
provided:
. . . it shall be unlawful for any licensed manufacturer,
licensed importer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver,
or transfer any handgun to any person other than any
person licensed under the provisions of this chapter,
unless the transferee is provided with a secure gun
storage or safety device, as described in section
921(a)(35) of this chapter, for that handgun.
H.R. 1726 contains the following amendment:
Section 921(a) of Title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:* "(35)
the term 'secure gun storage or safety device' means-*
"(a) a device that, when installed on a firearm,
prevents the firearm from being operated without first
deactivating or removing the device;* "(b) a device
incorporated into the design of the firearm that prevents
the operation of the firearm by anyone not having
authorized access to the device; or* "(c) a safe,
gun safe, gun case, lock box, or other device that is
designed to be or can be used to store a firearm and that
can be unlocked only by means of a key, a combination, or
other similar means.".*
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Because of the congressional rules and procedures, these
cites to federal bills are only offered as an example of
the federal discussion; other bills, other requirements,
and other definitions also exist.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 1999-2000 2000-01
2001-02 Fund
Certify labs/develop absorbable $ 56 $ 28
Special*
standards/report/ $ 200 $ 304
$ 220 Special**
roster offset by increased
fee revenues
Law enforcement Unknown, probably not substantial,
Local
notification increased mandated,
potentially
to DHS reimbursable costs
DHS $ 87 $ 67
$ 67 General
*Fingerprint Fees Account
**Firearm Safety Account
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/99)
City and County of San Francisco
Berkeley City Council
California District, American Academy of Pediatrics
Attorney General's Office
California Child, Youth and Family Coalition
California Church IMPACT
California State PTA
California Organization of Police and Sheriffs
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs' Association
Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese
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Handgun Control
League of Women Voters of California
Legal Community Against Violence
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Police Department
Lutheran Office of Public Policy
City of Oakland
Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Violence
Public Health Institute
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Saf-T-Lok
Trauma Foundation
City Council, City of West Hollywood
Women Against Gun Violence
Jack Berman Advocacy Center
American Academy of Pediatrics
California Congress of Parents, Teachers and Students, Inc.
The Jewish Federation
Prevent Child Abuse Orange County
City of San Diego
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/19/99)
California Rifle and Pistol Association
Gun Owners of California
Peace Officers Research Association of California
National Rifle Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Background included by the author
includes the following:
In the years 1987 to 1996, nearly 2,200 children in the
United States under the age of fifteen years died in
unintentional shootings. In 1996 alone, 138 children were
shot and killed unintentionally. Thus on average, more
than 11 children every month, or one child every three
days, were shot or killed unintentionally in
firearms-related incidents.
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
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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.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The National Rifle
Association's opposition to this bill includes the
following paragraphs and mentions three specific elements:
[This] bill would require the sale of a use firearm
safety device (with some exceptions) whenever a firearm
is sold. The purchaser would not be required to use the
"device" - only to buy it. The key problem surrounding
this debate has been the absence of firearm safety
education. Firearm safety devices offer a false sense of
security, if education in their proper use is absent.
Putting "The Club" on the steering wheel of a car does
not eliminate the need to properly educate and train its
teenage driver. So it is with firearms and safety
devices.
There are three elements in this bill that should be
bothersome even to its supporters.
1.What if no "safety device" that attaches to the firearm
is commercially produced? Will the firearm purchaser be
required to buy a safe? Senator Hayden recognized such
an eventuality in SB 1550 (1998). His bill read "shall
include or be accompanied by a firearm use limitation
device appropriate for that firearm, if the firearm use
limitation devices are commercially available. Why is
such language not in AB 106?
2.AB 106 would allow the firearm purchaser to provide
his/her own approved "safety device" if it had been
purchased no more than 30 days prior and the purchaser
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has the purchase receipt. As written an "approved safety
device" that was a gift or one that was purchased 31 days
prior to the sale would not qualify. If it's an approved
safety device - why does it matter when or how it was
obtained?
3.Why aren't padlocks included as "approved safety
devices"? Padlocks (key or combination) are the most
cost effective safety devices. It's silly to have DOJ
study the appropriateness of the padlock.
The California Rifle and Pistol Association's (CRPA)
opposition includes a statement that if AB 106 is enacted,
it ". . . still would not deal with the real cause of the
problem of unauthorized users obtaining access to
improperly stored firearms: negligent human behavior by a
relatively small number of individuals." CRPA continues by
mentioning that existing laws regarding criminal storage
violations should be enforced without adding additional
needless costs on firearms. The CRPA also asserts that the
new $1 fee authorized by this bill is "an attempt by the
Department of Justice to go around the $14 fee cap on the
Dealers' Record of Sale" currently in statute and that
"'registration' is listed as one of the purposes of the new
proposed additional fee. Registration is already provided
for in the $14 DROS fee cap."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Alquist, Aroner, Bock, Calderon, Cardenas, Cardoza,
Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, Cunneen, Davis, Dutra,
Firebaugh, Florez, Gallegos, Havice, Hertzberg, Honda,
Jackson, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Lempert, Longville,
Lowenthal, Machado, Maddox, Maldonado, Mazzoni, Migden,
Nakano, Rod Pacheco, Papan, Pescetti, Reyes, Romero,
Scott, Shelley, Soto, Steinberg, Strom-Martin, Thomson,
Torlakson, Vincent, Washington, Wayne, Wesson, Wiggins,
Wildman, Wright, Villaraigosa
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Baldwin, Battin, Baugh,
Briggs, Campbell, Dickerson, Frusetta, Granlund,
Kaloogian, Leach, Leonard, Margett, McClintock, Olberg,
Oller, Thompson
NOT VOTING: Bates, Brewer, Cox, Ducheny, Floyd, House,
Robert Pacheco, Runner, Strickland, Zettel
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RJG:sl 8/19/99 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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