BILL ANALYSIS
AB 106
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 106 (Scott)
As Amended June 29, 1999
Majority vote
ASSEMBLY: 51-19 (June 4, 1999)
SENATE: 22-10 (August 23, 1999)
Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Requires the Attorney General (AG) to develop and
implement minimum safety standards for firearms safety devices
and gun safes, 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 be
accompanied by a safety warning label or language, as specified.
The Senate amendments make technical non-substantive changes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Provided that effective January 1, 2002 all firearms sold or
transferred in California except as provided, 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)Required the AG, not later than January 1, 2000, to commence
development of regulations to implement a minimum safety
standard for firearm safety devices and gun safes to reduce
the risk of firearms-related injuries to children.
3)Required that the AG adopt and issue regulations regarding a
final safety standard for firearm safety devices and gun
safes, and report these standards to the Legislature by
January 1, 2001, and that these standards be effective January
1, 2002.
4)Required 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)Authorized the AG after January 1, 2002 to order recall and
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replacement of any gun safe or firearm safety device that did
not conform to the standards required by the provisions of
this bill, required that the licensed manufacturer bring the
firearm or the firearm safety device into conformity, or
provided a replacement.
6)Required that all firearms sold or transferred in California
by a licensed firearms dealer, including private transfers
through a dealer, and all firearms manufactured specific
warning language or a label.
7)Required that each lead law enforcement agency investigating
an incident must report to the Department of Health Services
(DHS) 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)Provided that a violation of this bill was 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.
9)Provided that DOJ may require a $1 charge on all firearms
purchased or transferred to pay for the costs of the program.
FISCAL EFFECT : According the Assembly Appropriations Committee
analysis, this bill has:
1)Significant costs, at least $250,000, to DOJ for the cost of
developing and implementing gun safety device regulations and
standards, reporting to the Legislature, and compiling,
publishing and maintaining a roster of certified safety
devices meeting DOJ standards.
2)Potentially state-reimbursable costs for requiring local law
enforcement agencies to report to DHS, any incident in which a
child suffered an unintentional or self-inflicted gunshot
wound.
3)Unknown significant costs for the certification of labs, fully
offset by fees paid by participating labs.
4)The cost for testing the safety devices would be borne by the
gun manufacturer or dealer.
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5)Indeterminable indirect state and local savings to the extent
safety devices reduce medical and law enforcement costs. The
authors contend that the average hospitalization cost for a
gunshot victim is in the range of $20,000 and the average cost
of investigating a gunshot injury is about $1,000.
COMMENTS : 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. 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.
"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."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a more
comprehensive discussion of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0002499
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