BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




          Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary

                                AB 202  (Knox)

Hearing Date:6/28/99            Amended:4/6/99         
Consultant: Lisa Matocq         Policy Vote:Pub Saf 5-1
____________________________________________________________ 

BILL SUMMARY: 

AB 202 generally limits the number of handguns that may be  
purchased from a licensed dealer to one per person per  
month, and makes certain violations an infraction,  
misdemeanor, or felony, as specified. 

                         Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
  
Major Provisions                       1999-2000         2000-01        2001-02      
  Fund  
                         
Misdemeanor        Unknown increased mandated, nonreim-Local
                   bursable costs for county jail and probation
Felony                   Unknown increased costs, probably lessGeneral
                   than $150 annually, for incarceration in 
                   state prison                        

STAFF COMMENTS:    This bill:

 prohibits any person from applying to purchase more than  
  one handgun from a licensed firearms dealer within any  
  30-day period and makes violation of this provision an  
  infraction; a third or subsequent violation would be a  
  misdemeanor, and
 prohibits a licensed firearms dealer from providing a  
  handgun to a person when the dealer has been notified by  
  the Department of Justice (DOJ) that that person has  
  applied to purchase a handgun more than once during a  
  30-day period.  Generally, a violation of this provision  
  would be a wobbler, punishable by up to one year in  
  county jail or in state prison, or by a fine of up to  
  $1,000, or both. 

SB 513 (Hayden) of 1998 was similar to this bill but the  
related provisions were amended out of the bill on the  
Assembly floor.  AB 532 (Knox) of 1998 was similar to this  
bill and failed passage on the Assembly floor.











There were no prison admissions during 1997-98 for similar  
prohibitions on gun sales.   Annual incarceration costs are  
$21,243 per inmate.  It would take 8 prison admissions to  
exceed annual incarceration costs of $150,000.   In some  
cases, it may be more appropriate to use the "overcrowding"  
rate of $11,321 per inmate year.   Some persons may be  
punished by a fine rather than imprisonment.  In addition,  
there are unknown increased mandated, nonreimbursable costs  
for county jail and probation.