BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1961
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1961 (Machado)
As Amended June 21, 2000
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |54-12|(May 4, 2000) |SENATE: |29-0 |(August 24, |
| | | | | |2000) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Expands the definition of "prohibited machine guns" to
include any frame receiver or trigger mechanism that can be used
with a machine gun.
The Senate amendments :
1)Expand the definition of a machine gun to include any weapon
that can be readily restored to shoot automatically more than
one shot without manual reloading.
2)Make technical amendments relative to parts used to convert a
weapon into a machine gun.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that any person, firm or corporation in the
possession or transportation of a machine gun is guilty of a
felony and is punishable by four, six or eight years in state
prison or by a fine not to exceed $10,000.
2)Defines a "machine gun" as any weapon that fires more than one
shot automatically without manual reloading, by a single
function of the trigger, any part or combination of parts
designed and intended for use in converting, and any weapon
deemed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
as readily convertible to a machine gun.
3)Authorizes the Department of Justice to issue and revoke
permits for the possession, manufacture, transportation and
sale of machine guns.
4)Prohibits the sale, manufacturing, distribution,
transportation, importation possession or lending of assault
AB 1961
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weapons in California.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Included a trigger mechanism in the definition of a machine
gun.
2)Defined "trigger mechanism" as used in this section as a part
designed to convert a weapon into a machine gun.
3)Defined "part designed and intended for use in competing" as
used in this section as any part that will convert a
semiautomatic firearm to a machine gun that was done without
altering the semiautomatic receiver.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, minor, if any, costs for increased state
incarceration. This bill is essentially a technical
clarification of current law.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "In 1934, Congress passed
the National Firearms Act, which prohibits individuals from
possessing machine guns without a license. In 1953, California
barred possessing or selling machine guns and fully automatic
weapons without a license. Many of the most ardent opponents of
gun control concede that prohibiting the ownership and sale of
fully automatic weapons is good public policy.
"However, in August, 1999, a savvy attorney and an insufficient
definition in law allowed an individual to walk free after he
sold a trigger mechanism that changes a semi-automatic firearm
into a fully automatic one. The individual sold the converter
switch to an undercover agent at a gun show. The law lacked the
specificity to convict the individual under the state's machine
gun statute. AB 1961 closes this loophole to ensure that people
who sell parts that make fully automatic guns out of single shot
weapons answer to the law."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a more
comprehensive discussion of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Fredericka McGee / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
AB 1961
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FN: 0006328