BILL ANALYSIS
SB 15
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 15 (Polanco)
As Amended July 13, 1999
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 25-15
PUBLIC SAFETY 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 11-7
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|Ayes:|Honda, Cunneen, Shelley, |Ayes:|Migden, Washington, |
| |Cardenas, Washington | |Davis, Hertzberg, Kuehl, |
| | | |Aroner, Romero, Shelley, |
| | | |Steinberg, Wesson, |
| | | |Wiggins |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Battin, Oller |Nays:|Brewer, Ackerman, |
| | | |Ashburn, Campbell, |
| | | |Maldonado, Runner, Wright |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes it a misdemeanor for any person in California to
manufacture, import for sale, offer for sale, give, or lend any
"unsafe handgun", as defined, with certain specific exceptions.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in the
county jail, beginning January 1, 2001, for any person in
California who manufactures or causes to be manufactured,
imports into California for sale, keeps for sale, offers or
exposes for sale, gives or lends any unsafe handgun, except as
specified.
2)Defines "unsafe handgun" to mean any pistol, revolver or
firearm capable of being concealed upon a person that does not
have a specified safety device, does not meet specified firing
requirements, or does not meet specified drop safety
requirements.
3)Requires any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of
being concealed upon a person manufactured in California,
imported into California for sale, kept for sale, or offered
or exposed for sale to be tested by an independent laboratory
certified by the Department of Justice (DOJ) meets or exceeds
specified standards defining unsafe handguns.
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4)Requires DOJ to certify laboratories to verify compliance with
the specified standards defining unsafe handguns on or before
October 1, 2,000.
5)Requires every person licensed to manufacture firearms who
manufactures firearms in California, and every person who
imports firearms into California for sale, keeps for sale, or
offers or exposes for sale any firearm to certify under
penalty of perjury that every model, kind, class, style, type
of pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon a person that he or she manufactures or
imports, keeps or exposes for sale is not a prohibited unsafe
handgun.
6)Requires DOJ on and after January 1, 2001, to compile publish,
and thereafter maintain, a roster listing all pistols,
revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed upon
a person that are not unsafe handguns by the manufacturer,
model number and model name.
7)Authorizes DOJ to charge every person who manufactures,
imports into California for sale, offers or exposes for sale
any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon a person an annual fee not exceeding the costs
of preparing, publishing, and maintaining the roster, and the
costs of research and development, report analysis, and other
program infrastructure costs.
8)Exempts from limitations: a) prototypes which are to be
tested by an independent laboratory to determine if the
handgun is prohibited by this bill; () the handling of a
handgun by persons authorized to determine if the weapon is
prohibited; c) firearms listed as curios or relics by federal
law; and, d) the sale, purchase, or possession of any handgun
by specified law enforcement agencies and sworn members of
these agencies.
9)Exempts the sale, loan or transfer of any firearm between
private parties through dealers or law enforcement agencies,
between private parties exempt from the requirement that the
transfer be through a dealer or law enforcement agency,
firearms listed as curios or relics, the delivery or return of
a firearm for the purposes of repair, and the return of a
firearm by a licensed dealer when the firearm was delivered
for the purposes of a consignment sale or as collateral for a
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pawnbroker loan.
10)States that it is the Legislature's intent that DOJ pursue an
internal loan from special fund revenues available to DOJ to
cover start-up costs for the program established pursuant to
this bill, and any loan shall be repaid with the proceeds of
fees collected under that program within six months.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, this bill has:
1)Moderate annual costs, fully offset by fees charged to labs
and manufacturers, for DOJ to certify laboratories and compile
and maintain a roster of handguns. DOJ estimates these costs
at $507,000 for 1999-2000; $322,000 for 2000-2001; and
$250,000 in out-years.
2)Indeterminable, probably minor, annual General Fund costs for
increased state incarceration for perjury violations.
3)Unknown, potentially significant nonreimbursable local
incarceration costs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "SB 15 is a common sense
responsible gun law. It requires that weapons fire when they
are supposed to and that they not fire when they're dropped.
The drop test is based on the United States DOJ quality
standards for law enforcement weapons and the misfire test is a
slightly more lenient standard than currently used by law
enforcement agencies. The tests are fair and reasonable for
weapons sold to members of the public for self-protection. If a
weapon is not reliable for self-defense, it has no business
being sold in California.
"SB 15 would require any handgun manufactured in California,
imported into the State of California for sale, kept for sale or
exposed for sale, given or lent, meet these basic standards.
The Attorney General's Office would be required to certify
independent labs that would test weapons that manufacturers
wished to sell in California. If they failed to pass the test
it would be a misdemeanor to manufacture or sell the weapon in
our state."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a more
comprehensive discussion of this bill.
SB 15
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Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0002021