BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                             


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                    UNFINISHED BUSINESS
                              

Bill No:  SB 15
Author:   Polanco (D)
Amended:  8/16/99
Vote:     21

  
  SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE  :  4-1, 4/6/99
AYES:  Vasconcellos, Johnston, McPherson, Polanco
NOES:  Rainey
NOT VOTING:  Burton

  SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :   Senate Rule 28.8

  SENATE FLOOR  :  25-15, 5/10/99
AYES:  Alarcon, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Chesbro, Costa,  
  Dunn, Escutia, Figueroa, Hayden, Hughes, Johnston,  
  Karnette, McPherson, Murray, O'Connell, Ortiz, Peace,  
  Perata, Polanco, Schiff, Sher, Solis, Speier,  
  Vasconcellos
NOES:  Baca, Brulte, Haynes, Johannessen, Johnson, Kelley,  
  Knight, Leslie, Lewis, Monteith, Morrow, Mountjoy,  
  Poochigian, Rainey, Wright

  ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  44-27, 8/19/99 - See last page for vote
 

  SUBJECT  :    Firearms

  SOURCE  :     Author

 
  DIGEST  :    This bill enacts restrictions on the  
manufacture, importation, or sale of "unsafe handguns" - as  
defined in this bill - in California commencing January 1,  
                                                 CONTINUED





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2001, as specified.

  Assembly Amendments  :

1.Make changes to those who are exempt from the provision  
  of the bill to include relics and curios.

2.Removes requirement that the State Department of Justice  
  include concealable curios or relics on the roster.

3.Specifies the standard for "Unsafe firearm" to mean that  
  which was established by the federal Bureau of Alcohol,  
  Tobacco and Firearms.

4.Includes costs of research and development, report  
  analysis, firearms storage, and other program  
  infrastructure costs for which the annual fee authorized  
  by this bill may be imposed.

5.Changes the date for which the State Department of  
  Justice must certify laboratories to verify compliance  
  from 7/1/2000 to 10/1/2000.

  ANALYSIS  :    Under existing law, it is an alternate  
misdemeanor/felony ("wobbler") to manufacture, import,  
sell, loan or possess specified disguised firearms and  
other deadly weapons, including plastic firearms, cane or  
wallet guns, flechette darts, multiburst trigger  
activators, nunchakus, short-barreled shotguns and rifles,  
leaded canes, zip guns, unconventional pistols, cane  
blackjacks and metal knuckles.  A violation is punishable  
by sixteen months, two or three years in prison, or up to  
one year in county jail.

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 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  







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3

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. Commencing January 1, 2001, make it a misdemeanor --  
    punishable by up to one year in a county jail -- for  
    any person to manufacture or cause to be manufactured,  
    import into the state for sale, keep for sale, offer or  
    expose for sale, give, or lend any unsafe handgun,  
    except as specified.

  2. Defines "unsafe handgun" to mean any pistol, revolver,  
    or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the  
    person who either (a) for revolvers:  does not have a  
    safety device to cause the hammer to retract from  
    contact with the primer, as specified, (2) for pistols  
    (whether semi-automatic or not):  does not have a  
    positive manually operated safety device, as determined  
    by standards relating to imported guns promulgated by  
    the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,  
    (3) does not meet a specified firing requirement, or  
    (4) does not meet a specified drop safety requirement.

  3. Requires every person licensed to manufacture firearms  
    pursuant to federal law who manufactures firearms in  
    this state and every person who imports into the state  
    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, or type of pistol,  
    revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed  
    upon the person that he or she manufactures or imports,  
    keeps, or exposes for sale is not a prohibited unsafe  
    handgun.

  4. Requires any pistol, revolver, or other firearm  
    capable of being concealed upon the person manufactured  
    in this state, imported into the state for sale, kept  
    for sale, or offered to exposed for sale, to be tested  
    by an independent laboratory certified by the State  
    Department of Justice (DOJ) to determine whether that  
    firearm meets or exceeds specified standards defining  







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    unsafe handguns.

  5. Requires DOJ certify laboratories for this purpose on  
    or before October 1, 2000.

  6. Requires DOJ, on and after January 1, 2001, to  
    compile, publish, and thereafter maintain a roster  
    listing all of the pistols, revolvers, and other  
    firearms capable of being concealed upon the person  
    that are not unsafe handguns by the manufacturer, model  
    number, and model name; authorizes DOJ to charge every  
    person in this state who is licensed as a manufacturer  
    of firearms pursuant to federal law, and any person in  
    this state who manufactures or causes to be  
    manufactured, imports into the state for sale, keeps  
    for sale, or offers or exposes for sale any pistol,  
    revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed  
    upon the person in this state, an annual fee not  
    exceeding the costs of preparing, publishing, and  
    maintaining the roster, as well as costs of research  
    and development, report analysis, firearms storage and  
    other program infrastructure costs necessary to  
    implement the provisions required by this bill.

  7. Exempts from the limitations on such handguns (1)  
    prototypes which are to be tested by a laboratory to  
    determine whether the handgun is prohibited by this  
    bill; (2) law enforcement and others handling the  
    weapon to determine whether or not it is prohibited by  
    this bill; (3) firearms which are curios or relics  
    pursuant to federal regulations.

 8.  Exempts from the transfer limitations in this bill  
    transfers between private parties through dealers/law  
    enforcement agencies; transfers between parties  
    otherwise exempt from the requirement that transfer be  
    made through a dealer or law enforcement agency  
    (limited duration loans between known parties, loans  
    for hunting season, etc); transfers, deliveries,  
    returns to or from an licensed dealer of weapons  
    capable of being concealed under specified conditions;  
    weapons listed as curios and relics, and transfers  
    pertaining to those handguns exempted in new provisions  
    added by this bill (such as delivery to DOJ of weapons  







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    being tested).

  9. Exempts the sale to, purchase by, or possession of,  
    any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being  
    concealed upon the person by DOJ.  The sale to,  
    purchase by, or possession of any pistol, revolver or  
    other firearm capable of being concealed upon the  
    person by DOJ, any police department, any sheriff's  
    official, any marshals' office, the Youth and Adult  
    Correctional Agency, the California Highway Patrol, any  
    district attorneys' office, the military or naval  
    forces of this state or of the United States for use in  
    the discharge of their official duties.  Nor shall  
    anything in this bill prohibit the possession of any  
    pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being  
    concealed upon the person by sworn members of these  
    agencies, whether the sworn member is on or off duty,  
    or an individual who is retired from service with a law  
    enforcement agency and who is not otherwise prohibited  
    from possessing a concealable firearm upon his or her  
    retirement.

 10. States the intent of the Legislature that DOJ pursue  
    an internal loan from special fund revenues available  
    to the department to cover startup costs for the unsafe  
    handgun program established pursuant to the bill and  
    that the department is to repay any loan with the  
    proceeds of fees collected under that program within  
    six months.

 11. Makes numerous related additions to law. 

This bill contains an exemption for "old west"  
single-action revolvers and replicas of those revolvers.   
This bill contains the following language:

  Penal Code section 12133.  The provisions of this  
  chapter shall not apply to a single-action revolver  
  that has at least a five-cartridge capacity with a  
  barrel length of not less than three inches, and meets  
  any of the following specifications:  

   A.    Was originally manufactured prior to 1900 and is a  
      curio or relic, as defined in Section 178.11 of Title  







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      27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

   B     Has an overall length measured parallel to the  
      barrel of at least seven and one-half inches when the  
      handle, frame or receiver, and barrel are assembled.

   C.    Has an overall length measured parallel to the  
      barrel of at least seven and one-half inches when the  
      handle, frame or receiver, and barrel are assembled  
      and that is currently approved for importation into  
      the United States pursuant to the provisions of  
      paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of Section 925 of  
      Title 18 of the United States Code.

  Federal Regulation of "Saturday Night Specials"

  At the federal level, the importation of "Saturday Night  
Specials" into the United States has been banned through  
the enactment of the Gun Control Act of 1968.  Section  
925(d)(3) of the Act provides that a firearm shall be  
imported if it is of a type "?generally recognized as  
particularly suitable for, or readily adaptable to,  
sporting purposes."  The phrase "sporting purposes" has  
been defined to eliminate small, cheap, poorly constructed  
handguns.

A set of factoring criteria was designed to prevent the  
import of these handguns, considered a substantial crime  
problem in the 1960's.  The factoring criteria are based on  
a relatively simple point system.  First, the firearm must  
meet all of the prerequisites.  If it is a pistol, it must  
have a manually operated safety device.  The combined  
length and height must be not less than ten inches with the  
height being at least four inches and the length at least  
six inches.  If the firearm is a revolver, it must pass the  
safety test and have an overall frame length of at least  
four and one half inches and a barrel length of at least  
three inches.

In addition, a point value is assigned to the handgun's  
individual characteristics such as length of barrel,  
overall length, frame construction, weight, caliber, safety  
features, type of sight, trigger, hammer and grip.








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Generally, the handguns passing the criteria are bigger,  
heavier and of a better quality than "Saturday Night  
Specials."  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms  
(Secretary of the Treasurer or his/her delegate) also may  
grant exemptions to these requirements, as specified.

Under the proposed federal Handgun Violence Prevention Act  
of 1989, the above criteria would have applied to handguns  
produced in the United States.  However, this federal  
legislation was defeated.  

Related Legislation

  AB 505 (Wright) is currently in the Assembly Committee on  
Public Safety.  It would require every model of pistol,  
revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon  
the person that is manufactured for sale in California on  
or after July 1, 2000, to satisfy specified safety tests  
and standards, with a system of self-certification by the  
manufacturer or importer and specified penalties.

  Prior Legislation

  SB 1500 (Polanco - 1997-98 Session):  Senate Floor Vote:   
23-15 (NOES:  Brulte, Costa, Haynes, Hurtt, Johannessen,  
Johnson, Kelley, Knight, Leslie, Lewis, Maddy, Monteith,  
Mountjoy, Rainey, and Wright)  Vetoed by the Governor. 

SB 500 (Polanco - 1997-98 Session):  Senate Floor Vote:   
22-15.  Vetoed by the Governor.

SB 933 (1996-96 Session).  Failed passage in Assembly  
Public Safety Committee.

  Governor's Veto of SB 500 and SB 1500

  The Governor's veto message of SB 500 (9/26/97) included,  
in part, the following:

  "SB 500 is a bill that purports to protect gun users  
  against shoddy guns.  It is essentially offered as  
  consumer protection.  But the vast majority of the  
  proponents of SB 500 who have urged me to sign it have  
  done so because of their passionate hope and belief  







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  that it will instead protect potential victims against  
  whom the proscribed guns might otherwise be used.
  
   "Common sense dictates that the best way to prevent gun  
  crimes is by first removing from society the criminals  
  who use guns in the commission of a crime. . . 

  " . . not only does SB 500 fail to keep guns out of  
  the hands of criminals, it will deprive law-abiding,  
  legitimate gun users of the needed protection of  
  handguns--the same handguns used by thousands of peace  
  officers as regular service and back-up guns.  These  
  weapons would--in a private citizen's hands--be caught  
  in a net cast much too wide by SB 500.

  " . . I will not support a measure that fails the  
  basic test of protecting the innocent.  Ultimately,  
  the real test applied by the bill is whether or not  
  the weapon is readily concealable.  If so, it is  
  adjudged by SB 500 to be "non-sporting" and is  
  therefore prohibited.  By this definition and test,  
  all handguns--except, ironically, the largest and  
  deadliest--are included in the ban.  The clear if  
  unstated premise of this test is that handguns that  
  are concealable can have no sporting purpose and  
  therefore no valid purpose.  This flawed logic ignores  
  reality: it ignores the obvious fact that millions of  
  law-abiding Californians--including a growing number  
  of women--have felt the need to own concealable  
  weapons not for sport but to protect themselves, their  
  families, and their property.

  "As much as I deplore the necessity, I cannot in good  
  conscience deny them that protection if they choose  
  it."

NOTE:  The author indicated concerning SB 1500 from 1998  
that:  "In response to the Governor's concerns [with SB  
500], . . . I have introduced Senate Bill 1500.  It  
casts a smaller net, it addresses the Governor's  
concerns and it seeks to ensure that those who choose to  
own a handgun for self protection have a handgun that is  
safe and reliable." 








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The Governor's veto message of SB 1500 (9/27/98)  
includes the following:

  " . . This bill is the successor to SB 500, which I  
  vetoed last year.  SB 500 was seriously flawed.   
  Commendably, the author has removed some of its more  
  egregious provisions. . . .

  " . . The bill gives the Department of Justice six  
  months to find and certify laboratories to perform  
  safety tests.  Once laboratories are identified,  
  handgun manufacturers wishing to sell their products  
  in California would be required to submit three  
  prototypes of each model for testing.  Only handguns  
  passing the test during the following six months would  
  be certified and placed on the initial Department of  
  Justice roster.  All other handguns would be presumed  
  unsafe subject to penalty under this bill and remain  
  so unless and until they were certified to have passed  
  the test.
  
   "The author was advised that this Administration could  
  accept both the premise of safety testing and the  
  specific safety tests proposed, provided that the bill  
  be made prospective, impacting handguns manufactured,  
  or sold new, after January 1, 2000.  The author  
  declined to amend his bill, insisting that used  
  handguns could be sold through private transactions,  
  but not by licensed dealers.  Other than improving  
  business for gun manufacturers by increasing demand  
  for new guns, it is unclear how anyone would benefit  
  by this arbitrary standard. . .  

  "SB 1500 would deny owners of used handguns access to  
  a dependable marketplace of licensed firearms dealers  
  and pawnbrokers for safe and legal sales and loans,  
  while threatening to delay market access to  
  manufacturers and purchasers of new guns. . .

  "But an even more fundamental question is whether  
  consumer safety is better achieved by a program that  
  offers manufacturers market incentives to have their  
  products tested, or a program that penalizes not only  
  makers of products that fail the test, but also those  







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  who through no fault of theirs have been unable to get  
  their guns tested. . . 

  ". . .There are few laboratories that perform this kind  
  of testing now.  With the manufacturers providing the  
  cost of testing, the number of laboratories and testing  
  capacity may increase.  But in the meantime, there are  
  hundreds, if not thousands, of makes and models of  
  handguns.  There is a very real possibility that  
  delay--for any number of reasons beyond the control of  
  gun maker--will lead to a large number of guns being  
  banned without any showing that they are unsafe.

  ". . .While there have been isolated reports of  
  firearms which jam excessively and even a few reports  
  of guns which discharge accidentally, when dropped, or  
  explode in the shooter's hand, the number of makes of  
  suspect guns does not seem to justify a regulatory  
  scheme that is likely to have the unintended  
  consequence of prohibiting, or at least unreasonably  
  holding up, sales of what clearly appears to be the  
  vast majority of perfectly reliable weapons.

  ". . .And there is no objection to weapons testing.   
  But the procedure which SB 1500 would impose threatens  
  to unreasonably limit the right of law abiding  
  citizens to obtain previously lawful firearms.  It  
  makes little sense for the law to deny weapons to  
  people who need them, on the pretext that they are  
  unsafe to the user until testing proves them safe,  
  when they are arguably in far greater danger from  
  certifiably unsafe thugs than from uncertified  
  handguns."

  FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
Local:  Yes


 SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/23/99)

American Academy of Pediatrics
American Jewish Congress, Jack Berman Advocacy Center
Association of Bay Area Governments
California Academy of Family Physicians







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California Child, Youth and Family Coalition
California Church Impact
California Congress of Parents, Teachers and Students, Inc.
California Nurses Association
California Organization of Police and Sheriffs
California Police Chiefs' Association
Children's Advocacy Institute
City Administrator, City of Williams
Cities of Alameda, Albany, Alhambra, Arvin, Belmont,  
  Benicia, Berkeley, Buena Park, Camarillo, Cathedral City,  
  Commerce, Cudahy, Cypress, Daly City, East Palo Alto, El  
  Cerrito, Huntington Park, Indio, Inglewood, Irvine,  
  Kerman, Lafayette, La Puente, Livingston, Lompoc, Los  
  Angeles, Malibu, Merced, Millbrae, Monte Sereno, Monterey  
  Park, Oakland, Oceanside, Ojai, Pacific Grove, Palm  
  Springs, Palo Alto, Richmond, Riverside, Rohnert Park,  
  San Bernardino, San Clemente, San Fernando, San Jose, San  
  Luis Obispo, San Marino, San Mateo, Santa Ana, Santa  
  Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Monica, Santa Rosa,  
  Sausalito, South El Monte, South Pasadena, Stockton,  
  Temecula, Thousand Oaks, Upland, Walnut Creek, West  
  Hollywood, Willows, Winters
Counties of Alameda, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa  
  Cruz
Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Los Angeles
Gray Panthers of Sacramento
Handgun Control, Inc.
Joe A. Gonsalves and Anthony D. Gonsalves
Johan Klehs, Chair, State Board of Equalization
League of California Cities
League of Women Voters of California
Legal Community Against Violence
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Gatos Police Department
Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California
Mayor Albert, City of Monterey (formerly listed as City of  
  Monterey)
Mayor Arca, City of Guadalupe (formerly listed as City of  
  Guadalupe)
Mayor Eshlema, City of Fontana (formerly listed as City of  
  Fontana)
Mayor Flory, City of Fullerton (formerly listed as City of  







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  Fullerton)
Mayor Garcia, City of La Habra (formerly listed as City of  
  La Habra)
Mayor Kennedy, City of Morgan Hill (formerly listed as City  
  of Morgan Hill)
Mayor Salazar, City of Montebello (formerly listed as City  
  of Montebello)
Mayor Wilder, City of Foster City (formerly listed as City  
  of Foster City)
Monte Sereno Police Department
Office of Criminal Justice Planning
Older Womens League of California
Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence
Oxnard Police Department
Physicians for a Violence Free Society
San Mateo Police Department
Scotts Valley Police Department
Signal Hill Police Department
Silverlake Chamber of Commerce
Sonora Police Department
South Orange County Democratic Club
Supervisor Erickson from Siskiyou County (formerly listed  
  as Siskiyou County)
Supervisor Kerns from Sonoma County (formerly listed as  
  Sonoma County)
The Trauma Foundation
Town of Los Gatos
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Women Against Gun Violence

  OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/23/99)

Butte County Sheriff (formerly listed as support)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc.
California Shooting Sports Association
California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc.
City of Dunsmuir
City of Fortuna (formerly listed as support)
City of Lake Elsinore
City of Temple City
County of Colusa
Glenn County Board of Supervisors
Gun Owners of California Incorporated







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Lemoore California
National Rifle Association of America
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Peace Officer Research Association of California
Safari Club International
San Bernardino Sheriff
Towne of Apple Valley
Tuolumne County Sheriff

  ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The author submits that:

  "Senate Bill 15 is a common sense, responsible gun  
  law.  It requires that weapons fire when they are  
  supposed to and that they not fire when dropped.  The  
  drop test is based on U.S. Department of Justice  
  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 weapons in our state."

  ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    The National Rifle Association  
(NRA) letter in opposition includes:

  "As currently constructed, SB 15 would provide a  
  strong stimulus for illegal 'street' gun sales.  Most  
  used handguns made since 1946 would not be submitted  
  for certification as required by SB 15 and thus could  
  not be legally sold by retail firearm dealers.   
  Pawnshops would not give loans on handguns that they  
  couldn't sell if not picked up by the owner.  Without  
  access to retail firearms dealers (including  







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  pawnshops) the obvious alternative is 'street sales'."
   
  The California Rifle and Pistol Association letter in  
opposition to SB 15 includes:

  ". . .Its prohibition on dealer sales of used handguns  
             not meeting the bills extremely broad provisions would  
  make handguns economically unavailable to many persons  
  who do not have large incomes.  . . .Whether a handgun  
  meets the proposed SB 15 standards in most cases would  
  have no relevance to its suitability for its intended  
  purpose. . .SB 15 requires that both civilian and law  
  enforcement handguns have the same standards. . .SB 15  
  would not significantly improve any product line nor  
  would it prevent the occasional occurrence of a  
  defective part.  But, it would unjustly have an  
  adverse impact on lawful residents of California who  
  need a handgun for lawful purposes but cannot afford  
  the expensive models. . ."


  ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
AYES:  Alquist, Aroner, Calderon, Cardenas, Cedillo,  
  Corbett, Correa, Cunneen, Davis, Dutra, Firebaugh, Floyd,  
  Gallegos, Havice, Hertzberg, Honda, Jackson, Keeley,  
  Knox, Kuehl, Lempert, Longville, Lowenthal, Machado,  
  Mazzoni, Migden, Nakano, Papan, Reyes, Romero, Scott,  
  Shelley, Soto, Steinberg, Strom-Martin, Thomson,  
  Torlakson, Vincent, Washington, Wayne, Wesson, Wiggins,  
  Wildman, Villaraigosa
NOES:  Ackerman, Ashburn, Baldwin, Bates, Battin, Baugh,  
  Bock, Briggs, Cardoza, Cox, Dickerson, Ducheny, Florez,  
  Frusetta, House, Leonard, Maldonado, Margett, McClintock,  
  Olberg, Oller, Robert Pacheco, Pescetti, Runner,  
  Strickland, Wright, Zettel
NOT VOTING:  Aanestad, Brewer, Campbell, Granlund,  
  Kaloogian, Leach, Maddox, Rod Pacheco, Thompson


RJG:cm  8/23/99   Senate Floor Analyses 

               SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

                      ****  END  ****







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