BILL ANALYSIS
SB 130
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 130 (Hayden)
As Amended June 24, 1999
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :25-9
PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 14-3
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|Ayes:|Honda, Cunneen, |Ayes:|Migden, Cedillo, Davis, |
| |Hertzberg, Keeley, | |Hertzberg, Kuehl, Papan, |
| |Romero, Washington | |Romero, Shelley, |
| | | |Steinberg, Thomson, |
| | | |Wesson, Wiggins, Wright, |
| | | |Longville |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Ackerman, Ashburn, Runner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Attorney General (AG) to develop and
implement minimum safety standards for firearms safety devices,
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 bear a safety warning
label, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that effective January 1, 2002 all firearms sold or
transferred in California 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)Exempts the sale and transfer of firearms if the purchaser or
transferee owns or has recently purchased a gun safe, as
specified, or has recently purchased an approved safety
device, as specified.
3)Requires the AG, not later than January 1, 2000, to commence
development of regulations, as specified, to implement a
minimum safety standard for firearm safety devices to reduce
the risk of firearm-related injuries to children.
4)Requires that the AG adopt and issue regulations regarding a
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final safety standard for firearm safety devices and report
these standards to the Legislature by January 1, 2001. These
standards are effective January 1, 2002.
5)Requires 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 DOJ's standards. DOJ
may charge any laboratory seeking certification a fee not
exceeding the costs of certification including the costs of
developing regulations and standards.
6)Authorizes the AG after January 1, 2002 to order recall and
replacement of any firearm or firearm safety device that does
not conform to the standards and warnings required by this
bill. Requires that the licensed manufacturer bring the
firearm or the firearm safety device into conformity or
provide a replacement.
7)Requires that all firearms sold or transferred in California
by a licensed firearms dealer, including private transfers
through a dealer, and all firearms manufactured bear a
specific warning label.
8)Requires that law enforcement investigating an incident must
report to the AG 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.
9)Provides that a violation of this bill is 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.
10)Provides that DOJ may require each dealer to charge each
firearm purchaser a fee not to exceed $1 for each firearm
transaction for the purpose of supporting program costs
relating to this bill, including the establishment,
maintenance, and upgrading of related database systems and
public rosters.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, this bill has:
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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 the Department of Health
Services (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.
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 Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reveals that for unintentional
firearm-related deaths for children under the age of 15, the
rate in 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.
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"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: 0002324