BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1219
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 16, 2001

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                    AB 1219 (Frommer) - As Amended:  May 10, 2001 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Prohibits a licensed gun dealer from selling, loaning or  
            transferring any handgun manufactured on or after January 1,  
            2004 unless that gun contains an integrated mechanical safety  
            device or other incorporated design technology designed to  
            prevent children and other unauthorized users from discharging  
            the weapon.

          2)Defines "integrated mechanical safety device" as a disabling  
            or locking device incorporated within the gun's design that  
            automatically limits its use and that cannot be readily  
            deactivated so that the gun may only be fired by an authorized  
            or recognized user. 

            Devices may include radio tagging, touch memory, remote  
            control, fingerprint magnetic encoding, and other user  
            identification systems using biometrics, mechanical, or  
            electronic systems.

          3)Establishes a civil penalty of up to $50,000 for each gun that  
            violates this section. In addition, a gun dealer's license  
            would be subject to forfeiture for violating this measure. 

          4)Exempts law enforcement, Olympic pistols, and curios or  
            relics, as defined.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor costs, less than $50,000, to the Department of Justice to  








                                                                  AB 1219
                                                                  Page  2

          develop regulations.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . According to the author, "Current law requires that  
            trigger locks be sold with every handgun in California,  
            effective Jan. 1, 2002.  Many gun owners, however, do not  
            utilize those locks, and recent studies by the United States  
            Consumer Protection Agency have found that many trigger locks  
            are easily defeated.  Approximately 100,000 firearms are  
            stolen every year in California. The vast majority of those  
            weapons are handguns.  Many of those weapons are later used in  
            crimes throughout California."



           2)Is 2004 overly optimistic regarding the application of  
            developing "smart gun" technology  ? The author cites Smith and  
            Wesson's agreement to incorporate integrated trigger-locking  
            mechanisms within all their new models by March 2003.  (Smith  
            and Wesson received a $1.7 million federal grant this month to  
            develop smart guns and has spent $5 million developing this  
            technology since 1993.) 
           
            Although technology is moving in this direction and prototypes  
            have been developed, it is not clear smart guns could be  
            available for consumer use by Jan. 1, 2004. 

           3)Possible amendment  . The author is willing to discuss moving  
            the date back to 2006.

           4)Cost of smart guns  .  Some critics of this bill suggest that  
            smart guns would be so expensive that the sale of new guns  
            would be reduced. 
                
           



           


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916)319-2081