BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 334|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 334
Author: Levine (D)
Amended: 6/25/07 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 7/3/07
AYES: Romero, Cedillo, Ridley-Thomas
NOES: Cogdill, Margett
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 43-34, 5/29/07 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Firearms: loss and theft
SOURCE : California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to
Prevent Gun
Violence
DIGEST : This bill (1) provides that, regarding handguns
acquired or reacquired on or after July 1, 2008, or whose
owner reports ownership of the handgun for the first time
after that date, failure to report that the handgun is lost
or stolen within five working days, as specified, will be
an infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $100 on the
first offense and up to $250 for any subsequent offense,
(2) provides that any person who timely reports a lost or
stolen handgun, as specified, shall be immune from civil
liability for any illicit possession or use occurring
thereafter, except as specified, (3) requires that the
CONTINUED
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Department of Justice (DOJ) on any form requiring or
allowing a person to report his or her ownership of a
handgun, state the reporting requirements regarding lost or
stolen guns, and (4) requires DOJ to develop, on or before
April 1, 2008, a protocol for the implementation of these
requirements which shall include requirements that peace
officers notify victims of theft of the requirement that
lost and stolen handguns must be reported, as specified,
and assist victims, to the extent practicable, in
identifying the make, model and serial number of their
handguns that are lost or stolen.
ANALYSIS : Existing law defines "firearm" and provides
that for certain purposes, including certain offenses,
"firearm" includes the frame or receiver of the weapon.
Existing law generally regulates the possession of
firearms.
This bill:
1. Requires that any person who acquires or reacquires
ownership of a handgun, or who reports his/her ownership
of a handgun to DOJ on or after July 1, 2008, and
thereafter the handgun is stolen or lost shall, within
five working days after his/her discovery or knowledge
of, or within five working days after the date he/she
should reasonably have known of, the theft or loss,
report the theft or loss to a local law enforcement
agency of the jurisdiction in which the loss or theft
occurred, or in which the person resides.
2. Makes violations of that reporting requirement an
infraction punishable by a fine not to exceed $100 for a
first violation and by a fine not to exceed $250 for a
second or subsequent violation.
3. Provides that any person who complies with the reporting
requirement shall be immune from any civil liability for
the illicit use or possession of the firearm occurring
after the theft or loss, unless the person had prior
knowledge of the misconduct or was negligent with
respect to the theft or loss of the firearm.
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4. Provides that no charge may be imposed for submitting a
report pursuant to this bill.
5. Requires DOJ, on any form requiring or allowing a person
to report his/ her ownership of a handgun, to state the
reporting requirements regarding lost or stolen guns.
6. Requires DOJ to develop, on or before April 1, 2008, a
protocol for the implementation of these requirements
which shall include requirements that peace officers
notify victims of theft of the requirement that lost and
stolen handguns must be reported, as specified, and
assist victims, to the extent practicable, in
identifying the make, model and serial number of their
handguns that are lost or stolen.
Prior Legislation
AB 86 (Levine), Chapter 167, Statutes of 2006.
SB 59 (Lowenthal), 2005-06 session, passed the Senate with
a vote of 21-16 on 8/29/06. The bill, which was
substantially similar to AB 334, was vetoed by the
Governor. The Governor's veto message stated:
"While I share the Legislatures concern about the
criminal use of lost or stolen weapons, the ambiguous
manner in which this bill was written would make
compliance with the law confusing for legitimate
gun-owners and could result in cases where law-abiding
citizens face criminal penalties simply because they were
the victim of a crime, which is particularly troubling
given the unproven results of other jurisdictions in
California that have passed similar measures.
"In addition, this bill may have undesirable legal
consequences as it allows local governments to pass
ordinances that differ from State law, thereby leaving
law-abiding citizens with the task of navigating through
a maze of different or conflicting local laws depending
upon the jurisdiction they are in. A patchwork of
inconsistent local ordinances creates compliance and
enforcement problems that erode the States ability to
effectively regulate handguns statewide."
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/12/07)
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence (source)
Coalition Against Gun Violence
Legal Community Against Gun Violence
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
City of Los Angeles
Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence
Youth Alive
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/12/07)
California Association of Firearms Retailers
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
California Rifle and Pistol Association
California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc.
Crossroads of the West Gun Shows
Gun Owners of California, Inc.
Outdoor Sportsman's Coalition of California
Safari Club International
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
"This bill seeks to limit the ability of straw purchasers
to supply guns to criminals who cannot legally own
firearms.
"Often, criminals who are not eligible to own a gun,
contact a 'straw purchaser' who can legally purchase a
firearm. This straw purchaser buys a gun, and then sells
the gun on the black market to the person who cannot
legally own a gun. When the new owner commits a crime
with the black market gun it is often traced back to the
straw purchaser. The straw purchaser can then claim he
lost the gun prior to the crime, leaving law enforcement
unable to prosecute.
"This bill would require a gun owner to report a lost or
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stolen hand gun. If the loss is not reported within five
days, the registered owner of the firearm can be fined.
This should significantly curb the ability of criminals
to acquire firearms through straw purchasers."
The City of Los Angeles states that "According to the
California Attorney General's office, 'the vast majority of
new guns enter the market legally,' however, there is a
large illegal gun trafficking market. People who can
purchase guns legally do so and then sell them to people
who are not allowed to purchase firearms, which is one way
that these firearms end up in the hands of criminals.
These traffickers then claim that the gun was stolen.
Unfortunately, prosecution of these traffickers is not
possible because existing law does not require the
reporting of lost and stolen firearms. Requiring a gun
owner to promptly report lost or stolen firearms to law
enforcement will minimize a barrier to the effective
prosecution of firearms traffickers."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Rifle and Pistol
Association states:
"This bill would impose upon the victim of a theft or a
loss of a handgun substantial fines for not reporting the
theft or loss within five working days of its occurrence
or within five working days of when the person 'should
reasonably have known' of it.
"AB 334 would punish the innocent victim and mandate a
'should reasonably have known' standard without providing
any indication of what the term means relative to the
requirements of this bill. Firearms are not normally
used every day like many other consumer items and they
are stored in out of sight locations where their
disappearance might not become known for a long time.
This bill is deficient by not providing some sort of
guidelines relative to what 'should reasonably have
known' means the purpose of determining when a violation
of this standard has taken place.
"AB 334 would make California's already confusing and
difficult to understand firearms laws even more difficult
for lawful individuals and law enforcement to
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comprehend."
The Gun Owners of California, Inc. states:
"This bill makes failure to report a stolen or
irretrievably lost firearm a crime. This bill also
applies the same standards to parts of a firearm, frames
and receivers specifically. Who can determine what is
'irretrievably lost?'
"This bill requires reporting within five days of the
time one should have reasonably known of the firearm
theft or loss. 'Reasonably known' cannot be defined, is
ambiguous and unclear. Theft itself speaks to secretive,
clandestine, unknown, silent and unseen.
"This bill makes the victim the criminal. This bill
increases the already cumbersome and burdensome Penal
Code with questionable language."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Beall, Berg, Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon,
Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier,
Dymally, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Hancock, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Huffman, Jones, Karnette, Krekorian, Laird,
Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Mendoza, Mullin, Nava,
Portantino, Price, Richardson, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Solorio, Swanson, Torrico, Wolk, Nunez
NOES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Benoit, Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Horton, Houston, Huff,
Jeffries, Keene, La Malfa, Maze, Nakanishi, Niello,
Parra, Plescia, Sharon Runner, Silva, Smyth, Spitzer,
Strickland, Tran, Villines, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Bass, Soto
RJG:mw 7/12/07 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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