BILL ANALYSIS
AB 814
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 814 (Krekorian)
As Amended June 1, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-0
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|Ayes:|Solorio, Hagman, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Furutani, Gilmore, Hill, | |Calderon, Davis, Fuentes, |
| |Ma, Skinner | |Hall, John A. Perez, Price |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Krekorian |
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SUMMARY : Establishes a procedure for a defendant who owns,
possesses, or has custody or control of a firearm to sell that
firearm to a firearms dealer or relinquish the firearm to a law
enforcement agency when the defendant has been convicted of a
specified offense and prohibited from owning a firearm.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the defendant to name a designee and grant the
designee power of attorney for the purpose of transferring or
disposing of any firearm. The defendant may name a consenting
law enforcement agency as his or her designee.
2)Requires the court to instruct a convicted defendant, as
specified, that he or she is prohibited from owning,
purchasing, receiving, possessing, or having under his or her
custody or control any firearm, and that he or she shall
relinquish all firearms through a designee, as specified.
3)Requires the court to provide the Prohibited Person
Relinquishment (PPR) form developed by the Department of
Justice (DOJ).
4)Requires the PPR form do all of the following:
a) Inform the defendant that he or she is prohibited from
owning, purchasing, receiving, possessing, or having under
his or her custody or control any firearm, and that he or
she will relinquish all firearms through a designee within
the specified period of time;
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b) Require the defendant to declare whether or not he or
she owned, possessed, or had in his or her custody any
firearms at the time judgment was imposed, and require the
defendant to describe the firearm with as much detail as
possible;
c) Require the defendant to name a consenting designee and
grant the designee power of attorney for the purposes of
transferring or disposing of all firearms;
d) Require the designee to declare that he or she is not
prohibited from possessing all firearms under state or
federal law and indicate his or her consent to the
designation; and,
e) Require the designee to state the date each firearm was
relinquished and the name of the party to whom it was
relinquished.
5)States the following procedures shall apply to any defendant
who is out of custody after conviction:
a) The designee shall dispose of any firearm the defendant
owns, possesses, or has within his or her custody or
control within five days of the conviction by surrendering
the firearm to the control of local law enforcement
officials, selling the firearm to a dealer or selling or
transferring the firearm to a third party by completing the
sale or transfer through a firearms dealer;
b) During the five-day period following conviction, the
defendant shall not be prosecuted for violating provisions
of law, as specified, prior to relinquishment based on his
or her ownership custody or control, or possession of a
firearm within his or her home, provided the firearm was
owned or possessed by, or in the custody or control of, the
defendant prior to conviction. This provision shall not
apply to a defendant who was, prior to the date of his or
her conviction, already prohibited from owning, purchasing,
receiving, possessing or having under his or her custody or
control all firearms under state or federal law, as
prohibited;
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c) If the defendant does not own, possess or having within
his or her custody or control any firearms to relinquish,
he or she shall, within five days following the defendant's
conviction, submit the completed PPR form, as specified, to
the arresting law enforcement agency; and,
d) If the defendant owns possesses or has within his or her
custody or control any firearms to relinquish, following
relinquishment, but within five days following the
conviction, the designee shall submit the completed PPR
form, as specified, to the arresting law enforcement
agency.
6)States the following procedures shall apply to any defendant
in custody after conviction:
a) The designee shall dispose of any firearm the defendant
owns, possesses, or has within his or her custody or
control within 14 days of the conviction, by surrendering
the firearm to the control of local law enforcement
officials, selling the firearm to a firearms dealer, or
selling or transferring the firearm to a third party by
completing the sale or transfer through a firearms dealer;
b) During the 14-day period following the conviction, a
defendant who remains in custody shall not be prosecuted
for being in possession of a firearm, as specified,
provided the forearm was owned by the defendant prior to
the date of conviction. This provision shall not apply to
a defendant who was, prior to conviction, already
prohibited from owning, purchasing, receiving, possessing
or having under his or her custody or control any firearm,
as specified;
c) If the defendant does not own, possess or have within
his or her custody or control any firearms to relinquish,
he or she shall, within 14 days following conviction,
submit the completed form, as specified, to the arresting
law enforcement agency;
d) If the defendant owns, possesses or has within his her
custody or control, any firearms to relinquish, the
designee shall, following relinquishment, but within 14
days of conviction, submit a PPR form, as specified, to the
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arresting law enforcement agency; and,
e) If the defendant is released from custody during the 14
days following conviction and a designee has not yet taken
temporary possession of every firearm to be relinquished,
as specified, the defendant shall, within five days
following his or her release, relinquished every firearm
required to be relinquished, as specified.
7)States that pursuant to provisions of law related to granting
immunity, no information directly or indirectly derived from
the defendant's statement on the PPR form, as specified, or
from a relinquished firearm, shall be used in any criminal
prosecution for illegal possession of that firearm. This
protection shall not extend to any prosecution for the
unlawful use of a firearm.
8)States failure by a defendant or a designee, except a designee
that is a consenting law enforcement agency, to file a timely
completed PPR form, as specified, with the arresting law
enforcement agency shall constitute an infraction punishable
by a fine not to exceed $500.
9)States a law enforcement agency shall not be required to
retain a firearm that was relinquished to the law enforcement
agency, as required by this bill, for more than 30 days after
the date on which the firearm was relinquished. After the
30-day period has expired, the firearm is subject to
destruction, retention, or transfer by the agency, as
specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor absorbable annual costs to DOJ, less than $100,000.
2)Unknown, potentially state-reimbursable annual costs, likely
in the same range as the DOJ costs, to local law enforcement
agencies to review and process forms as specified.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 814 will facilitate
enforcement of existing state laws prohibiting illegal firearm
possession by establishing a clear process and timeline for
firearm relinquishment by prohibited persons. Under the bill,
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upon conviction of a crime disqualifying a defendant from
firearm possession, a defendant must be instructed by the judge
that he or she is prohibited from owning or possessing any
firearms. The judge must also provide the defendant with a
notice and form describing the manner in which firearms may be
relinquished and the penalties attached to failure to comply.
"Upon conviction, a prohibited person must transfer his or her
firearms to a designee who must sell the firearms to a dealer,
sell or transfer them to a third party through a dealer, or
relinquish them to local law enforcement. If the prohibited
person is not in law enforcement custody following conviction,
the relinquishment process must be completed within five days.
If the prohibited person remains in custody, the process must be
completed within 14 days."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0001284