BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 449|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 449
Author: Padilla (D), et al
Amended: 4/2/09
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/14/09
AYES: Leno, Benoit, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Firearms: reports by pawnbrokers and
secondhand dealers
SOURCE : Department of Justice
DIGEST : This bill removes the requirement that
secondhand dealers report acquisition of firearms to local
law enforcement on a daily basis and instead require that
reporting go directly to the Department of Justice (DOJ);
and authorizes DOJ to retain those records for the purpose
of determining whether the firearm had been reported lost
or stolen and then applying existing law regarding
retention of those records.
ANALYSIS : Existing law defines a "secondhand dealer" as
any person or entity taking in pawn, accepting for sale of
consignment, trading, etc., any tangible personal property.
CONTINUED
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Existing law defines a pawnbroker as a "person engaged in
the business of receiving goods in pledge for security for
a loan."
Existing law provides that pawnbrokers and secondhand
dealers shall report daily on forms approved or provided by
the Department of Justice, all personal property purchased,
taken in trade, taken in pawn, etc., to local law
enforcement. The report shall include the following
information:
A. The name and current address and identification
of the intended seller or pledgor of the property;
B. A complete and reasonably accurate description
of serialized or nonserialized property;
C. A certification by the intended seller or
pledgor that he or she is the owner of the property,
or has the authority of the owner to sell or pledge
the property and that any information provided is
true and complete; and
D. A legible fingerprint taken from the intended
seller or pledgor.
Existing law provides that DOJ shall, in consultation with
local law enforcement, develop clear and comprehensive
categories of property subject to reporting requirements in
Business and Professions Code Section 21628. The
categories shall be incorporated by secondhand dealers and
coin dealers for reporting requirements. DOJ and local law
enforcement, in consultation with secondhand dealer and
coin dealer representatives, shall develop a standard
statewide format for electronic reporting. Twelve months
after the format and the categories have been developed.
Each secondhand dealer and coin dealer shall make reports
electronically. Until that time, each secondhand dealer
and coin dealer may either continue to report this
information using existing forms and procedures or may
begin electronically reporting this information under the
reporting categories and using the new format when it has
been developed.
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Existing law requires a secondhand dealer to make acquired
property available for law enforcement inspection for
specified time periods.
Existing law provides that effective January 1, 2003, the
purchaser of a firearm shall provide his or her right
thumbprint as part of the Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS
form) in a manner prescribed by the California Department
of Justice. No exception to this requirement shall be
permitted except by regulations adopted by the department.
Existing law provides that the original register of firearm
sales shall be retained by the dealer in consecutive order.
Each book of 50 originals shall become the permanent
register and retained for not less than three years from
the date of the last transaction and shall be available for
the inspection of any peace officer, Department of Justice
employee designated by the Attorney General, or agent of
the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms upon
the presentation of proper identification, but no
information shall be compiled there from regarding the
purchasers or other transferees of firearms that are not
pistols, revolvers, or other firearms capable of being
concealed upon the person.
Existing law provides that in order to assist in the
investigation of crime, the prosecution of civil actions by
city attorneys, as specified, the arrest and prosecution of
criminals, and the recovery of lost, stolen, or found
property, the Attorney General shall keep and properly file
a complete record of all copies of fingerprints, copies of
licenses to carry firearms, as specified, dealers' records
of sales of firearms, and reports of stolen, lost, found,
pledged, or pawned property in any city or county of this
state, and shall, upon proper application therefore,
furnish this information to the officers referred to in
Section 11105.
Existing law provides that the Attorney General shall not,
with specified exceptions, retain or compile any
information regarding firearms that are not handguns. All
copies of the forms submitted, or any information received
in electronic form for firearms that are not handguns shall
be destroyed within five days of the clearance by the
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Attorney General, unless the purchaser or transferor is
ineligible to take possession of the firearm or retention
is necessary for use in a criminal prosecution.
Existing law provides that a peace officer, the Attorney
General, a Department of Justice employee designated by the
Attorney General, or any authorized local law enforcement
employee shall not retain or compile any information from a
firearms transaction record, as defined, for firearms that
are not handguns unless retention or compilation is
necessary for use in a criminal prosecution or in a
proceeding to revoke a license issued pursuant to Section
12071.
This bill amends the existing requirement that secondhand
dealers report daily all property purchased, taken in
trade, taken in pawn, etc., to local law enforcement to
exclude firearms from that reporting requirement and
instead requires that secondhand dealers report daily any
firearms purchased, taken in trade, taken in pawn, etc.,
directly to DOJ in a format prescribed by DOJ.
This bill provides that DOJ may retain secondhand dealer
firearm reports to determine whether a firearm taken in by
a secondhand dealer has been reported lost or stolen.
Following the return or transfer of a firearm by a
secondhand dealer, the existing provisions of law regarding
retention of these records will apply.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/4/09)
Department of Justice (source)
Peace Officers' Research Association of California
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Legal Community Against Violence
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
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Currently, secondhand dealers/pawnbrokers are exempt
from reporting firearms acquisitions directly to the
DOJ. Instead, pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers fill
out a form, which is sent to local law enforcement
agencies.
In theory, local agencies log in the information they
receive. In reality, the DOJ has found that due to
limited resources, many local law enforcement agencies
are unable to enter the firearms information into the
DOJ's Automated Firearms System. As a result
inaccurate owner information sometimes appears in the
system. This bill would require that secondhand
dealers and pawnbrokers report the acquisition of
firearms directly to the DOJ.
RJG:nl 5/4/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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