BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 449|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 449
Author: Padilla (D), et al
Amended: 8/24/09
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
SENATE FLOOR : 38-0, 5/14/09
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete
McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Runner,
Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Walters, Wiggins, Wolk,
Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 8/27/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Firearms: reports by pawnbrokers and
secondhand dealers
SOURCE : Department of Justice
DIGEST : This bill removes the requirement that
CONTINUED
SB 449
Page
2
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.
Assembly Amendments : (1) switches to the system of direct
reporting on July 1, 2010, (2) incorporates the "either or"
reporting provisions on second hand dealers provisions
contained in SB 41 as it passed the Senate on June 1, 2009
to avoid an unintended $19.00 fee on secondhand dealers,
(3) provides that as of July 1, 2010, all information in
the secondhand dealer report, for each firearm acquired,
shall be electronically provided by the DOJ to the secure
mailbox of the local law enforcement agency in the
jurisdiction where the secondhand dealer is located within
one working day of receipt by DOJ, (4) makes numerous
conforming and cross-referencing changes to accommodate the
system of direct reporting contemplated by this bill, (5)
incorporates into the bill the provisions of AB 158
(Mendoza), Chapter 86, Statutes of 2009, to avoid a
chaptering issue, and (6) incorporates chaptering
amendments to avoid chaptering issues with AB 99 (DeLeon)
which is on Senate Third Reading File.
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.
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:
1.The name and current address and identification of the
SB 449
Page
3
intended seller or pledgor of the property;
2.A complete and reasonably accurate description of
serialized or nonserialized property;
3.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
4.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.
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.
SB 449
Page
4
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
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.
SB 449
Page
5
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 8/27/09)
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:
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
SB 449
Page
6
system. This bill would require that secondhand
dealers and pawnbrokers report the acquisition of
firearms directly to the DOJ.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Evans, Fuentes, Hall, Saldana, Bass
RJG:nl 8/27/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****