BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair A
2011-2012 Regular Session B
1
5
5
AB 1559 (Portantino) 9
As Amended June 15, 2012
Hearing date: June 26, 2012
Penal Code
SM:mc
FIREARMS: PERMITS FOR IMPORTATION OF
SHORT-BARRELED SHOTGUNS
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: AB 2580 (Simitian) - Chapter 910, Statutes of
2002
Support: Unknown
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 72 - Noes 0
KEY ISSUES
SHOULD THE CURRENT LAW ALLOWING THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ)
TO ISSUE PERMITS FOR THE "MANUFACTURE, POSSESSION, OR USE WITH
BLANK CARTRIDGES OF A SHORT-BARRELED RIFLE OR SHORT-BARRELED
SHOTGUN, SOLELY AS A PROP FOR A MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION, OR
VIDEO PRODUCTION OR ENTERTAINMENT EVENT" BE CLARIFIED TO STATE
THAT SUCH PERMITS MAY INCLUDE IMPORTATION OF THESE WEAPONS FOR
(More)
AB 1559 (Portantino)
Page 2
THESE PURPOSES?
(CONTINUED)
SHOULD DOJ, BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2014, CHARGE ONLY ONE FEE FOR A
SINGLE TRANSACTION ON THE SAME DATE AND TIME FOR TAKING TITLE OR
POSSESSION OF ANY NUMBER OF FIREARMS?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to (1) amend the section allowing
for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue permits for the
"manufacture, possession, or use with blank cartridges of a
short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, solely as a prop
for a motion picture, television, or video production or
entertainment event" to clarify that these permits may allow for
importation of these weapons for these uses; and (2) provide
that, beginning January 1, 2014, only one fee shall be charged
pursuant to this article for a single transaction on the same
date and time for taking title or possession of any number of
firearms.
Current law provides that, except as expressly provided in
Sections 33215 to 33225, inclusive, and in Chapter 1 (commencing
with Section 17700) of Division 2 of Title 2, and solely in
accordance with those provisions, no person may manufacture,
import into this state, keep for sale, offer for sale, give,
lend, or possess any short-barreled rifle or short-barreled
shotgun. Nothing else in any provision listed in Section 16580
shall be construed as authorizing the manufacture, importation
into the state, keeping for sale, offering for sale, or giving,
lending, or possession of any short-barreled rifle or
short-barreled shotgun. (Penal Code � 33210.)
Current law provides that, except as provided in Sections 33220
(More)
AB 1559 (Portantino)
Page 3
and 33225 and in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17700) of
Division 2 of Title 2, any person in this state who manufactures
or causes to be manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for
sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives, lends, or
possesses any short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun is
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year or in the state prison. (Penal Code � 33215.)
Current law states that section 33215 does not apply to the
manufacture, possession, transportation, or sale of a
short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, when authorized
by the Department of Justice pursuant to Article 2 (commencing
with Section 33300) and not in violation of federal law. (Penal
Code � 33225.)
Current law states that upon a showing that good cause exists
for issuance of a permit to the applicant, and if the DOJ finds
that issuance of the permit does not endanger the public safety,
DOJ may issue a permit for the manufacture, possession,
transportation, or sale of short-barreled rifles or
short-barreled shotguns. The permit shall be initially valid
for a period of one year, and renewable annually thereafter. No
permit shall be issued to a person who is under 18 years of age.
(Penal Code � 33300(a).)
Current law specifies "good cause," for the purposes of this
section, shall be limited to only the following:
The permit is sought for the manufacture, possession, or
use with blank cartridges of a short-barreled rifle or
short-barreled shotgun, solely as a prop for a motion
picture, television, or video production or entertainment
event.
The permit is sought for the manufacture of, exposing
for sale, keeping for sale, sale of, importation or lending
of short-barreled rifles or short-barreled shotguns to the
entities by persons who are licensed as dealers or
manufacturers under the specified provisions of the United
States Code, as amended, and the regulations issued
(More)
AB 1559 (Portantino)
Page 4
pursuant thereto. (Penal Code � 33300(b).)
Current law provides:
Until January 1, 2014, only one fee shall be charged, as
specified, for a single transaction on the same date for
the sale of any number of firearms that are not handguns,
or for the taking of possession of those firearms.
In a single transaction on the same date for the
delivery of any number of firearms that are handguns, and
commencing January 1, 2014, for any firearm, the department
shall charge a reduced fee pursuant to this article for the
second and subsequent firearms that are part of that
transaction.
Only one fee shall be charged pursuant to this article
for a single transaction on the same date for taking title
or possession of any number of firearms pursuant to Section
26905 (dealer acquiring a firearm), 27870 (gift, bequest or
inter-family transfer of handgun), 27875 (gift, bequest or
inter-family transfer of long gun), 27915 (long gun, by
operation of law), 27920 (handgun by operation of law), or
27925 (by operation of law by representative). (Penal Code
� 28240.)
This bill would amend the section allowing for DOJ to issue
permits for the "manufacture, possession, or use with blank
cartridges of a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun,
solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, or video
production or entertainment event" to clarify that these permits
may allow for importation of these weapons for these uses. This
bill states that these amendments do not constitute a change in,
but are declaratory of, existing law.
This bill would provide that, beginning January 1, 2014, DOJ
shall only charge one fee for a single transaction on the same
date and time for taking title or possession of any number of
firearms.
(More)
AB 1559 (Portantino)
Page 5
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
("ROCA")
In response to the unresolved prison capacity crisis, since
early 2007 it has been the policy of the chair of the Senate
Committee on Public Safety and the Senate President pro Tem to
hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate prison
overcrowding through new or expanded felony prosecutions. Under
the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which stands for
"Receivership/Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the Committee
has held measures which create a new felony, expand the scope or
penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increase the
application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate the
prison overcrowding crisis by expanding the availability or
length of prison terms (such as extending the statute of
limitations for felonies or constricting statutory parole
standards). In addition, proposed expansions to the
classification of felonies enacted last year by AB 109 (the 2011
Public Safety Realignment) which may be punishable in jail and
not prison (Penal Code section 1170(h)) would be subject to ROCA
because an offender's criminal record could make the offender
ineligible for jail and therefore subject to state prison.
Under these principles, ROCA has been applied as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress towards reducing prison
overcrowding by passing legislation which could increase the
prison population. ROCA will continue until prison overcrowding
is resolved.
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation.
On June 30, 2005, in a class action lawsuit filed four years
earlier, the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California established a Receivership to take
control of the delivery of medical services to all California
state prisoners confined by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"). In December of 2006,
plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against CDCR sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
(More)
AB 1559 (Portantino)
Page 6
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
three-judge federal panel issued an order requiring California
to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design
capacity -- a reduction at that time of roughly 40,000 inmates
-- within two years. The court stayed implementation of its
ruling pending the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On May 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court upheld the
decision of the three-judge panel in its entirety, giving
California two years from the date of its ruling to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, subject
to the right of the state to seek modifications in appropriate
circumstances. Design capacity is the number of inmates a
prison can house based on one inmate per cell, single-level
bunks in dormitories, and no beds in places not designed for
housing. Current design capacity in CDCR's 33 institutions is
79,650.
On January 6, 2012, CDCR announced that California had cut
prison overcrowding by more than 11,000 inmates over the last
six months, a reduction largely accomplished by the passage of
Assembly Bill 109. Under the prisoner-reduction order, the
inmate population in California's 33 prisons must be no more
than the following:
167 percent of design capacity by December 27, 2011
(133,016 inmates);
155 percent by June 27, 2012;
147 percent by December 27, 2012; and
137.5 percent by June 27, 2013.
This bill does not aggravate the prison overcrowding crisis
described above under ROCA.
(More)
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
AB 1559 allows for the importation of short barreled
rifles and short barreled shotguns for use as a prop
for a motion picture, television or video production
when the DOJ issues a permit for finding good cause.
For a variety of reasons the entertainment industry
has been leaving the state of California in recent
years to film and produce in other states. This
measure is needed by the entertainment industry to
ensure that they do not run into trouble with the
labyrinth of laws that regulate gun ownership and gun
possession in California.
This measure will allow film and television production
companies the ability to legally import firearms for
use in their activities. We have been working with
the Department of Justice and will continue to do so
to make sure that safe and responsible gun laws are
enacted in California.
The language to be added by amendment basically states
that, beginning January 1, 2014, the DOJ will only
charge one DROS fee for all firearms purchased on the
same date and time.
DOJ can currently charge $25.00 for a handgun and $25
for all of the additional long guns that are purchased
together. Most folks can only buy one handgun every
thirty days. The reasoning behind charging more than
one fee was that handgun information and long gun
information had to be manually entered in a different
manner. But, with technological advancements and
upgrades that the DOJ is doing to �their] system for
(More)
AB 1559 (Portantino)
Page 8
long gun record retention in 2014, everything will be
done electronically, so it makes sense to only charge
the one fee.
2. What This Bill Will Do
This bill will clarify that current law allowing DOJ to issue
permits for manufacture, possession, or use with blank
cartridges of a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun,
solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, or video
production or entertainment event, also authorizes DOJ to issue
permits to import such weapons for these specified purposes.
When more than one handgun is delivered in a single transaction
on the same date, current law allows DOJ to charge a single fee
for the first handgun and a reduced fee for the rest of the
handguns involved in the transaction. This bill also provides
that, as of January 1, 2014, DOJ will no longer be allowed to
charge more than a single fee in such transactions. DOJ
explains that the additional fees for multiple firearms
delivered in the same transaction are no longer necessary due to
computer upgrades that will be in effect on January 1, 2014.
***************