BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1559 (Portantino) - Firearms.
Amended: June 15, 2012 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1559 would do the following:
Clarifies that permits issued by the Department of
Justice (DOJ) for the manufacture, possession, or use, as
specified, of a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled
shotgun solely as a prop for a motion picture, television,
or video production or entertainment event may allow for
the importation of these weapons for these uses.
Deletes the existing requirement for the DOJ to charge a
reduced fee for the second and subsequent handguns in a
single transaction on the same date, and effective January
1, 2014, the requirement to charge a reduced fee for any
firearm, including long-guns, in a single transaction on
the same date.
Effective January 1, 2014, provides that only one fee
shall be charged for a single transaction on the same date
and time for taking title or possession of any number of
firearms.
Fiscal Impact:
No fiscal impact to the DOJ associated with the
clarification of existing law with regard to the issuance
of permits by the DOJ.
Ongoing reduced revenue potentially in excess of $50,000
to the Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) Account (Special Fund)
due to the deletion of DOJ authority under existing law to
charge a reduced fee for multiple handgun purchases in a
single transaction.
Ongoing foregone revenue potentially in excess of
$600,000 to the DROS Account (Special Fund) after January
1, 2014, due to the restriction to only one fee charged per
firearms transaction, regardless of the number of firearms
involved in the transaction.
AB 1559 (Portantino)
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Background: Existing law provides that upon a showing that good
cause exists for the issuance of a permit to an applicant, and
if the DOJ finds that issuance of the permit does not endanger
the public safety, the DOJ may issue a permit for the
manufacture, possession, transportation, or sale of
short-barreled rifles or short-barreled shotguns. Existing law
specifies good cause to include if 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.
Under existing law, the DOJ charges a $19 DROS fee for a single
transaction involving handguns. For a single transaction on the
same date involving multiple handguns, the DOJ charges a reduced
fee of $15 for the second and subsequent firearms that are part
of that transaction.
Until January 1, 2014, existing law requires the DOJ charge only
one fee for a single transaction on the same date for the sale
of any number of firearms that are not handguns (long-guns), or
for the taking of possession of those firearms. Under existing
law, commencing January 1, 2014, the DOJ shall charge a reduced
fee for the second and subsequent firearms that are part of the
same transaction.
Proposed Law: This bill would clarify that permits issued by the
DOJ for the manufacture, possession, or use, as specified, of a
short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun solely as a prop
for a motion picture, television, or video production or
entertainment event may allow for the 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 delete the existing requirement for the DOJ to
charge a reduced fee for the second and subsequent handguns in a
single transaction on the same date, and commencing January 1,
2014, the requirement to charge a reduced fee for any firearm,
including long-guns, in a single transaction on the same date.
This bill would provide that effective January 1, 2014, only one
fee shall be charged for a single transaction on the same date
AB 1559 (Portantino)
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and time for taking title or possession of any number of
firearms.
Staff Comments: It is estimated the DOJ would incur ongoing
reduced and foregone revenue to the DROS Account of
approximately $650,000 (Special Fund) due to the restriction of
charging only one fee for a single transaction on the same date
for any number of firearms. The magnitude of reduced and
foregone revenue would be dependent on the number of single
transactions involving more than one firearm that would have
resulted in multiple fee collection under existing law. Data
from the DOJ for Fiscal Year 2011-12 indicates nearly 677,000
DROS transactions, consisting of approximately 329,000 handgun
transactions and 348,000 long-gun transactions.
Because the option to purchase multiple handguns is statutorily
limited in general to peace officers and armed security guards,
it is projected that up to one percent (3,290 transactions) of
handgun transactions involve multiple handgun purchases. Based
on data from 2011, approximately 11.5 percent (40,020
transactions) of long-gun transactions were part of multiple
long-gun purchases. By deleting the authority for the DOJ to
charge a reduced fee of $15 for multiple handgun purchases
within a single transaction, ongoing reduced revenue to the DROS
Account is estimated of $50,000 (3,290 transactions x $15) which
would have otherwise been collected under existing law.
By deleting the ability for the DOJ to charge a reduced fee for
multiple purchases within a single long-gun transaction that
would have been effective January 1, 2014, ongoing foregone
revenue to the DROS Account of approximately $600,000 (40,020
transactions x $15) in 2014 and years thereafter could result.
These estimates assume each transaction involving multiple
purchases consists of only two firearms resulting in foregone
revenue of $15 per transaction. To the extent a portion of
transactions involved more than two firearms, the level of
foregone revenue would be greater. Additionally, data is not
collected on the number of transactions that involve both a
handgun and a long-gun purchase within the same transaction in
which the DOJ would currently collect two $19 fees, which would
result in additional foregone revenue to the DROS Account.
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