BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1559|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1559
Author: Portantino (D)
Amended: 6/15/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/26/12
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Calderon, Harman, Liu, Price,
Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/16/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Dutton
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/3/12 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Firearms
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill (1) 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, (2) 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
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reduced fee for any firearm, including long-guns, in a
single transaction on the same date, and (3) 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.
ANALYSIS : Existing 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.)
Existing law provides that, except as provided in Sections
33220 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.)
Existing 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.)
Existing 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,
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and renewable annually thereafter. No permit shall be
issued to a person who is under 18 years of age. (Penal
Code � 33300(a).)
Existing 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 pursuant thereto. (Penal Code � 33300(b).)
Existing 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.)
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This bill amends 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 provides 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
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.
Comments
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
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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
long gun record retention in 2014, everything will be
done electronically, so it makes sense to only charge
the one fee.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/3/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley,
Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter,
Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
Jeffries, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
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Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Fletcher, Furutani, Hall, Roger
Hern�ndez, Jones, Smyth, Williams
RJG:n 8/20/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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