BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2460
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 25, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   AB 2460 (Dickinson) - As Amended:  April 9, 2012

          Policy Committee:                              Public 
          SafetyVote:  4-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:               No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill specifies that the Department of Justice (DOJ), police 
          departments, sheriffs' officials, marshals' offices, the 
          Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California 
          Highway Patrol, district attorneys' offices, and military forces 
          of the state or nation may not sell or transfer ownership of an 
          unsafe handgun to any entity or person not otherwise exempted 
          from possession of an unsafe handgun.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Unknown, likely minor, nonreimbursable local law enforcement 
          costs to the extent anyone is convicted of this proposed 
          misdemeanor offense, which is consistent with current law.    

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . The author contends that because current law does 
            not explicitly prohibit the sale or transfer of an unsafe 
            handgun from law enforcement or military personnel to non-law 
            enforcement or non-military personnel, this creates a 
            potential loophole. 

           2)The need for this bill is not clear  , as state law prohibits 
            the sale or transfer of an unsafe handgun, except in specified 
            circumstances, which include sales to law enforcement and 
            military personnel. Current law, however, does not exempt sale 
            or transfer by law enforcement or military personnel to 
            non-law enforcement or non-military personnel.

           3)Unsafe handguns  .  SB 15 (Polanco), Statutes of 1999, made it a 








                                                                  AB 2460
                                                                  Page  2

            misdemeanor for any person to manufacture, import for sale, 
            offer for sale, give, or lend any unsafe handgun, as defined, 
            with certain specific exceptions.  SB 15 defined an unsafe 
            handgun as one that a) does not have a requisite safety 
            device; b) does not meet specified firing tests; and c) does 
            not meet a specified drop safety test.




           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081