BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2460
Author: Dickinson (D)
Amended: 4/9/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 7/3/12
AYES: Hancock, Calderon, Liu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-25, 5/3/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Unsafe handguns: sale by peace officers
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill provides that a person who is exempted
from the ban on buying or selling unsafe handguns, as
specified, and who acquires a handgun that is not on the
safe handgun roster, as specified, shall not sell or
otherwise transfer ownership of the handgun to a person who
is not similarly exempted.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that the sale, loan, or
transfer of firearms in almost all cases must be processed
by, or through, a state licensed dealer or a local law
enforcement agency. (Penal (PEN) Code Sections 27540,
27545, 28050.)
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Existing law provides that commencing January 1, 2001, no
"unsafe handgun" may be manufactured or sold in California
by a licensed dealer, as specified, and requires that the
Department of Justice (DOJ) prepare and maintain a roster
of handguns which are determined not to be unsafe handguns.
Private party sales (used or previously owned) and
transfers of handguns through a licensed dealer or sheriff
in smaller counties are exempted from those restrictions.
(PEN Code Sections 27545, 32000, et seq., Section 32110.)
Existing law does the following:
Defines "unsafe handgun" as any pistol, revolver, or
other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person,
as specified, which lacks various safety mechanisms and
does not pass listed tests, as specified. (PEN Code
Section 31910.)
Requires any concealable firearm manufactured in
California, or intended to be imported for sale, kept for
sale, or offered for sale to be tested within a
reasonable period of time by an independent laboratory,
certified by the DOJ, to determine whether it meets
required safety standards, as specified. (PEN Code
Section 32010.)
Requires DOJ, on and after January 1, 2001, to compile,
publish, and thereafter maintain a roster listing all of
the pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of
being concealed upon the person that have been tested by
a certified testing laboratory, have been determined not
to be unsafe handguns, and may be sold in this state, as
specified. The roster shall list, for each firearm, the
manufacturer, model number, and model name. (PEN Code
Section 32015.)
Provides that DOJ may charge every person in California
who is licensed as a manufacturer of firearms, as
specified, and any person in California who manufactures
or causes to be manufactured, imports into California for
sale, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale any
pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person in California, an annual fee
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not exceeding the costs of preparing, publishing, and
maintaining the roster of firearms determined not to be
unsafe, and the costs of research and development, report
analysis, firearms storage, and other program
infrastructure costs, as specified. (PEN Code Section
32015.)
Existing law provides that any person in California who
manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the
state for sale, keeps for sale, offers or exposes for sale,
gives, or lends any unsafe handgun shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year. (PEN
Code Section 32000(a))
Existing law specifies that this section shall not apply to
any of the following:
The manufacture in California, or importation into this
state, of any prototype pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person when
the manufacture or importation is for the sole purpose of
allowing an independent laboratory certified by DOJ to
conduct an independent test to determine whether that
pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person is prohibited, inclusive, and,
if not, allowing the DOJ to add the firearm to the roster
of pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of
being concealed upon the person that may be sold in this.
The importation or lending of a pistol, revolver, or
other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person
by employees or authorized agents of entities determining
whether the weapon is prohibited by this section.
Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in
federal law.
The sale or purchase of any pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, if
the pistol, revolver, or other firearm is sold to, or
purchased by, the DOJ, any police department, any
sheriff's official, any marshal's office, the Youth and
Adult Correctional Agency, the California Highway Patrol,
any district attorney's office, or the military or naval
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forces of this state or of the United States for use in
the discharge of their official duties. Nor shall
anything in this section prohibit the sale to, or
purchase by, sworn members of these agencies of any
pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person. (PEN Code Section 32000(b).)
This bill provides that a person who is exempted from the
ban on buying or selling unsafe handguns, as specified, and
who acquires a handgun that is not on the safe handgun
roster, as specified, shall not sell or otherwise transfer
ownership of the handgun to a person who is not similarly
exempted.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/7/12)
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/7/12)
California Rifle and Pistol Association
National Rifle Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "AB 2460
closes a loophole in the penal code that allows ineligible
individuals to buy "unsafe handguns" from law enforcement
officers through private party transfers. This has
resulted most recently in a federal investigation into the
illegal sale of handguns and assault weapons by law
enforcement officers in Sacramento County."
The California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent
Gun Violence state:
The Brady Campaign was instrumental in the enactment of
the Safe Handgun Law, SB 15, in 1999. Under this law, a
person may not manufacture, import, sell, give or loan
new handgun models that are not listed on the roster of
safe handguns maintained by the California Department
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of Justice. For a new model to be listed on the
roster of handguns certified for sale in California,
the handgun must pass firing, safety, and drop tests
and possess certain safety features, such as a chamber
load indicator.
Most law enforcement personnel are exempt from the
requirements of SB 15. Nothing in the law, however,
specifies that an exempt person is prohibited from
transferring an unsafe handgun to a non-exempt person.
This bill would make it illegal to sell, or otherwise
transfer, an unsafe handgun to a non-exempt person.
The need for this bill became clear when it recently
came to light that some exempt persons were engaging in
the sale of unsafe handguns to persons who were not
exempt as a profit making venture. This practice
circumvents the Safe Handgun Law and puts new models of
unsafe handguns in the hands of the general public.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The National Rifle Association
states:
In Assembly Bill 2460, the proponents seek to BAN the
simple act of a Californian Law Enforcement officer
selling/ transferring a handgun that they have
purchased to use in relation to their duties.
In California, Law Enforcement officers are allowed to
purchase handguns that have not been tested by the
California Department of Justice for "safety"
qualifications. These same handguns can be owned and
sold/transferred by one civilian to another civilian
through California firearms dealers.
Assembly Bill 2460, strips from law officers, legal
right to transfer their private property to other
Californians including their own family members! There
is no provision in AB2460 for family members to inherit
handguns from a Law Enforcement family member that has
died in the line of duty or passed away after they have
retired.
California's Law Enforcement officers should have the
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same right to sell their private property as any
civilian.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-25, 5/3/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler,
Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro,
Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani,
Gatto, Gordon, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Fletcher, Furutani, Gorell,
Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Smyth, Williams
RJG:d 8/7/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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