BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SJR 10|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SJR 10
Author: De León (D), et al.
Amended: 4/30/12
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 1/10/12
AYES: Hancock, Liu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson, Harman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon
SENATE FLOOR : 21-15, 2/2/12
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Corbett, De León, DeSaulnier,
Evans, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Leno, Lieu, Lowenthal,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Simitian,
Steinberg, Vargas, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Cannella, Correa,
Dutton, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Harman, Huff, La Malfa,
Strickland, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Rubio, Runner, Wright
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-26, 8/9/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Firearms trafficking
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution urges the President and the
Congress of the United States to pursue a comprehensive
approach to stem the trafficking of illicit United States
firearms and ammunition into Mexico, as specified.
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Assembly Amendments add coauthors and make technical
changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law requires arms exports to
be licensed by the federal government under the Arms Export
Control Act.
Existing federal law states that it is unlawful for any
person (other than a licensed importer, licensed
manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector) to
transfer, sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver any
firearm to any person (other than a licensed importer,
licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed
collector) who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause
to believe does not reside in (or if the person is a
corporation or other business entity, does not maintain a
place of business in) the State in which the transferor
resides, except as specified.
Existing federal law states that whoever fraudulently or
knowingly exports or sends from the United States, or
attempts to export or send from the United States, any
merchandise, article, or object contrary to any law or
regulation of the United States, or receives, conceals,
buys, sells, or in any manner facilitates the
transportation, concealment, or sale of such merchandise,
article or object, prior to exportation, knowing the same
to be intended for exportation contrary to any law or
regulation of the United States, shall be fined under this
title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
Existing California law regulates the manufacture, sale,
and possession of firearms and ammunition in the State of
California and requires that all transfers of firearms take
place by or through a licensed firearms dealer, except as
specified.
This resolution makes numerous findings and declarations
relating to firearm and ammunition trafficking including:
1.In a report by the United States Government
Accountability Office, United States officials note that
violence associated with Mexican drug trafficking
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organizations poses a serious challenge for United States
law enforcement, and given the increased level of
criminal activity in the southwestern United States,
violence threatens the safety of citizens on both sides
of the border.
2.In May 2010, the Mexican government stated out of the
75,000 illegal firearms seized by Mexican authorities in
the last three years, about 80 percent, 60,000 firearms,
originated in the United States.
3.The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF), as of May 2010, has processed 69,808
firearm trace requests from Mexico, and, it appears that
a majority of these firearms have a nexus to the United
States.
4.The ATF reports that 87 percent of firearms seized by
Mexican authorities and traced over the last five years
originated in the United States. Approximately 68
percent of these illegal firearms were manufactured in
the United States, and approximately 19 percent were
manufactured in other countries and then imported into
the United States before being trafficked into Mexico.
5.In addition to the trafficking of firearms, the illicit
trafficking of ammunition is fueling the proliferation of
gun violence along the United States-Mexico border, as
Mexican drug trafficking organizations have virtually
unfettered access to ammunition from the United States.
6.According to ATF, between the years 2006 and 2011, over
1.2 million rounds of ammunition believed to be destined
for Mexico were seized during the course of
ATF-instigated investigations or joint investigations
originating in California, Arizona, Texas, and New
Mexico. During this timeframe, 527,809 rounds of
ammunition were confiscated by the ATF's Los Angeles
Field Division, 14,154 rounds were confiscated by the San
Francisco Field Division, 196,450 rounds were confiscated
by the Phoenix Field Division, 380,001 rounds were
confiscated by the Houston Field Division, and 123,300
rounds were confiscated by the Dallas Field Division.
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7.In July 2011, the United States Department of Justice
announced a new federal policy that would require all
United States gun stores in southwest border states to
submit a report to the ATF when an individual purchases
two or more rifles, including assault rifles, within five
business days.
This resolution urges the President and the Congress of the
United States to pursue a comprehensive approach to stem
the trafficking of illicit United States firearms and
ammunition into Mexico, that includes as its centerpiece
enhanced collaboration among local, state, and federal law
enforcement agencies to coordinate the interdiction of
illegal firearms and ammunition trafficking and the
implementation of associated border security policies and
operations in an integrated manner, the allocation of a
permanent source of federal funding to sustain local and
state law enforcement operations to combat firearms
trafficking and other border-related crimes, the
redirection of the ATF, United States Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, and United States Customs and Border
Protection resources towards this effort, reenactment of a
strong federal assault weapons ban, along with a ban on
high-capacity ammunition magazines, stronger federal
authority to crack down on corrupt gun dealers, extending
Brady criminal background checks to all gun sales,
including all sales at gun shows to prevent firearms
trafficking, and the maintenance of firearm purchase
records to help law enforcement track down armed criminals
and solve gun crimes.
Comments
In June 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office
found:
Available evidence indicates a large proportion of the
firearms fueling Mexican drug violence originated in
the United States, including a growing number of
increasingly lethal weapons. While it is impossible
to know how many firearms are illegally trafficked
into Mexico in a given year, around 87 percent of
firearms seized by Mexican authorities and traced over
the past 5 years originated in the United States,
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according to data from ATF. Around 68 percent of
these firearms were manufactured in the United States,
and around 19 percent were manufactured in third
countries and imported into the United States before
being trafficked into Mexico. According to U.S. and
Mexican government officials, these firearms have been
increasingly more powerful and lethal in recent years.
For example, many of these firearms are high-caliber
and high-powered, such as AK and AR-15 type
semiautomatic rifles. Many of these firearms come
from gun shops and gun shows in Southwest border
states such as Texas, California, and Arizona,
according to ATF officials and trace data. U.S. and
Mexican government and law enforcement officials
stated most guns trafficked to Mexico are intended to
support operations of Mexican DTOs, which are also
responsible for trafficking arms to Mexico. (FIREARMS
TRAFFICKING - U.S. Efforts to Combat Arms Trafficking
to Mexico Face Planning and Coordination Challenges,
United States Government Accountability Office, Report
to Congressional Requesters, No. 09-709, June 2009.)
According to a paper released by the Mexico Institute at
the Woodrow Wilson Center in April of 2011:
Despite an increase in brutal Ýorganized crime
groups'] tactics and some new efforts by the U.S. and
Mexican government, both governments have either moved
slowly or failed to act on key previously identified
challenges to more effectively address U.S. firearms
trafficking to Mexico. The Mexican government, for
example, has yet to significantly improve the quality,
quantity, and timeliness of its firearm trace requests
to the United States, which are key to helping ATF
develop firearms trafficking trends and discover
individuals involved in such trafficking. While ATF
has some information on firearms recovered in Mexico,
a total of 69,808 firearms as of May 2010, ATF agents
say they can use only about eight percent of Mexico's
firearm trace requests to initiate investigations, in
part because many of the trace requests lack basic
identification data and were purchased in the United
States more than five years ago. The U.S. government
also faces substantial challenges, particularly in
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identifying firearms traffickers and persuading U.S.
Attorneys to accept more criminal cases related to
firearms trafficking to Mexico. Perhaps the most
worrying from the Mexican government's point of view,
however, is ATF's Fast and Furious Operation based out
of Phoenix, Arizona, which reportedly allowed hundreds
of firearms to be sold to potentially known
traffickers as a way to build more attractive cases
for U.S. Attorneys and ATF did not notify Mexican
authorities. (Goodman, Update on U.S. Firearms
Trafficking to Mexico Report, Woodrow Wilson Center
for International Scholars, April 2011.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/10/12)
Asociacion Retalteca
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence-California Chapters
California-Mexico Project (CSU Long Beach Chicano and
Latino Studies
Department)
Casa De La Cultura Maya
Central American Resource Center
Council of Mexican Federations
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Global Exchange
Hermandad Mexicana Nacional
Hondurenos Unidos de Los Angeles
Legal Community Against Violence
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Sonora USA
Union de Guatemaltecos Emigrantes
Union de Poblanos en el Exterior
United Job Creation Council
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/10/12)
California Rifle and Pistol Association
National Rifle Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
Drug trafficking organizations along the U.S.-Mexico
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border have been terrorizing citizens and law
enforcement in both countries, and this violence is
being fueled by what the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) describes as an
"iron river of guns" -- the flow of thousands of
illegal U.S. firearms into Mexico.
SJR 10 draws attention to this problem, and urges the
President and U.S. Congress to pursue a comprehensive
approach in combating this growing epidemic that
includes: enhanced collaboration among local, state,
and federal law enforcement agencies; the allocation
of a permanent federal funding source to sustain local
and state law enforcement operations; the redirection
of existing ATF, Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
and Customs and Border Protection resources towards
this effort; reenactment of a strong federal assault
weapons ban, along with a ban on high-capacity
ammunition magazines; stronger federal authority to
crack down on corrupt gun dealers; extending Brady
criminal background checks to all gun sales, including
all sales at gun shows to prevent firearms
trafficking; and the maintenance of firearm purchase
records to help law enforcement track down armed
criminals and solve gun crimes.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-26, 08/09/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall,
Hayashi, Hill, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
Pérez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao,
Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Huber, Norby
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RJG:n 8/10/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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