Amended in Senate June 5, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 10, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2220

Introduced by Assembly Member Daly

February 20, 2014

An act to amend Sections 7583.32 and 7583.40 of, and to repeal and add Section 7583.39 of, the Business and Professions Code, begin insert and to amend Section 28235 of, and to add Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 28010) to Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6 of, the Penal Code, end insert relating to private security services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2220, as amended, Daly. Private security services: private patrol operators.

The Private Security Services Act provides for the licensure and regulation of private patrol operators by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services in the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act requires a private patrol operator employing a security guard who carries a firearm to maintain an insurance policy that provides minimum limits of insurance of $500,000 for any one loss due to bodily injury or death and $500,000 for any one loss due to injury or destruction of property.

This bill would instead require the bureau to require a private patrol operator or applicant for licensure, as a condition precedent to licensure or continued licensure, to file or have on file with the bureau an insurance policy that provides minimum limits of insurance of $1,000,000 for any one loss due to bodily injury or death and $1,000,000 for any one loss due to injury or destruction of property as well as a certificate of workers’ compensation coverage for its employees issued by an admitted insurer.

The act requires a private patrol operator licensee, qualified manager of a licensee, or security guard who, in the course of his or her employment, may be required to carry a firearm begin insert , end insert to satisfy specified requirements prior to carrying a firearm, including the completion of a course of training in the carrying and use of firearms. Existing law exempts from this requirement a duly appointed peace officer, as defined begin insert , who has successfully completed a course of study in the use of firearms end insert . The act prohibits the bureau from renewing an expired firearms qualification card unless begin insert , among other requirements, end insert the applicant has requalified on the range and successfully passed a written examination, as specified.

This bill would exempt a duly appointed peace officer, as defined, from the requirements of requalifying on the range and passing the written examination.

begin insert

Existing law generally requires a transfer of a firearm to be conducted by a firearms dealer, and requires specified information about the purchaser and the firearm in the transaction to be submitted to the Department of Justice. The department has created a form for this purpose known as the Dealers’ Record of Sale form or DROS form. Existing law authorizes the department to charge a fee for the costs associated with the submission of the DROS form. Existing law does not authorize a business entity to own or register a firearm.

end insert begin insert

This bill would establish procedures allowing a Private Patrol Operator (PPO) business entity to be the legal and registered owner of a firearm. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature, and express the intent of the Legislature in connection with these procedures. The bill would direct the Department of Justice to modify the DROS form and create a certificate of assignment (COA), and to charge a reasonable fee for the filing and processing of the COA for these purposes and for enforcement of these provisions. Among other things, the bill would allow a security guard to be assigned a firearm by the PPO through a COA, as specified, and for a firearm custodian to be designated by the PPO. The bill would require submission to the Department of Justice of information pertaining to the ownership of a firearm by a PPO, the assignment of a firearm by a PPO, and the identity of a PPO firearms custodian, as specified. The bill would provide that an assignment of a firearm by a PPO to a security guard employee for purposes of employment duties would not constitute a loan, sale, or transfer of a firearm. The bill would require a security guard, upon request by the PPO, or upon separation of employment or revocation of the security guard’s firearm qualification card, and within 48 hours, to return the assigned firearm to the PPO. The bill would provide that the failure of a security guard to return an assigned firearm as required would be a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end insert begin insert

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end insert begin insert

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 7583.32 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:

7583.32.  

(a) A firearms qualification card expires two years
from the date of issuance, if not renewed. A person who wishes
to renew a firearms qualification card shall file an application for
renewal at least 60 days prior to the card’s expiration. A person
whose card has expired shall not carry a firearm until he or she
has been issued a renewal card by the bureau.

(b) The bureau shall not renew a firearms qualification card
unless all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) The cardholder has filed with the bureau a completed
application for renewal of a firearms qualification card, on a form
prescribed by the director, dated and signed by the applicant under
penalty of perjury certifying that the information on the application
is true and correct.

(2) The applicant has requalified on the range and has
successfully passed a written examination based on course content
as specified in the firearms training manual approved by the
department and taught at a training facility approved by the bureau.

(3) The application is accompanied by a firearms requalification
fee as prescribed in this chapter.

(4) The applicant has produced evidence to the firearm training
facility, either upon receiving his or her original qualification card
or upon filing for renewal of that card, that he or she is a citizen
of the United States or has permanent legal alien status in the
United States. Evidence of citizenship or permanent legal alien
status is that deemed sufficient by the bureau to ensure compliance
with federal laws prohibiting possession of firearms by persons
unlawfully in the United States and may include, but not be limited
to, Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service
Form I-151 or I-551, Alien Registration Receipt Card,
naturalization documents, or birth certificates evidencing lawful
residence or status in the United States.

(c) An expired firearms qualification card may not be renewed.
A person with an expired registration is required to apply for a
new firearms qualification in the manner required of persons not
previously registered. A person whose card has expired shall not
carry a firearm until he or she has been issued a new firearms
qualification card by the bureau.

(d) Paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall not apply to a duly
appointed peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing
with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.

SEC. 2.  

Section 7583.39 of the Business and Professions Code
is repealed.

SEC. 3.  

Section 7583.39 is added to the Business and
Professions Code, to read:

7583.39.  

The bureau shall require, as a condition precedent to
the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, renewal, or continued
maintenance of a license, that the applicant or licensee file or have
on file with the bureau the following:

(a) An insurance policy, as defined in Section 7583.40.

(b) A certificate of workers’ compensation coverage for its
employees issued by an admitted insurer.

SEC. 4.  

Section 7583.40 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:

7583.40.  

“Insurance policy,” as used in this article, means a
contract of liability insurance issued by an insurance company
authorized to transact business in this state that provides minimum
limits of insurance of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for any one
loss due to bodily injury or death and one million dollars
($1,000,000) for any one loss due to injury or destruction of
property.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 5. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 28010) is added
to Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Chapter   begin insert 4.1. end insert Registration and Assignment of Firearms
by Private Patrol Operators

 

begin insert 28010. end insert   

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that current
practices and statutes authorize the purchase, registration, and
ownership of firearms by an individual, but not by a business entity.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to
allow business ownership and registration of firearms in the case
of licensed Private Patrol Operators (PPOs) who are actively
providing armed private contract security services. It is further
the intent of the Legislature to establish procedures whereby a
PPO may assign firearms it owns to its employees who are licensed
to carry firearms and that assignment of a firearm by a PPO to
that employee would not constitute a loan, sale, or transfer of a
firearm.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to require notification of
the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services any time a
security guard is listed on the Prohibited Armed Persons File so
that the bureau may proceed with appropriate action regarding
the licensing of the employee.

(d) For purposes of this chapter, “private patrol operator” or
“PPO” means a private patrol operator licensed pursuant to
Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7580) of Division 3 of the
Business and Professions Code.

(e) For purposes of this chapter, “bureau” means the Bureau
of Security and Investigative Services within the Department of
Consumer Affairs.

(f) For purposes of this chapter, “department” means the
Department of Justice.

begin insert 28012. end insert   

(a) A PPO may be the legal and registered owner of
a firearm.

(b) The department shall modify the department’s Dealers’
Record of Sale (DROS) form to allow a PPO to be listed as the
purchaser and legal owner of a firearm. The form shall also require
the PPO to identify its type of business formation and to include
any tax identification number or other identifying number of the
PPO that may be required by the department.

(c) (1) The department shall modify the department’s DROS
form to require the PPO to designate a “firearms custodian” for
the firearm owned by the PPO that is listed in the DROS. A
firearms custodian shall possess a valid firearms qualification
permit issued by the Department of Consumer Affairs. A firearm
shall not be assigned by a PPO pursuant to this chapter if the PPO
does not have a designated firearms custodian for the firearm. A
firearms custodian is responsible for the tracking, safekeeping,
and inventory of those firearms of the PPO for which the custodian
is designated, and shall serve as a point of contact for the
department regarding the firearms for which the custodian is
designated.

(2) If a firearms custodian ceases to be employed by the PPO,
or otherwise becomes ineligible to be the firearms custodian, the
PPO shall notify the department of that fact, in a manner
prescribed by the department, and the PPO shall designate a
replacement firearms custodian within 30 days of that notice.

(d) A security guard shall possess a valid firearm qualification
permit prior to receiving a firearm from a PPO pursuant to a
Certificate of Assignment (COA). A firearm shall only be assigned
by a PPO to a security guard who is assigned to work at an account
of the PPO that requires the security guard to be armed.

(e) (1) The department shall prescribe a “Certificate of
Assignment” or “COA.” The COA shall contain the same fields
as the DROS form, and shall be used to identify the employee of
the PPO who has been assigned a firearm by the PPO pursuant
to this chapter.

(2) Upon the PPO assigning a firearm to an employee who is
a security guard licensed pursuant to Chapter 11.5 (commencing
with Section 7580) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions
Code, the licensed security guard shall complete the COA, and
the PPO shall file the COA with the department in a timely manner
as prescribed by the department.

(f) The department shall cause the information contained on
the COA to be entered into the Automated Firearms System in a
timely manner.

(g) If a security guard becomes listed on the Prohibited Armed
Persons File, the department shall immediately notify the bureau
of the listing by secured electronic delivery. Upon that notification,
the bureau shall take appropriate action regarding the security
guard and, if necessary, the PPO. In addition, the department shall
notify the PPO, in the manner the department deems appropriate,
that the PPO employee is prohibited from being armed. This
chapter does not prohibit the department from also notifying the
bureau if a security guard has been arrested and charged with an
offense that, upon conviction, would constitute a basis for
revocation of a firearms qualification permit or security guard
registration.

begin insert 28014. end insert   

The department shall charge a fee not to exceed the
reasonable costs to the department for filing and processing a
COA, and for the costs incurred in enforcing this chapter,
including, but not limited to, entering information obtained
pursuant to this chapter into the Automated Firearms System and
other databases as deemed necessary by the department. The fee
shall be deposited in the Dealers’ Record of Sale Special Account.

begin insert 28016. end insert   

If the PPO ceases to do business, ceases to possess a
valid PPO license as determined by the Director of Consumer
Affairs, ceases as a business entity, or changes its type of business
formation, the PPO shall, within 30 days and unless otherwise
prohibited by law, complete new DROS forms for all PPO-owned
firearms and transfer those firearms to a new owner.

begin insert 28018. end insert   

Notwithstanding any other law, an assignment of a
firearm pursuant to this chapter shall not constitute a loan, sale,
or transfer of a firearm.

begin insert 28020. end insert   

(a) Within 48 hours of the PPO’s request, for any
reason, or within 48 hours of separation of employment or
revocation of the firearm qualification card, the security guard
shall return to the PPO the firearm owned by the PPO and listed
on a COA.

(b) The failure of a security guard to comply with subdivision
(a) is a misdemeanor.

(c) This chapter does not limit the right of a licensed security
guard to use, possess, or otherwise lawfully carry a firearm owned
by that licensed security guard.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 6. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 28235 of the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

28235.  

All money received by the department pursuant to this
article shall be deposited in the Dealers’ Record of Sale Special
Account of the General Fund, which is hereby created, to be
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for expenditure
by the department to offset the costs incurred pursuant to any of
the following:

(a) This article.

(b) Section 18910.

(c) Section 27555.

(d) Subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 27560.

begin insert

(e) Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 28010).

end insert begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  Article 6 (commencing with Section 28450).

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  Section 31110.

begin delete

(g)

end delete

begin insert (h) end insert  Section 31115.

begin delete

(h)

end delete

begin insert (i) end insert  Subdivision (a) of Section 32020.

begin delete

(i)

end delete

begin insert (j) end insert  Section 32670.

begin delete

(j)

end delete

begin insert (k) end insert  Section 33320.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 7. end insert   

end insert begin insert

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

end insert