BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2220|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2220
Author: Daly (D)
Amended: 8/21/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMM. : 8-0, 6/16/14
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Block, Corbett, Galgiani, Hill,
Torres
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hernandez
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Private security services: private patrol operators
SOURCE : California Association of Licensed Security
Agencies, Guards and Associates
DIGEST : This bill authorizes, effective July 1, 2016, a
licensed Private Patrol Operator (PPO), as defined, to be the
registered owner of a firearm, and establishes procedures for a
PPO to assign its firearms to its employees who are licensed to
carry firearms; and requires, as a condition of licensure, a PPO
to have on file with the Bureau of Security and Investigative
Services (BSIS) a liability insurance policy, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/21/14 specify additional insurance
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requirements; and make clarifying and technical changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Licenses and regulates PPOs and their employees through
BSIS.
2. Requires a PPO to carry a $500,000 insurance policy only if
it employs armed guards.
3. Exempts a peace officer, as defined in the Penal Code, which
has successfully completed a course of study in the use of
firearms, from the additional training required for
licensees.
4. Requires a licensee to retake a firearms training course
when renewing a firearms qualification card. There is no
exemption for peace officers.
5. Regulates the ownership and transfer of firearms, but does
not authorize business entities to own or register firearms.
This bill authorizes, effective July 1, 2016, a licensed PPO to
be the registered owner of a firearm, if the PPO is registered
with the Department of Justice (DOJ); and establishes procedures
for PPOs to assign its firearms to its employees who are
licensed to carry firearms. Specifically, this bill:
1. Defines PPO as a private patrol operator licensed pursuant
to Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 7580 et seq.
whose license is not suspended, revoked, expired, inactive,
delinquent, or canceled; and defines "security guard" as a
security guard registered pursuant to BPC Section 7580 et
seq. whose registration is not suspended, revoked, expired,
inactive, delinquent, or canceled.
2. Requires DOJ to modify the Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS)
form to record the PPO as the purchaser and registered owner
of the firearm.
3. Requires DOJ to modify the DROS form to require the PPO to
designate a "firearms custodian" for the firearm owned by the
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PPO. The firearms custodian shall possess a valid firearm
qualification permit issued by BSIS. Requires the PPO to
notify DOJ if the firearms custodian is no longer employed by
the PPO within seven days and notify DOJ, within 20 days of
the original notice, of the designated replacement firearms
custodian.
4. Requires DOJ to prescribe a Certificate of Assignment (COA).
The COA may include fields that are in the DROS form and
will be used to identify the PPO employee assigned to a
PPO-owned firearm.
5. Requires security guards who receive a firearm pursuant to a
COA to possess a valid firearm qualification permit issued by
BSIS. Requires PPO firearms acquired prior to July 1, 2016,
to be registered, as specified.
6. Authorizes DOJ to charge reasonable fees for the
implementation of this program to the PPOs and deposit those
fees in the DROS account.
7. Requires the PPO to complete, and timely file with DOJ, a
COA indicating the firearm is no longer assigned to the
employee and that the firearm is in the PPO's possession,
upon the termination of employment that requires the security
guard to be armed and the transfer of the firearm from the
security guard back to the PPO.
8. Authorizes fees collected and deposited into the DROS
account to be used for expenditure by DOJ, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, for the purposes of this bill.
9. Requires that if the PPO loses its license (that is not
suspended, revoked, expired, inactive, delinquent, or
canceled) or goes out of business, the PPO must, within 30
days and unless otherwise prohibited by law, lawfully sell or
transfer all PPO-owned firearms.
10.Requires a PPO to notify DOJ of the sale or transfer of a
PPO-owned firearm within five business days, as specified.
11.Requires that a security guard shall, within 48 hours of the
PPO's request, for any reason, or within 48 hours of
separation of employment or revocation of the firearm
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qualification card, return to the PPO the firearm owned by
the PPO; and requires the PPO to notify BSIS of noncompliance
of these provisions by the security guard, as specified.
12.Includes codified legislative findings and declarations.
13.Revises the coverage amount PPOs are required to maintain as
a condition of licensure that provides minimum limits of
insurance of $1 million for any one loss or occurrence due
to bodily injury, including death, or property damage, or
both.
14.Requires PPOs to keep a copy of the insurance policy on file
with the BSIS as a condition of licensure; and provides that
failure to maintain sufficient insurance or failure to
provide proof of the insurance policy will result in
automatic suspension of the license.
15.Provides that a duly appointed peace officer authorized to
carry a firearm in the course of their duties and who has
completed requalification training is exempt from the
requirements of requalifying on the range and passing the
written examination for the purposes of renewing a firearms
qualification card, as specified.
16.Authorizes the Director of the Department of Consumer
Affairs to assess an administrative fine of up to $1,000
against a PPO or a security guard for violations of the
bill's provisions and deposit it in the Private Security
Services Fund.
Background
PPOs (private security companies) are licensed and regulated by
BSIS. Possession and use of firearms by PPO employees (security
guards) is specifically regulated. Under existing law,
companies are not authorized to be the legal owner of a firearm
(with the exception of assault weapons), and it has been
indicated that PPOs are utilizing the existing provisions of law
that allow for firearms to be infrequently loaned to a person
known to the owner, as a means of providing firearms to
employees.
Pursuant to Penal Code Section 27880, firearms may be loaned
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between persons who are personally known to each other subject
to specified requirements including that the loan must be for a
lawful purpose, the loan must not exceed 30 days, the individual
being loaned the firearm must have a valid handgun safety
certificate (if the firearm is a handgun), and the loan is
infrequent, meaning less than six transactions per calendar year
for handguns. To the extent PPOs are switching firearms every
30 days between firearm-certified employees is not only
administratively burdensome but also potentially not in the best
interests of public safety.
Comments
According to the author's office, one of the purposes of this
bill is to protect clients and the public by requiring an
adequate amount of insurance. According to the author's office,
this bill will also eliminate a discrepancy between the training
requirements for peace officers during initial applications and
renewals.
Lastly, this bill will also allow PPOs to own and issue firearms
to their employees, eliminating the need for the use of a loan
loophole.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs to DOJ of about $1 million (Special Fund*) to
enhance the registration database and update forms to
accommodate the new fields for PPO designation, offset by an
undetermined level of fee revenue.
Ongoing workload to the DOJ Bureau of Firearms of about
$500,000 (Special Fund*) for investigations, inspections, and
the processing of forms, offset by the authority to charge
fees.
Ongoing costs of less than $150,000 (Special Fund**) to DCA
for enforcement of the insurance requirements and the
registration process for assigning firearms. DCA
investigations would be initiated based on complaint
allegations of uninsured PPO operations, and ongoing workload
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resulting from inspections for compliance by PPOs. Costs will
be offset in minor part by citation revenue of less than
$10,000 annually.
Likely minor non-reimbursable local enforcement costs offset
to a degree by fine revenue for misdemeanor violations by
security guards for failure to return an assigned firearm as
required under the provisions of this bill.
* DROS Special Account (the DROS Special Account is operating at
a structural deficit with a projected 2014-15 year-end balance
of $1.3 million.)
**Private Security Services Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/14)
California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards
and Associates (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : In sponsoring the bill, the California
Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates
writes:
We believe these changes continue the outstanding and
nationally recognized security guard industry in California by
adding greater public and consumer protection and assist our
state regulatory agency, the Bureau of Security &
investigative Services, in their effort to curb unlicensed
activity.
AB 2220 will allow Private Patrol Operators to be the Legal
Owner of a firearm and assign that firearm to a qualified
employee. To be armed, the employee will also be required to
possess a valid Guard Card, a Firearm Qualification Card, and
a Handgun Safety Certificate prior to being issued a
Certificate of Assignment for the firearm. The employee will
then effectively be the weapon's Registered "Assigned" Owner.
Under AB 2220, the assignment of a weapon from a registered
company to a designated employee would not constitute a loan,
sale or transfer of the weapon. Companies will be required to
fill out a Dealers' Record of Sale (DROS) for the purchase and
initial registration of the weapon and, with the required
Department of Justice's (DOJ) modifications to the DROS, will
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also include the information for the assigned employee. These
changes to the DROS and additional processing on behalf of the
DOJ will be mitigated by imposing a reasonable fee for
enforcement. Private Patrol Operators will still be required
to have a firearms custodian.
Under current law, having a company's weapon cache registered
to one designated weapon's custodian presents an array of
issues if and when that employee chooses to leave their
employment with the company. This bill will mitigate these
issues and allow for a company to consistently keep their
weapons cache registered under the company name, assigning the
firearm on a need-be basis to qualified employees. The use of
a Legal Owner and Registered Owner format will also simplify
identification of who possesses a firearm, thereby enhancing
public safety.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Mansoor, Nazarian, Nestande,
Vacancy
MW:k 8/22/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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