BILL NUMBER: AB 169 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dickinson
JANUARY 24, 2013
An act to amend Section 32000 of, and to repeal Section 32110 of,
the Penal Code, relating to unsafe handguns.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 169, as introduced, Dickinson. Unsafe handguns.
(1) Existing law requires parties to a firearms transaction to
complete the sale, loan, or transfer of the firearm through a
licensed firearms dealer where neither party to the transaction holds
a dealer license. Existing law provides for several exceptions from
this requirement, including sales made to authorized law enforcement
representatives, delivery of a firearm to a gunsmith for repair,
transactions involving a firearm that is a curio or relic, or the
loaning of a firearm for use solely as a prop in a motion picture,
among others.
Existing law provides for the testing of handguns and requires the
Department of Justice to maintain a roster listing all handguns that
are determined not to be unsafe handguns. Existing law makes it a
crime, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, to manufacture, import into the state for sale, keep for sale,
offer or expose for sale, give, or lend an unsafe handgun. Existing
law provides that the provisions defining and governing unsafe
handguns do not apply to certain transactions, including the sale,
loan, or transfer of any firearm in a transaction that requires the
use of a licensed dealer, or where the sale, loan, or transfer is
exempt from the provisions of law requiring the transfer to be
conducted through a licensed firearms dealer, among others.
This bill would repeal these exemptions, and would instead make
the prohibition on manufacturing, importing, selling, giving, or
lending an unsafe handgun inapplicable to the sale, loan, or transfer
of any firearm that is exempt from the requirement that a firearms
transaction to be completed through a licensed firearms dealer. By
expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law exempts the purchase of a handgun from the above
prohibition on manufacturing, importing, selling, giving, or lending
an unsafe handgun if the handgun is sold to, or purchased by, the
Department of Justice, a police department, a sheriff's official, a
marshal's office, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
the California Highway Patrol, any district attorney's office, or the
military or naval forces of this state or of the United States for
use in the discharge of their official duties.
This bill would prohibit a person exempted under the above
provision from selling or otherwise transferring the ownership of the
handgun to a person who is not exempted under the same provision
unless the transaction is exempt from the requirement to complete the
transaction through a licensed dealer. By expanding the definition
of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) The bill would also make nonsubstantive, technical
corrections.
(4) 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.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 32000 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
32000. (a) Commencing January 1, 2001, any person in this state
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.
(b) This section shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) The manufacture in this state, or importation into this state,
of any prototype pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person a prototype
handgun when the manufacture or importation is for the sole
purpose of allowing an independent laboratory certified by the
Department of Justice pursuant to Section 32010 to conduct an
independent test to determine whether that pistol, revolver,
or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person
handgun is prohibited by Sections 31900 to
32110, inclusive, and, if not, allowing the department to add the
firearm to the roster of pistols, revolvers, and other
firearms capable of being concealed upon the person
handguns that may be sold in this state pursuant to Section
32015.
(2) The importation or lending of a pistol, revolver, or
other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person
handgun by employees or authorized agents of entities
determining whether the weapon is prohibited by this section.
(3) Firearms listed as curios or relics, as defined in Section
478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(4) 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 a handgun, if the
handgun is sold to, or purchased by, the Department of Justice,
any a police department, any
a sheriff's official, any
a marshal's office, the Youth and Adult
Correctional Agency the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation , the California Highway Patrol, any district
attorney's office, or the military or naval forces of this state or
of the United States for use in the discharge of their official
duties. Nor shall anything in this This
section does not 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.
a handgun. Except as provided in paragraph
(5) , a person who, under this paragraph, acquires a handgun that is
not on the roster required by Section 23015, shall not sell or
otherwise transfer ownership of the handgun to a person who is not
exempted under this paragrap h.
(5) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm that is exempt from
the provisions of Section 27545 pursuant to any applicable exemption
contained in Article 2 (commencing with Section 27600) or Article 6
(commencing with Section 27850) of Chapter 4 of Division 6, if the
sale, loan, or transfer complies with the requirements of that
applicable exemption to Section 27545.
(c) Violations of subdivision (a) are cumulative with respect to
each handgun and shall not be construed as restricting the
application of any other law. However, an act or omission punishable
in different ways by this section and other provisions of law shall
not be punished under more than one provision, but the penalty to be
imposed shall be determined as set forth in Section 654.
SEC. 2. Section 32110 of the Penal Code is repealed.
32110. Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) and Article 5
(commencing with Section 32000) shall not apply to any of the
following:
(a) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm pursuant to Chapter
5 (commencing with Section 28050) of Division 6 in order to comply
with Section 27545.
(b) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm that is exempt from
the provisions of Section 27545 pursuant to any applicable exemption
contained in Article 2 (commencing with Section 27600) or Article 6
(commencing with Section 27850) of Chapter 4 of Division 6, if the
sale, loan, or transfer complies with the requirements of that
applicable exemption to Section 27545.
(c) The sale, loan, or transfer of any firearm as described in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 32000.
(d) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, for the purposes of the service
or repair of that firearm.
(e) The return of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person by a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, to its owner where that firearm
was initially delivered in the circumstances set forth in subdivision
(a), (d), (f), or (i).
(f) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, for the purpose of a consignment
sale or as collateral for a pawnbroker loan.
(g) The sale, loan, or transfer of any pistol, revolver, or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person listed as a curio
or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of
Federal Regulations.
(h) The sale, loan, or transfer of any semiautomatic pistol that
is to be used solely as a prop during the course of a motion picture,
television, or video production by an authorized participant therein
in the course of making that production or event or by an authorized
employee or agent of the entity producing that production or event.
(i) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, where the firearm is being loaned
by the licensee to a consultant-evaluator.
(j) The delivery of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person by a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, where the firearm is being loaned
by the licensee to a consultant-evaluator.
(k) The return of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person to a person licensed pursuant to
Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, where it was initially delivered
pursuant to subdivision (j).
SEC. 3. 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.