BILL NUMBER: SB 678 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hill
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 33700)
to Division 10 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code,
relating to firearms.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 678, as amended, Hill. User-authorized firearms.
Existing law generally regulates deadly weapons, including
firearms. Existing law generally requires any firearm sold
or transferred in this state to include or be accompanied by a
firearm safety device.
This bill would make it a misdemeanor for a person to sell, lend,
or give a user-authorized firearm that does not meet specified
requirements. The bill would define a user-authorized firearm as a
firearm that will only fire when activated by an authorized user. The
bill would require that user-authorized firearms meet certain
requirements and be tested and certified by the United States Army
Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. By creating a
new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
This bill would direct the Department of Justice to, among other
things, assess market conditions and the barriers to the market for
user-authorized firearms in the state, investigate methods to
increase the availability and use of user-authorized firearms in the
state, and make recommendations on manufacturer performance and
reliability standards and how those standards should be tested for
user-authorized firearms. The bill would require the department to
convene a working group of specified representatives to offer
recommendations for the requirements described above. The bill would
require the department to report its findings to the Legislature on
or before January 1, 2017.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The
Department of Justice shall do all of the following:
(1) Survey the state of the current user-authorized firearm
industry.
(2) Assess market conditions and the barriers to the market for
user-authorized firearms in the state.
(3) Investigate methods to increase the availability and use of
user-authorized firearms in the state.
(4) Make recommendations on manufacturer performance and
reliability standards and how those standards should be tested for
user-authorized firearms.
(b) The department shall convene a working group in 2016 to
provide recommendations on the requirements of subdivision (a). The
working group shall consist of, but not be limited to,
representatives of the following:
(1) Law enforcement.
(2) Firearm manufacturers.
(3) The military.
(4) Firearm testing laboratories.
(5) Firearm safety advocacy organizations.
(6) Firearm dealers.
(7) User-authorized firearm manufacturers.
(8) User-authorized technology research and development entities.
(9) Members of the public.
(c) The department shall report its findings to the Legislature on
or before January 1, 2017, in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
SECTION 1. Chapter 11 (commencing with Section
33700) is added to Division 10 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal
Code, to read:
CHAPTER 11. USER-AUTHORIZED FIREARMS
33700. As used in this chapter, a "user-authorized firearm" means
any firearm, interchangeably referred to as an owner-authorized
firearm, intelligent firearm, or smart firearm, that incorporates
technology within its design and that is integral to the firearm,
whether part of its original manufacture or retrofitted, that renders
the firearm incapable of being fired except when activated by the
lawful owner or other users authorized by the lawful owner. The
technology may include, but is not limited to, biometrics, radio
frequency tagging, touch memory, fingerprint recognition, palm print
recognition, grip recognition, magnetic encoding, retinal
recognition, iris recognition, and other means of utilizing biometric
or electronic systems.
33701. (a) A person who keeps for sale, offers or exposes for
sale, or gives, lends, sells, a user-authorized firearm that does not
meet the requirements of subdivision (b) is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) (1) A user-authorized firearm shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(A) The firearm shall not fail to recognize the authorized user,
and shall not falsely recognize an unauthorized user, more than one
time per 1,000 recognition attempts.
(B) The time from first contact with the authorized user to use
recognition and firearm enablement shall be no more than 0.3 seconds.
(C) The time from loss of contact with the authorized user to
disablement shall be no more than 0.3 seconds.
(D) Enabling authorized user information shall be stored in the
firearm as a permanent memory that is restored when power is
restored.
(E) The firearm shall be capable of use by more than one
authorized user and, if the firearm uses hand recognition technology,
it shall recognize either of the authorized user's hands.
(2) (A) The firearm shall be submitted to a laboratory certified
by the United States Army Armament Research, Development and
Engineering Center (ARDEC) for testing and evaluation of all the
various components of the engineered system of the firearm, including
the firing mechanism, ammunition, safety mechanisms, electrical, and
power components.
(B) The firearm shall be certified by ARDEC as reliably performing
its intended functions and meeting all of the criteria standards
specified in paragraph (1).
(C) The firearm shall be certified by ARDEC as having a proven
system in its final form at a technology readiness level 9 as defined
by the United States Department of Defense in its April 2011
Technology Readiness Assessment Guidance.
(c) A user-authorized firearm that is a handgun shall also comply
with the requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) of
Chapter 4 and Article 5 (commencing with Section 32000) of Chapter
4.
(d) A user-authorized firearm that satisfies the requirements of
this chapter shall not be required to comply with Division 2
(commencing with Section 23620).
SEC. 2. 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.