Amended  IN  Assembly  June 13, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 918

Introduced by Senator Portantino

February 03, 2022

An act to amend Sections 26150, 26155, 26170, 26175, 26185, 26225, 30370, 30470, and 30485 of of, and to add Section 26162 to, the Penal Code, relating to firearms.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 918, as amended, Portantino. Firearms.
Existing law prohibits a person from carrying a concealed firearm or carrying a loaded firearm in public. Existing law authorizes the sheriff of a county, or the chief or other head of a municipal police department, if good cause exists for the issuance, and subject to certain other criteria, to issue a license to carry a concealed handgun or to carry a loaded and exposed handgun, as specified.
This bill would add the requirement that the applicant be the recorded owner, with the Department of Justice, of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. The bill would require an issuing authority, prior to that issuance, renewal, or amendment to a license, if it has direct access to a system designated by the department, to determine if the applicant is the recorded owner of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm. The bill would require an issuing authority without access to that system to confirm the ownership with the sheriff of the county in which the agency is located.
Existing law requires an agency issuing a license described above to set forth specified information on the license, including, among other things, the licensee’s name, occupation, and reason for desiring a license to carry the weapon.
This bill would revise that information to include, among other things, the licensee’s driver’s license or identification number, fingerprints, and information relating to the date of expiration of the license, and would remove the requirement that the license detail the reason for desiring a license to carry the weapon.
Existing law requires an applicant for a license described above to provide fingerprints, as specified. Existing law exempts an applicant from this requirement if they have previously applied to the same licensing authority and the applicant’s fingerprints have previously been forwarded to the department, as specified, and instead requires that authority to note data that would provide positive identification in the files of the department, on the copy of any subsequent license submitted to the department.
This bill would require the licensing authority to instead collect the applicant’s fingerprint that would provide that positive identification in the files of the department, as specified.
Existing law permits the Department of Justice department to charge a fee sufficient to reimburse it for specified costs related to the sale or transfer of firearms, such as the preparation, sale, processing, and filing of required reports and costs associated with the submission of a Dealers’ Record of Sale (DROS), as specified. Existing law requires that firearm purchaser information be provided to the department exclusively by electronic means. Existing law directs the department to electronically approve the purchase or transfer of ammunition through a vendor at the time of purchase or transfer and prior to the purchaser taking possession of the ammunition, and permits the department to collect certain fees for these purposes. Existing law regulates the sale of firearm precursor parts, and authorizes the department to issue a firearm precursor part vendor license. Existing law deems a licensed firearms dealer or licensed ammunition dealer a firearm precursor parts vendor.
This bill would update cross references in those provisions.
The bill would additionally make various findings and declarations of the Legislature.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Legislature has compelling interests in protecting both individual rights and public safety. The Legislature’s intent and purpose in clarifying California’s requirements governing the issuance of carry concealed weapons (CCW) licenses, and clarifying Dealers’ Record of Sale cross-references, is to protect its residents’ rights to keep and bear arms while also protecting the public’s health and safety in the state by reducing the number of people killed, injured, and traumatized by gun violence; protecting the exercise of other fundamental rights, including the right to worship, attain an education, vote, and peaceably assemble and demonstrate; ensuring that law enforcement is able to effectively do its job; and combating terrorism.
(b) As an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit recently recognized, for more than 700 years, governments in both England and America have regulated, and even prohibited, the carrying of firearms capable of being concealed on a person in the populated places of cities and towns, including public squares, parks, shopping centers, government buildings, churches, schools, and markets. See Young v. Hawaii, 922 F.3d 765, 813 (9th Cir. 2021) (en banc). The United States Supreme Court has recognized that states may restrict the carrying of firearms in “sensitive places,” District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) 554 U.S. 570, 626 and that nothing in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits states from adopting “reasonable firearms regulations,” McDonald v. City of Chicago, Ill. (2010) 561 U.S. 742, 784.
(c) Over the past several years, a wealth of empirical studies have shown that crime is higher when more people carry firearms in public places. While California and other states have decided to limit the places and conditions under which residents may carry firearms, over the past several decades other states have decided to allow most people to carry firearms in most public places. Those later states have seen markedly higher crime rates. According to one study, in the 33 states that adopted these “right-to-carry” laws, violent crime was substantially higher—13 to 15 percent higher—10 years after the laws were adopted than it would have been, had those states not adopted those laws. See Donohue, et al., “Right-to-Carry” Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State-Level Synthetic Control Analysis (2019) 16 J. Empirical Legal Stud. 198. That same study acknowledged that crime had dropped in both “Right-to-Carry” states and other states over the past several decades, but concluded that the violent crime reduction in states that did not adopt “Right-to-Carry” laws was an order of magnitude higher than those that did—a 42.3 percent drop in violent crime for those states that did not adopt “Right-to-Carry” laws compared to just a 4.3 percent drop for those that did.
(d) Broadly allowing individuals to carry firearms in most public areas increases the number of people wounded and killed by gun violence. Among other things, pervasive carrying increases the lethality of otherwise mundane situations, as we have seen shots fired in connection with road rage, talking on a phone in a theater, playing loud music at a gas station, a dispute over snow shoveling, and a dispute over the use of a disabled parking spot. Importantly, in many of these incidents, the shooters held permits that allowed them to carry firearms in public, meaning that they met the criteria necessary to secure a permit, which often include a requirement that the person not previously have been convicted of a serious crime.
(e) Another study concluded that states that changed from prohibiting concealed carry of guns to a regime where the state must issue a CCW permit to any qualified applicant who requests one—a transition to a “shall issue” jurisdiction—experienced a 12.3 percent increase in gun-related murder rates, and 4.9 increase in overall murder rates. Gius, Using the Synthetic Control Method to Determine the Effects of Concealed Carry Laws on State-Level Murder Rates (2019) 57 Int’l Rev. L. & Econ. 1. Two other studies concluded that states with “shall-issue” laws had higher overall homicide rates, higher firearm homicide rates, and higher handgun homicide rates as compared to the “may-issue” regimes in place in California and other states. Siegel, et al., Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States (2017) 107 Am. J. Pub. Health 1923; Siegel, et al., The Impact of State Firearm Laws on Homicide and Suicide Deaths in the USA, 1991 – 2016: A Panel Study (2019) 34 J. Gen. Internal Med. 2021. Several other studies reached similar results. Anita Knopov et al., The Impact of State Firearm Laws on Homicide Rates among Black and White Populations in the United States, 1991–2016 (2019) 44 Health & Soc. Work 232; John J. Donohue, Laws Facilitating Gun Carrying and Homicide (2017) 107 Am. J. Pub. Health 1864; Emma E. Fridel, Comparing the Impact of Household Gun Ownership and Concealed Carry Legislation on the Frequency of Mass Shootings and Firearms Homicide (2021) 38 Just. Q. 892; Cassandra K. Crifasi, Correction to: Association between Firearm Laws and Homicide in Urban Counties (2018) 95 J. Urban Health 773; Paul R, Zimmerman, The Deterrence of Crime Through Private Security Efforts: Theory and Evidence (2014) 37 Int’l Rev. L. & Econ. 66.
(f) States with permissive “right-to-carry” laws also witness higher rates of firearm workplace homicides than those that did not have those laws. One study concluded that states with “right-to-carry” laws experienced 29 percent greater rates of firearm workplace homicides between 1992 and 2017 than those that did not. Mitchell L. Doucette et al., “Right-to-Carry” Laws and Firearm Workplace Homicides: A Longitudinal Analysis (1992–2017) (2019) 109 Am. J. Pub. Health 1747, 1751. Another peer-reviewed study found that restricting the ability to carry concealed weapons was associated with a 5.79 percent reduction in workplace homicide rates. Erika L. Sabbath et al., State-Level Changes in Firearm Laws and Workplace Homicide Rates: United States, 2011 to 2017 (2020) 110 Am. J. Pub. Health 230.
(g) While several studies from the late 1990s and early 2000s purported to conclude that increases in “right-to-carry” laws either decreased or had no effect on crime, many other early studies concluded that it increased crime. In 2005, the National Research Council issued a report evaluating the then-current literature about the impact of “right-to-carry” laws on crime, and concluded that it was “‘impossible to draw strong conclusions from the existing literature on the causal impact’ of “right-to-carry” laws on violent crime and property crime in general and rape, aggravated assault, auto theft, burglary, and larceny in particular,” and that the “existing data and methods” were likely insufficient to resolve the question, and that “new analytical approaches and data” were needed “[i]f further headway is to be made.” Nat’l Research Council, Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review (2005) 272, 275.
(h) Since that time a number of social scientists have taken up the National Research Council’s call. Those studies overwhelmingly support the conclusion that more carrying of firearms in public leads to an increase in crime: of the 35 social science studies looking at this issue since the National Research Council issued its report in 2005, 23 found an increase in crime, 7 found no effect, and 5 found a decrease in crime. A 2014 study from the Harvard Injury Control Research Center concluded that a sizable majority of firearms researchers disagree with the statement that the change in state level concealed carry laws in the United States over the past few decades from more restrictive to more permissive has reduced crime rates.
(i) Widespread carrying of firearms also impedes the exercise of other fundamental rights. When firearms are present in public spaces, it makes those places less safe, which discourages people from attending protests, going to school, peacefully worshiping, voting in person, and enjoying other activities.
(1) (A) While the net effect of policies that allow most people to carry firearms in most places have negatively impacted public safety broadly, their effects are likely to be far more deleterious when extended to college campuses. Risks of violence, suicide attempts, alcohol abuse, and other risky behavior are greatly elevated among college-aged, youth and in the campus environment, and the presence of firearms greatly increases the risk of lethal and near-lethal outcomes from these behaviors and in this context. Daniel W. Webster et al., Firearms on College Campuses: Research Evidence and Policy Implications, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Sch. of Pub. Health (Oct. 15, 2016). Moreover, once Georgia passed a law allowing firearms to be carried on college campuses, campus members reported a statistically significant increase in perceptions of the campus as unsafe, fear of crime on campus, and lack of confidence in campus police; and a “statistically significantly increase in the proportion of campus members who reported experiencing fearful conflicts on campus.” Jennifer McMahon-Howard et al., Examining the Effects of Passing a Campus Carry Law: Comparing Campus Safety Before and After Georgia’s New Campus Carry Law, 20 J. of Sch. Violence (2021) 430.
(B) Widespread carrying can also affect the ability to learn in primary and secondary schools. One study concluded that students exposed to school shootings have an increased absence rate, are more likely to be chronically absent and repeat a grade in the two years following the event, and suffer negative long-term impacts on high school graduation rates, college enrollment and graduation, and future employment and earnings. Marika Cabral et al., Trauma at School: The Impacts of Shootings on Students’ Human Capital and Economic Outcomes, Nat’l Bureau of Econ. Research (Dec. 2020). Another study looked at longer term consequences of school shootings, finding that exposure to shootings at schools resulted in lower test scores, increased absenteeism, and increased subsequent mortality for those students, and particularly boys, who are exposed to the highest-victimization school shootings. Phillip Levine and Robin McKnight, Exposure to a School Shooting and Subsequent Well-Being, Nat’l Bureau of Econ. Research (Dec. 2020).
(2) Widespread public carry also intimidates those who hope to peacefully worship. Places of worship already experience serious incidents or threats of violence. According to one study, the percentage of mass shootings motivated by religious hate escalated from 1 percent between 1966 and 2000 to 9 percent during 2000–2014 to 18 percent during 2018-February 2020. Richard R. Johnson, Serious Violence at Places of Worship in the U.S.—Looking at the Numbers, Dolan Consulting Grp. (Sept. 2019). A review of the Federal Investigation Bureau’s National Incident-Based Reporting System data—which covers only 20 percent of the country’s population—from 2000 through 2016 found that 1,652 incidents of “serious violence” occurred at places of worship, including aggravated assaults, shootings, stabbings, and bombings, with 57 percent involving the use of a firearm. Extrapolating those figures to the entire country would suggest that there are about 480 incidents of serious violence at places of worship in the United States each year. Allowing more people to carry in places of worship threatens to make these incidents more likely.
(3) Carrying firearms impedes the exercise of other rights of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, including the right to protest and vote. In a nationally representative survey, 60 percent responded that they would be “very unlikely” to attend a protest if guns were present, whereas only 7 percent said they would be “very likely” to attend such a protest. Alexandra Filindra, Americans Do Not Want Guns at Protests, this Research Shows, Wash. Post (Nov. 21, 2021). Another study concluded that 16 percent of demonstrations where firearms were present turned violent, as compared to less than 3 percent of demonstrations where firearms were not present. Everytown for Gun Safety & Armed Conflict Locations & Event Data Project, Armed Assembly: Guns, Demonstrations, and Political Violence in America (2021).
(j) Laws requiring a suitability standard for obtaining firearms have saved lives. One study concluded that since California’s gun violence restraining order process—which allows family members and law enforcement to petition a court for an order temporarily prohibiting a person from purchasing or possessing firearms, if a court finds that the person is a danger to themselves or others—took effect in January 2016, there have been 21 instances in which the statute was used to prevent a mass shooting. Wintemute, et al., Extreme Risk Protection Orders Intended to Prevent Mass Shootings, 171 Annals of Internal Med. (2019) 655, 655-658. According to another study, 56 percent of mass shooters exhibited warning signs that they posed a risk to themselves or others before they carried out the shooting. Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “Mass Shootings in America,” (Nov. 2020). One hundred percent of perpetrators of school violence showed concerning behaviors before committing their acts, according to a study by the United States Secret Service and the United States Department of Education. U.S. Secret Serv, Nat’l Threat Assessment Ctr, Protecting America’s Schools: A US Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence 43 (2019).
(k) Broad public carry laws also impede the ability of law enforcement to ensure the public’s safety. For example, laws allowing open carry of firearms imperil law enforcement officers on the front lines by making it much more difficult for an officer to discern if a person is a threat, and when there is an active shooter situation, makes it harder to determine the source of the threat.

SEC. 2.

 Section 26150 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

26150.
 (a) When a person applies for a license to carry a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, the sheriff of a county may issue a license to that person upon proof of all of the following:
(1) The applicant is of good moral character.
(2) Good cause exists for issuance of the license.
(3) The applicant is a resident of the county or a city within the county, or the applicant’s principal place of employment or business is in the county or a city within the county and the applicant spends a substantial period of time in that place of employment or business.
(4) The applicant has completed a course of training as described in Section 26165.
(5) The applicant is the recorded owner, with the Department of Justice, of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(b) The sheriff may issue a license under subdivision (a) in either of the following formats:
(1) A license to carry concealed a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(2) Where the population of the county is less than 200,000 persons according to the most recent federal decennial census, a license to carry loaded and exposed in only that county a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(c) (1) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the sheriff of the county from entering into an agreement with the chief or other head of a municipal police department of a city to process all applications for licenses, renewals of licenses, or amendments to licenses pursuant to this chapter, in lieu of the sheriff.
(2) This subdivision shall only apply to applicants who reside within the city in which the chief or other head of the municipal police department has agreed to process applications for licenses, renewals of licenses, and amendments to licenses, pursuant to this chapter.

SEC. 3.

 Section 26155 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

26155.
 (a) When a person applies for a license to carry a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, the chief or other head of a municipal police department of any city or city and county may issue a license to that person upon proof of all of the following:
(1) The applicant is of good moral character.
(2) Good cause exists for issuance of the license.
(3) The applicant is a resident of that city.
(4) The applicant has completed a course of training as described in Section 26165.
(5) The applicant is the recorded owner, with the Department of Justice, of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(b) The chief or other head of a municipal police department may issue a license under subdivision (a) in either of the following formats:
(1) A license to carry concealed a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(2) Where the population of the county in which the city is located is less than 200,000 persons according to the most recent federal decennial census, a license to carry loaded and exposed in only that county a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the chief or other head of a municipal police department of any city from entering an agreement with the sheriff of the county in which the city is located for the sheriff to process all applications for licenses, renewals of licenses, and amendments to licenses, pursuant to this chapter.

SEC. 4.

 Section 26162 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

26162.
 (a) Prior to the issuance of a license, renewal of a license, or amendment to a license, each licensing authority with direct access to the system designated by the Department of Justice shall determine if the applicant is the recorded owner of the particular pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person reported in the application for a license or the application for the amendment to a license under this article.
(b) Agencies with direct access to the system designated by the Department of Justice shall confirm the applicant’s information with firearm ownership maintained in the system. Any agency without access to the system shall confirm this information with the sheriff of the county in which the agency is located.

SEC. 5.

 Section 26170 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

26170.
 (a) Upon proof of all of the following, the sheriff of a county, or the chief or other head of a municipal police department of any city or city and county, may issue to an applicant a license to carry concealed a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person:
(1) The applicant is of good moral character.
(2) Good cause exists for issuance of the license.
(3) The applicant has been deputized or appointed as a peace officer pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 830.6 by that sheriff or that chief of police or other head of a municipal police department.
(4) The applicant is the recorded owner, with the Department of Justice, of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
(b) Direct or indirect fees for the issuance of a license pursuant to this section may be waived.
(c) The fact that an applicant for a license to carry a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person has been deputized or appointed as a peace officer pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 830.6 shall be considered only for the purpose of issuing a license pursuant to this section, and shall not be considered for the purpose of issuing a license pursuant to Section 26150 or 26155.

SEC. 6.

 Section 26175 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

26175.
 (a) (1) Applications for licenses and applications for amendments to licenses under this article shall be uniform throughout the state, upon forms to be prescribed by the Attorney General.
(2) The Attorney General shall convene a committee composed of one representative of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, one representative of the California Police Chiefs Association, and one representative of the Department of Justice to review, and, as deemed appropriate, revise the standard application form for licenses. The committee shall meet for this purpose if two of the committee’s members deem that necessary.
(3) (A) The Attorney General shall develop a uniform license that may be used as indicia of proof of licensure throughout the state.
(B) The Attorney General shall approve the use of licenses issued by local agencies that contain all the information required in subdivision (i), including a recent photograph of the applicant, and are deemed to be in substantial compliance with standards developed by the committee described in subparagraph (C), if developed, as they relate to the physical dimensions and general appearance of the licenses. The Attorney General shall retain exemplars of approved licenses and shall maintain a list of agencies issuing local licenses. Approved licenses may be used as indicia of proof of licensure under this chapter in lieu of the uniform license developed by the Attorney General.
(C) A committee composed of two representatives of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, two representatives of the California Police Chiefs Association, and one representative of the Department of Justice shall convene to review and revise, as the committee deems appropriate, the design standard for licenses issued by local agencies that may be used as indicia of proof of licensure throughout the state, provided that the design standard meets the requirements of subparagraph (B). The committee shall meet for this purpose if two of the committee’s members deem it necessary.
(b) The application shall include a section summarizing the requirements of state law that result in the automatic denial of a license.
(c) The standard application form for licenses described in subdivision (a) shall require information from the applicant, including, but not limited to, the name, occupation, residence, and business address of the applicant, the applicant’s age, height, weight, color of eyes and hair, and reason for desiring a license to carry the weapon.
(d) Applications for licenses shall be filed in writing and signed by the applicant.
(e) Applications for amendments to licenses shall be filed in writing and signed by the applicant, and shall state what type of amendment is sought pursuant to Section 26215 and the reason for desiring the amendment.
(f) The forms shall contain a provision whereby the applicant attests to the truth of statements contained in the application.
(g) An applicant shall not be required to complete any additional application or form for a license, or to provide any information other than that necessary to complete the standard application form described in subdivision (a), except to clarify or interpret information provided by the applicant on the standard application form.
(h) The standard application form described in subdivision (a) is deemed to be a local form expressly exempt from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(i) Any license issued upon the application shall set forth the licensee’s full name, driver’s license or identification number, occupation, residence and business address, the licensee’s age, date of birth, height, weight, color of eyes and hair, and the reason for desiring a license to carry the weapon, indicate the type of license issued as it relates to Section 26220, including the license issuance and expiration date, and shall, in addition, contain the licensee’s fingerprints and a description of the weapon or weapons authorized to be carried, giving detailing the name of the manufacturer, the model, the serial number, and the caliber. The license issued to the licensee may be laminated.

SEC. 7.

 Section 26185 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

26185.
 (a) (1) The fingerprints of each applicant shall be taken and two copies on forms prescribed by the Department of Justice shall be forwarded to the department.
(2) Upon receipt of the fingerprints and the fee as prescribed in Section 26190, the department shall promptly furnish the forwarding licensing authority a report of all data and information pertaining to any applicant of which there is a record in its office, including information as to whether the person is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm.
(3) No license shall be issued by any licensing authority until after receipt of the report from the department.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if the license applicant has previously applied to the same licensing authority for a license to carry firearms pursuant to this article and the applicant’s fingerprints and fee have been previously forwarded to the Department of Justice, as provided by this section, article, the licensing authority shall note the previous identification numbers and other data collect the applicant’s fingerprint that would provide positive identification in the files of the Department of Justice on the copy of any subsequent license submitted to the department in conformance with Section 26225 and no additional application form or fingerprints shall be required. 26225.
(c) If the license applicant has a license issued pursuant to this article and the applicant’s fingerprints have been previously forwarded to the Department of Justice, as provided in this section, the licensing authority shall note the previous identification numbers and other data collect the applicant’s fingerprint that would provide positive identification in the files of the Department of Justice on the copy of any subsequent license submitted to the department in conformance with Section 26225 and no additional fingerprints shall be required. 26225.

SEC. 8.

 Section 26225 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

26225.
 (a) A record of the following shall be maintained in the office of the licensing authority:
(1) The denial of a license.
(2) The denial of an amendment to a license.
(3) The issuance of a license.
(4) The amendment of a license.
(5) The revocation of a license.
(b) Copies of each of the following shall be filed immediately by the issuing officer or authority with the Department of Justice: Justice, in a manner as prescribed by the Attorney General:
(1) The denial of a license.
(2) The denial of an amendment to a license.
(3) The issuance of a license.
(4) The amendment of a license.
(5) The revocation of a license.
(c) (1) Commencing on or before January 1, 2000, and annually thereafter, each licensing authority shall submit to the Attorney General the total number of licenses issued to peace officers pursuant to Section 26170, and to judges pursuant to Section 26150 or 26155.
(2) The Attorney General shall collect and record the information submitted pursuant to this subdivision by county and licensing authority.

SECTION 1.SEC. 9.

 Section 30370 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

30370.
 (a) Commencing July 1, 2019, the department shall electronically approve the purchase or transfer of ammunition through a vendor, as defined in Section 16151, except as otherwise specified. This approval shall occur at the time of purchase or transfer, prior to the purchaser or transferee taking possession of the ammunition. Pursuant to the authorization specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 30352, the following persons are authorized to purchase ammunition:
(1) A purchaser or transferee whose information matches an entry in the Automated Firearms System (AFS) and who is eligible to possess ammunition as specified in subdivision (b).
(2) A purchaser or transferee who has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the department pursuant to Section 26710.
(3) A purchaser or transferee who is not prohibited from purchasing or possessing ammunition in a single ammunition transaction or purchase made pursuant to the procedure developed pursuant to subdivision (c).
(b) To determine if the purchaser or transferee is eligible to purchase or possess ammunition pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the department shall cross-reference the ammunition purchaser’s or transferee’s name, date of birth, current address, and driver’s license or other government identification number, as described in Section 28180, with the information maintained in the AFS. If the purchaser’s or transferee’s information does not match an AFS entry, the transaction shall be denied. If the purchaser’s or transferee’s information matches an AFS entry, the department shall determine if the purchaser or transferee falls within a class of persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing ammunition by cross-referencing with the Prohibited Armed Persons File. If the purchaser or transferee is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, the transaction shall be denied.
(c) The department shall develop a procedure in which a person who is not prohibited from purchasing or possessing ammunition may be approved for a single ammunition transaction or purchase. The department shall recover the cost of processing and regulatory and enforcement activities related to this section by charging the ammunition transaction or purchase applicant a fee not to exceed the fee charged for the department’s Dealers’ Record of Sale (DROS) process, as described in Section 28225, as it read on December 31, 2019, and not to exceed the department’s reasonable costs.
(d) A vendor is prohibited from providing a purchaser or transferee ammunition without department approval. If a vendor cannot electronically verify a person’s eligibility to purchase or possess ammunition via an Internet connection, the department shall provide a telephone line to verify eligibility. This option is available to ammunition vendors who can demonstrate legitimate geographical and telecommunications limitations in submitting the information electronically and who are approved by the department to use the telephone line verification.
(e) The department shall recover the reasonable cost of regulatory and enforcement activities related to this article by charging ammunition purchasers and transferees a per transaction fee not to exceed one dollar ($1), provided, however, that the fee may be increased at a rate not to exceed any increases in the California Consumer Price Index as compiled and reported by the Department of Industrial Relations, not to exceed the reasonable regulatory and enforcement costs.
(f) A fund to be known as the “Ammunition Safety and Enforcement Special Fund” is hereby created within the State Treasury. All fees received pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Ammunition Safety and Enforcement Special Fund and, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, are continuously appropriated for purposes of implementing, operating, and enforcing the ammunition authorization program provided for in this section and Section 30352 and for repaying the start-up loan provided for in Section 30371.
(g) The Department of Justice is authorized to adopt regulations to implement this section.

SEC. 2.SEC. 10.

 Section 30470 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

30470.
 (a) Commencing July 1, 2022, the department shall electronically approve the purchase or transfer of firearm precursor parts through a vendor, as defined in Section 16532, except as otherwise specified. This approval shall occur at the time of purchase or transfer, prior to the purchaser or transferee taking possession of the firearm precursor part. Pursuant to the authorization specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 30452, the following persons are authorized to purchase firearm precursor parts:
(1) A purchaser or transferee whose information matches an entry in the Automated Firearms System (AFS) and who is eligible to possess firearm precursor parts as specified in subdivision (b).
(2) A purchaser or transferee who has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the department pursuant to Section 26710.
(3) A purchaser or transferee who is not prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearm precursor parts in a single firearm precursor part transaction or purchase made pursuant to the procedure developed pursuant to subdivision (c).
(b) To determine if the purchaser or transferee is eligible to purchase or possess firearm precursor parts pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the department shall cross-reference the firearm precursor part purchaser’s or transferee’s name, date of birth, current address, and driver’s license or other government identification number, as described in Section 28180, with the information maintained in the AFS. If the purchaser’s or transferee’s information does not match an AFS entry, the transaction shall be denied. If the purchaser’s or transferee’s information matches an AFS entry, the department shall determine if the purchaser or transferee falls within a class of persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing firearm precursor parts by cross-referencing with the Prohibited Armed Persons File. If the purchaser or transferee is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, the transaction shall be denied.
(c) The department shall develop a procedure in which a person who is not prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm precursor part may be approved for a single firearm precursor part transaction or purchase. The department shall recover the cost of processing and regulatory and enforcement activities related to this section by charging the firearm precursor part transaction or purchase applicant a fee not to exceed the fee charged for the department’s Dealers’ Record of Sale (DROS) process, as described in Section 28225, as it read on December 31, 2019, and not to exceed the department’s reasonable costs.
(d) A vendor is prohibited from providing a purchaser or transferee a firearm precursor part without department approval. If a vendor cannot electronically verify a person’s eligibility to purchase or possess firearm precursor parts via an internet connection, the department shall provide a telephone line to verify eligibility. This option is available to firearm precursor part vendors who can demonstrate legitimate geographical and telecommunications limitations in submitting the information electronically and who are approved by the department to use the telephone line verification.
(e) The department shall recover the reasonable cost of regulatory and enforcement activities related to this article by charging firearm precursor parts purchasers and transferees a per transaction fee not to exceed one dollar ($1), provided, however, that the fee may be increased at a rate not to exceed any increases in the California Consumer Price Index as compiled and reported by the Department of Industrial Relations, not to exceed the reasonable regulatory and enforcement costs.
(f) A fund to be known as the Firearm Precursor Parts Enforcement Special Fund is hereby created within the State Treasury. All fees received pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Firearm Precursor Parts Special Fund and, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, are continuously appropriated to the department for purposes of implementing, operating, and enforcing the firearm precursor part authorization program provided for in this section and Section 30452.
(g) The Department of Justice is authorized to adopt regulations to implement this section.

SEC. 3.SEC. 11.

 Section 30485 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

30485.
 (a) The Department of Justice is authorized to issue firearm precursor part vendor licenses pursuant to this article. The department shall, commencing April 1, 2022, commence accepting applications for firearm precursor part vendor licenses. If an application is denied, the department shall inform the applicant of the reason for the denial in writing. The annual fee shall be paid on July 1, or the next business day, of every year.
(b) The firearm precursor part vendor license shall be issued in a form prescribed by the department. The department may adopt regulations to administer the application and enforcement provisions of this article. The license shall allow the licensee to sell firearm precursor parts at the location specified in the license or at a gun show or event as set forth in Section 30448.
(c) (1) In the case of an entity other than a natural person, the department shall issue the license to the entity but shall require a responsible person to pass the background check pursuant to Section 30495.
(2) For purposes of this article, “responsible person” means a person having the power to direct the management, policies, and practices of the entity as it pertains to firearm precursor parts.
(d) Commencing July 1, 2022, a firearms dealer licensed pursuant to Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, and licensed ammunition vendor shall automatically be deemed a firearm precursor parts vendor, provided the dealer complies with the requirements of Article 1 (commencing with Section 30400) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 30442) of Chapter 1.5.