BILL NUMBER: AB 106 AMENDED 04/05/99
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 10, 1999
An act to add Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 12087) to Chapter 4 of Title 2 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to firearm safety devices.
Changes marked are with respect to Mar. 18 version. Comments/explanations in red by J. Phillips.
AB 106, as amended, Scott. Firearms: safety devices.
Existing law generally regulates the transfer and possession of firearms.
This bill would establish the Aroner-Scott-Hayden Firearms Safety Act of 1999 (the act).
This bill would require that, effective January 1, 2002, all firearms sold or transferred in this state, or manufactured in this state, be accompanied by a firearms safety device approved by the Department of Justice. [as meeting standards developed by DOJ and not having to satisfy anyone else except for minimum reqts specified]
This bill would require the Attorney General, not later than January 1, 2000, to begin development of minimum safety standards for firearms safety devices that are designed to reduce the risk of unintentional injury by firearms. The bill would also provide that the Attorney General report to the Legislature regarding the standards by January 1, 2001, [giving no time for the Legislature to evaluate and require any change since the bill would also require the AG to issue the regs by the same date] and that the standards be effective January 1, 2002.
The bill would require the Department of Justice, effective January 1, 2001, to certify laboratories to test child safety devices, and would authorize the Department of Justice to charge the laboratories a fee not exceeding the costs of certification. The bill would also require the department to notify the manufacturer, importer, or dealer of the department's determination regarding whether the firearms safety device may be sold in this state. The bill would further require the department, not later than July 1, 2001, to compile, publish, and maintain a roster listing all safety devices that have been tested as described above, have been determined by the department to meet the standards for child safety devices, and that may be sold in this state.
This bill would require any packaging or other descriptive material that accompanies a firearm sold or transferred or manufactured in this state, to bear a label with a specified [stupid] warning. The bill would also require the warning label be affixed to the firearm if the firearm is sold, transferred or delivered in this state without accompanying packaging.
This bill would authorize the Attorney General to recall any firearm or firearms safety device sold in this state after January 1, 2002, that does not conform to specified provisions of the act. [actually to regulations determined entirely by the Attorney General, who is free to require the safety device be integral to the firearm]
This bill would require each law enforcement agency investigating an incident to report specified information to the Attorney General in connection with unintentional gunshot wounds sustained by children after the effective date of the act. [but only those sustained with guns sold/transferred/made after that date]
This bill would provide that any violation of specified provisions of the act would be punishable by a fine of $1,000. A second violation of those provisions would be punishable by a fine of $1,000 and would render a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or a licensed California dealer ineligible to manufacture or sell firearms for 30 days in this state. A third violation of those provisions would render a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or a licensed California dealer permanently ineligible to manufacture, import, or sell, respectively, firearms in this state.
By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would declare that the act does not relieve any
person from liability to any other person as may be imposed
pursuant to common law, statutory law, or local ordinance.
This bill would also declare that the act does not require or
prohibit local ordinances that place more stringent requirements
upon firearms manufacturers, importers, or California dealers
regarding firearm use-limitation devices or trigger locks.
This bill would declare that the act does not apply to the commerce of certain firearms, as specified.
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.
SECTION 1. Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 12087) is
added to Chapter 4 of Title 2 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:
Article 4.5. Child Accident Prevention Devices
12087. This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Aroner-Scott-Hayden Firearms Safety Act of 1999."
12087.5. The Legislature makes the following findings:
(a) In the years 1987 to 1996, nearly 2,200 children in the United States under the age of 15 years died in unintentional shootings. In 1996 alone, 138 children were shot and killed unintentionally. Thus, more than 11 children every month, or one child every three days, were shot or killed unintentionally in firearms-related incidents.
(b) The United States leads the industrialized world in the rates of children and youth lost to unintentional, firearms-related death. A 1997 study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that for unintentional firearm-related deaths for children under the age of 15, the rate in the United States was nine times higher than in 25 other industrialized countries combined.
(c) While the number of unintentional deaths from firearms is an unacceptable toll on America's children, nearly eight times that number are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms each year for nonfatal unintentional gunshot wounds.
(d) A study of unintentional firearm deaths among children in California found that unintentional gunshot wounds most often involve handguns.
(e) A study in the December 1995 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children as young as three years old are strong enough to fire most commercially available handguns. The study revealed that 25 percent of three to four year olds and 70 percent of five to six year olds had sufficient finger strength to fire 59 (92 percent) of the 64 commonly available handguns referenced in the study.
(f) The Government Accounting Office (GAO), in its March 1991 study, "Accidental Shootings: Many Deaths and Injuries Caused by Firearms Could be Prevented," estimates that 31 percent of accidental deaths caused by firearms might be prevented by the addition of two safety devices: a child-resistant safety device that automatically engages and a device that indicates whether the gun is loaded. According to the study results, of the 107 unintentional firearms-related fatalities the GAO examined for the calendar years 1988 and 1989, eight percent could have been prevented had the firearm been equipped with a child-resistant safety device. This eight percent represents instances in which children under the age of six unintentionally shot and killed themselves or other persons.
(g) Currently, firearms are the only products manufactured in the United Stated that are not subject to minimum safety standards.
(h) A 1997 public opinion poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research found that 74 percent of Americans support safety regulation of the firearms industry.
(i) Some currently available trigger locks and other similar devices are inadequate to prevent the accidental discharge of the firearms to which they are attached, or to prevent children from gaining access to the firearm.
12088. Effective January 1, 2001:
(a) The Department of Justice shall certify laboratories to verify compliance with standards for firearms safety devices set forth in Section 12088.2.
(b) The Department of Justice may charge any laboratory that is seeking certification to test firearms safety devices a fee not exceeding the costs of certification.
(c) The certified laboratory shall, at the manufacturer's or importer's or dealer's expense, test the firearms safety device and submit a copy of the final test report directly to the Department of Justice along with the firearms safety device. The department shall notify the manufacturer, dealer, or importer of its receipt of the final test report and the department's determination as to whether the firearms safety device tested may be sold in this state.
(d) On and after July 1, 2001, the Department of Justice shall compile, publish, and thereafter maintain a roster listing all of the safety devices that have been tested by a certified testing laboratory, have been determined to meet the department's standards for firearms safety devices and may be sold in this state.
(e) The roster shall list, for each firearms safety device, the manufacturer, model number, and model name.
12088.1. Effective January 1, 2002:
(a) All firearms sold or transferred in this state by a licensed firearms dealer, including private transfers through a dealer, and all firearms manufactured in this state, shall include or be accompanied by a firearms safety device that is listed on the Department of Justice's roster of approved firearms safety devices.
(b) All firearms sold or transferred in this state by a licensed firearms dealer, including private transfers through a dealer, and all firearms manufactured in this state shall bear the warning label or labels prescribed in Section 12088.3.
12088.2. (a) No later than January 1, 2000, the Attorney General shall commence development of regulations to implement a minimum safety standard for firearms safety devices to significantly reduce the risk of firearms-related injuries to children 18 years of age and younger. The final standard shall do all of the following:
(1) Address the risk of injury from unintentional gunshot wounds.
(2) Address the risk of injury from self-inflicted gunshot wounds by unauthorized users.
(3) Include provisions to ensure that all firearms safety devices are reusable and of adequate quality and construction to prevent children and unauthorized users from firing the firearm and to ensure that these devices cannot be readily removed from the firearm except by an authorized adult user utilizing the key, combination, or other method of access intended by the manufacturer of the device. [Doesn't say that the device must be a removable type.]
(4) Include additional provisions as appropriate.
Translated: AG free to make the standards as stringent as he pleases.
(b) The Attorney General shall consult, for the purposes of guidance in development of the standard, test protocols such as those described in Title 16 (commencing with Part 1700) of the Code of Federal Regulations, relating to poison prevention packaging standards. The Attorney General shall also give appropriate consideration to the use of devices that are not detachable, but are permanently installed and incorporated into the design of a firearm. ["smart" guns] The Attorney General shall adopt and issue regulations implementing a final standard not later than January 1, 2001. The Attorney General shall report to the Legislature on these standards by January 1, 2001. The final standard shall be effective January 1, 2002.
12088.3. (a) The packaging of any firearm and any descriptive materials that accompany any firearm sold or transferred in this state, or delivered for sale in this state, by any licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer, shall bear a label containing the following warning statement:
WARNING
Children are attracted to and can operate firearms that can cause severe injuries or death. Prevent child access by always keeping handguns locked away and unloaded.
[And how is anyone ever going to be able to use a handgun that is always kept locked away and unloaded?]
A yellow triangle containing an exclamation mark shall appear immediately before the word "Warning" on the label.
(b) If the firearm is sold or transferred without accompanying packaging, the warning label shall be affixed to the firearm itself by a method to be prescribed by regulation of the Attorney General.
(c) The warning statement required under subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be:
(1) Displayed in its entirety on the principal display panel of the firearm's package, and on any descriptive materials that accompany the firearm.
(2) Displayed in both English and Spanish in conspicuous and legible type in contrast by typography, layout, or color with other printed matter on that package or descriptive materials in a manner consistent with Part 1500.121 of Title 16, of the Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations thereto.
12088.4. (a) If at any time the Attorney General determines that a firearm or firearms safety device subject to the provisions of this article and sold after January 1, 2002, does not conform with the standards and warnings required by Sections 12088.1, 12088.2, and 12088.3, the Attorney General may order the recall and replacement of the firearm or firearms safety device by the licensed manufacturer, or licensed firearms dealer, or order that the licensed manufacturer or licensed firearms dealer bring the firearm or firearms safety device into conformity with those requirements. If only the firearms safety device is recalled, the licensed manufacturer of the firearms safety device or licensed firearms dealer shall immediately provide a conforming replacement.
12088.5. (a) Each law enforcement agency investigating an incident shall report to the Attorney General any information obtained by the manufacturer, importer, or dealer which reasonably supports the conclusion that:
(1) Any incident in which a child 18 years of age or younger
suffered an unintentional or self-inflicted gunshot wound
inflicted by a firearm that was sold or transferred in this
state, or delivered for sale in this state, by the licensed
manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer, after the
effective date of this article. [the one added by this bill]
Why report only those involving handguns that have had to have the safety devices and notices? To sue for not keeping the gun always locked up and unloaded? Why not only those that appear not to have had the device and warning when sold/made/transferred since that is what the statute prohibits and gives penalties for?
(2) Whether as a result of that incident the child died, suffered serious injury, or was treated for an injury by a medical professional.
12088.6. Any violation of Section 12088.1 or Section 12088.3 is punishable by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000). On the second violation of any of those sections, the licensed firearm manufacturer shall be ineligible to manufacture, the licensed firearm importer shall be ineligible to import, or the licensed firearm dealer shall be ineligible to sell, firearms in this state for 30 days, and shall be punished by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000). On the third violation of any of those sections, a firearm manufacturer shall be permanently ineligible to manufacture firearms in this state. On the third violation of any of those sections, a licensed firearm importer shall be permanently ineligible to import firearms into this state for sale in this state. On the third violation of any of those sections, a licensed firearm dealer shall be permanently ineligible to sell firearms in this state.
12088.7. (a) Compliance with the requirements set
forth in this article shall not relieve any person from
liability to any other person as may be imposed pursuant to
common law, statutory law, or local ordinance.
(b) Nothing in this article shall require or prohibit any local ordinance which places a more stringent requirement upon firearms manufacturers, importers, or dealers regarding firearm use-limitation devices or trigger locks.
12088.8. (a) This article does not apply to the commerce of any firearm defined as an "antique firearm" in paragraph (16) of subsection (a) of Section 921 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(b) This article shall not apply to the commerce of any firearm intended to be used by a full-time, paid peace officer as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.
[BILL]
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB 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 XIIIB of the California Constitution.