BILL NUMBER: SB 140 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 4, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senators Leno and Steinberg
(Principal coauthors: Senators Hancock
Anderson, Cannella, Hancock, and Jackson)
(Coauthors: Senators Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett,
Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Hill, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Pavley, Roth,
Rubio, Wolk, and Wright Wright,
and Yee )
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano and Blumenfield)
JANUARY 29, 2013
An act to amend the Budget Act of 2012 by amending Item
0820-001-0460 of Section 2.00 of that act, relating to the state
budget add Section 30015 to the Penal Code, relating
to firearms , making an appropriation therefor, and declaring
the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 140, as amended, Leno. Budget Act of 2012: firearms.
Firearms: prohibited persons.
The Budget Act of 2012 made appropriations for the support of
state government for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
This bill would amend the Budget Act of 2012 by revising an item
of appropriation for the Department of Justice relating to the Armed
Prohibitive Persons System (APPS).
Existing law establishes the Dealers' Record of Sale Special
Account in the General Fund with moneys in the account available upon
appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires the Attorney
General to establish and maintain an online database to be known as
the Prohibited Armed Persons File, sometimes referred to as the Armed
Prohibited Persons System, to cross-reference persons who have
ownership or possession of a firearm with those who are prohibited
from owning or possessing a firearm.
This bill would appropriate $24,000,000 from the Dealers' Record
of Sale Special Account to the Department of Justice to address the
backlog in the Armed Prohibited Persons System, thereby making an
appropriation. The bill would require the department to report to the
Joint Legislative Budget Committee regarding ways the backlog in
the Armed Prohibited Persons System has been reduced or eliminated,
as specified. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated 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) California is the first and only state in the nation to
establish an automated system for tracking handgun and assault weapon
owners who might fall into a prohibited status.
(b) The online database, which is currently known as the Armed
Prohibited Persons System (APPS), cross-references all handgun and
assault weapon owners across the state against criminal history
records to determine persons who have been, or will become,
prohibited from possessing a firearm subsequent to the legal
acquisition or registration of a firearm or assault weapon.
(c) Each day, the list of armed prohibited persons in California
grows by about 15 to 20 people. There are currently more than 19,000
armed prohibited persons in California. Collectively, these
individuals are believed to be in possession of over 34,000 handguns
and 1,590 assault weapons.
(d) Neither the Department of Justice nor local law enforcement
has sufficient resources to confiscate the enormous backlog of
weapons, nor can they keep up with the daily influx of newly
prohibited persons.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this measure
to allow the Department of Justice to utilize additional Dealers'
Record of Sale Special Account funds for the limited purpose of
addressing the current APPS backlog and the illegal possession of
these firearms, which presents a substantial danger to public safety.
SEC. 2. Item 0820-001-0460 of Section 2.00 of
the Budget Act of 2012 is amended to read:
0820-001-0460--For support of Department of
Justice, for payment to Item 0820-001-0001,
payable from the Dealers' Record of Sale
Special Account............................. ______
Provisions:
1. Dealers' Record of Sale fees
collected pursuant to the state law
for the registration of assault
weapons shall not exceed $20 per
registrant.
2. The Attorney General may augment
the amount appropriated in the
Dealers' Record of Sale Special
Account up to an aggregate of 10
percent above the amount approved
in this act for the Division of Law
Enforcement, Bureau of Firearms for
unanticipated workload associated
with this fund. The Attorney
General shall notify the
chairpersons of the budget
committees of both houses of the
Legislature, the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee, and the
Department of Finance within 15
days after the augmentation is made
as to the amount and justification
of the augmentation.
3. Of the amount appropriated in this
item, the sum of $______ may be
used to address the backlog in the
Armed Prohibited Persons System
(APPS). No later than _____, the
department shall report to the
Joint Legislative Budget Committee
the degree to which the backlog has
been reduced or eliminated and the
number of weapons confiscated
through this effort.
SEC. 2. Section 30015 is added to the
Penal Code , to read:
30015. (a) The sum of twenty-four million dollars ($24,000,000)
is hereby appropriated from the Dealers' Record of Sale Special
Account in the General Fund to the Department of Justice to address
the backlog in the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) and the
illegal possession of firearms by those prohibited persons.
(b) No later than March 1, 2015, and no later than March 1 each
year thereafter, the department shall report to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee all of the following for the immediately preceding
calendar year:
(1) The degree to which the backlog in the APPS has been reduced
or eliminated.
(2) The number of agents hired for enforcement of the APPS.
(3) The number of people cleared from the APPS.
(4) The number of people added to the APPS.
(5) The number of people in the APPS before and after the relevant
reporting period, including a breakdown of why each person in the
APPS is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
(6) The number of firearms recovered due to enforcement of the
APPS.
(7) The number of contacts made during the APPS enforcement
efforts.
(8) Information regarding task forces or collaboration with local
law enforcement on reducing the APPS backlog.
(c) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (b) is inoperative on March 1, 2019, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to address the current Armed Prohibited Persons System
(APPS) backlog and the illegal possession of firearms, which presents
an immediate danger to public safety, it is necessary for this act
to take effect immediately.