AB 500

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law requires the Department of Justice, upon submission of firearm purchaser information, to examine its records to determine if the purchaser is prohibited from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm. Existing law prohibits the delivery of a firearm within 10 days of the application to purchase, or, after notice by the department, within 10 days of the submission to the department of any corrections to the application to purchase, or within 10 days of the submission to the department of a specified fee. Existing law generally requires firearms transactions to be completed through a licensed firearms dealer. If a dealer cannot legally deliver a firearm, existing law requires the dealer to return the firearm to the transferor, seller, or person loaning the firearm. This bill would require the department to immediately notify the dealer to delay the transfer of a firearm to a purchaser if the records of the department, or if specified records available to the department, indicate that the purchaser has been taken into custody and placed in a facility for mental health treatment or evaluation, that he or she has been arrested for, or charged with, a crime, or that the purchaser is attempting to purchase more than one firearm within a 30-day period, and the department is unable to ascertain whether the purchaser is ineligible to possess, receive, own, or purchase the firearm as a result of the determination of the purchaser's mental health, the final disposition of the arrest or criminal charge, or whether the purchaser is ineligible to purchase the firearm because he or she is attempting to purchase more than one firearm within a 30-day period, prior to the conclusion of the 10-day waiting period. If the department is unable to ascertain the final disposition of the arrest or criminal charge, the outcome of the mental health treatment or evaluation, or whether the purchaser is ineligible to purchase the firearm because he or she is attempting to purchase more than one firearm within a 30-day period, within 30 days of the dealer's submission of purchaser information, the bill would require the department to notify the firearms dealer, and would authorize the dealer to then immediately transfer the firearm to the purchaser. The bill would also enact similar provisions additionally requiring, among other things, the dealer and the purchaser to sign the register or record of electronic transfer, to take effect if AB 538 is enacted and amends Section 28160 of the Penal Code. (2) Existing law requires a firearm purchaser to present the dealer with clear evidence of the person's identity and age, and requires the dealer to make a permanent record of the transaction. Existing law requires the dealer to transmit the record of applicant information to the Department of Justice by electronic or telephonic transfer. Commencing January 1, 2015, this bill would also require a dealer to notify the department that the person in an application to purchase actually took possession of the firearm, as specified. (3) Under existing law certain persons are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, including persons convicted of certain violent offenses, and persons who have been adjudicated as having a mental disorder, among others. This bill would prohibit a person who is residing with someone who is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a firearm from keeping a firearm at that residence unless the firearm is either kept within a locked container, locked gun safe, locked trunk, locked with a locking device, disabled by a firearm safety device, or carried on the person. The bill would make a violation of this provision a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) The bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11106 of the Penal Code, made by this bill, AB 539, and SB 53, and additional changes to Section 16520 of the Penal Code made by this bill and SB 299, to take effect if one or more of those bills are chaptered and this bill is chaptered last. (5) 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.