BILL ANALYSIS
AJR 18
Date of Hearing: April 25, 1995
Counsel: David R. Shaw
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Paula L. Boland, Chair
AJR 18 (Caldera) - As Introduced: March 20, 1995
ISSUE: SHOULD THE LEGISLATURE REQUEST THE PRESIDENT TO AND THE
CONGRESS NOT TO REPEAL THE SUBTITLE A OF TITLE XI OF THE
VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1994, THE
PUBLIC SAFETY AND RECREATIONAL FIREARMS USE PROTECTION ACT?
DIGEST
This resolution finds that:
1) On July 18, 1984, James Oliver Huberty walked into a McDonald's
Restaurant in San Ysidro, California, fired 245 bullets from a
9mm Uzi semiautomatic carbine and a 9mm Browning semiautomatic
pistol and fired another 12 shells from a 12 gauge shotgun,
gunning down 40 persons and killing 21 before being killed by
law enforcement personnel.
2) On January 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy walked onto the grounds of
the Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, and
opened fire on nearly 400 students who were outside during
recess with an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle and a 9mm Taurus
handgun, discharged a 100-round and a 30-round "banana clip,"
and took his own life after killing five children and wounding
30 others.
3) In response to those and other slaughters, in 1989 California
enacted the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act
restricting the sale, manufacture, distribution, transport,
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import, possession, and lending of certain semiautomatic
assault weapons in California.
4) The Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989
effectively stabilized the number of crimes involving
semiautomatic assault weapons in California while they soared
nationally.
5) Despite the fact that the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon Control
Act of 1989 authorizes the California Department of Justice
(DOJ) to add semiautomatic assault weapons to the list of
banned weapons, the DOJ has been embroiled in an ongoing court
action regarding its authority to add semiautomatic assault
weapons to the list of restricted weapons, and, as a result,
the
Attorney General (AG) has been enjoined from adding any new
weapons to the list.
6) Because of the court action, semiautomatic assault weapon
manufacturers were free to market "copycat" weapons by renaming
assault weapons restricted under California law and making
cosmetic changes in their design.
7) The manufacturers of the TEC-9, a semiautomatic assault weapon
banned under California law, were able to market and sell an
almost identical weapon, the TEC-DC9, because of the court
injunction against the AG.
8) On July 1, 1993, Gian Luigi Ferri murdered eight people and
wounded six others at the offices of the Pettit & Martin law
firm in San Francisco, California, before he took his own life
using a TEC-DC9 assault pistol legally purchased in Nevada and
capable of firing more than 50 rounds before reloading.
9) On February 22, 1994, Los Angeles Police Officer Christy Lynne
Hamilton was slain with an AR-15 military-style assault weapon
by 17-year-old Christopher Golly, who moments earlier had
killed his father and who later shot himself to death after a
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dispute over loud music.
10)The Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon Control Act of 1989 has been
circumvented by manufacturers of semiautomatic assault weapons.
11)Subtitle A of Title XI of the recently enacted federal Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the Public
Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, employs an
objective, "generic" definition of semiautomatic assault
weapons.
12)The "generic" definition of semiautomatic assault weapons in
the federal law prevents semiautomatic assault weapon
manufacturers from circumventing the law by selling "copycat"
weapons.
13)California law does not limit the capacity of ammunition
magazines.
14) The federal law bans large ammunition magazines capable of
feeding more than 10 rounds of ammunition at at time, thus
limiting the destructive capability of potential killers.
15)The Federal Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use
Protection Act prohibits the sale and manufacture of
semiautomatic assault weapons throughout the United States,
thereby reducing the likelihood of those weapons being
transported into California from nearby states that did not
restrict the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons prior to the
enactment of the federal law.
16)Semiautomatic assault weapons designed for military combat have
no legitimate sporting purpose and pose a direct and mortal
threat to the safety of innocent civilians.
17)Gun violence continues to plague our society.
18)We cannot afford to turn back the clock on the advances in
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public safety achieved by Congress.
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19)Gun violence costs California billions of dollars annually in
medical expenses, lost worker productivity, additional school
safety expenditures, increased business costs, and lost
tourism.
20) The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act
significantly strengthened public safety in California through an
improved statutory definition of semiautomatic assault weapons,
limits on ammunition magazine capacities, and its prohibition of
the sale and manufacture of semiautomatic assault weapons
throughout the nation.
This resolution resolves that:
1) The Legislature of the State of California, in expressing its
grave concern for the health and safety of Californians and
persons visiting this state, hereby memorializes the President
and the Congress of the United States not to jeopardize the
public health and safety by repealing or otherwise weakening
Subtitle A of Title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994, the Public Safety and Recreational
Firearms Use Protection Act.
2) That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this
resolution to the President of the United States, to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each Senator
and Representative from California in the Congress of the
United States.
COMMENTS
1) Purpose. According to the author:
In the past 10 years assault weapons have been used in San
Ysidro, Stockton, and San Francisco, to slaughter dozens of
innocent people, many of whom were children. Less than a
year ago, a 17 year old in Northridge shot to death, first
his father, then Los Angeles police officer Christy Lynn
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Hamilton, and then himself with an AR-15 military style
assault weapon. Firearms designed for military combat have
no legitimate sporting or self-defense purpose. Instead
they pose a serious threat to the safety of innocent
Californians.
In addition to the human toll, gun violence costs
California billions of dollars every year in medical
expenses, lost worker productivity, additional workplace
and school safety expenditures, increased business costs,
and lost tourism. California cannot afford the repeal or
watering down of this important public safety measure.
As you know, California enacted the Roberti-Roos Assault
Weapons Control Act in 1989, which banned listed assault
weapons in this state and authorized the AG to add named
weapons to a list of banned assault weapons after its
enactment. However, shortly after the enactment of that
legislation, assault weapon manufacturers began
circumventing that law by making insignificant design
changes to banned weapons and then renaming them. The
California DOJ attempted to add those "copycat" weapons to
the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons ban, but has been enjoined
by a California trial appellate court from doing so pending the
outcome of a lawsuit filed by an assault weapons manufacturer
challenging the AG's authority. Attorney General Lungren is still
engaged in this court battle to enforce our state law by adding
copycat weapons to the list of restricted weapons.
Fortunately, the federal assault weapons ban uses a
generic description of assault weapons, which prevents
manufacturers from circumventing the law by producing
copycat weapons. If that law is repealed, assault weapons
manufacturers could once again sell assault weapons in
California.
The federal law also supplements and enhances the
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California ban on assault weapons in two additional ways.
First, banning the sale of military-assault weapons
throughout the United States significantly decreases the
likelihood of assault weapons being smuggled into
California and used by individuals with homicidal
intentions. Second, the federal law, which limits
ammunition feeding devices to carrying 10 rounds of
ammunition at at time, decreases the firepower of would-be
mass murderers. The repeal or weakening of this law would
be disastrous to California.
According to a December 19, 1993 CNN/USA Today poll, 77
percent of Americans support a federal ban on Military
assault weapons. Please join me in urging Congress to
stand by the current ban on assault weapons.
2) The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act
(PSRFPA). Title 18, section 922(v)(1) United States Code,
enacted September 13, 1994, states that "It shall be unlawful
for a person to manufacture, transfer, or possess a
semiautomatic assault weapon." However, section 922(v)(2)
states that the preceding paragraph "shall not apply to the
possession of any semiautomatic assault weapon otherwise
lawfully possessed under Federal law prior to the enactment of
this subsection." In the subsections that follow, PSRFPA, much
like the Roberti-Roos Act, lists certain assault weapons by
name, and also by offending characteristics, such as folding or
telescopic stocks, flash suppressors, threaded barrels, a
pistol grip, bayonet mount, etc. PSRFPA also, unlike
California law, purports to ban "large capacity ammunition
feeding devices", such as ammunition magazines that hold more
than 10 rounds. This provision is also made inapplicable to
all pre-existing magazines or other large capacity ammunition
feeding devices.
3) Assault Weapon Ban. In reality, PSRFPA does not ban the
possession, transportation or sale of assault weapons in the
United States. The only actual proscription imposed by PSRFPA
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is on new manufacture of certain semiautomatic firearms and on
certain "ammunition feeding devices". It does not prevent
manufacturers from making cosmetic changes to semiautomatic
firearms, renaming them and selling them. Nor does PSRFPA stop
the sale of pre-existing magazines with a capacity greater than
ten rounds. Virtually all manufacturers, anticipating PSRFPA's
passage, stockpiled firearms and magazines and have an ample
supply for the future.
One recent advertisement for 30 round magazines for Colt AR-15
rifles (which have since been redesigned, renamed as the
"Ultramatch" and are now legally sold) stated that a 200 year
supply currently existed for the old or new rifles. The price of
certain firearms and magazines did skyrocket following the passage
of PSRFPA, up to as much as 500 percent in some cases, although
prices have now begun to fall.
4) PSRFPA's Effect on Violent Crime. Objectively, as opposed to
emotionally, it would seem that, PSRFPA has had little or no
positive discernible effect on reducing firearms related
violent crime anywhere in the United States, much less
California. In fact, PSRFPA has been characterized as the
single greatest sales promotion in history for semiautomatic
firearms, due to the panic buying that ensued when it was first
announced. People who never thought about buying an assault
weapon rushed out, determined not to lose the right to do so,
and bought one or two. During a February 5, 1995, 60 Minutes
TV Program, CBS co-host Leslie Stahl, referring to the
advertising effect of PSRFPA said that..."it made 1994 the best
year for gun sales in a generation and the best year for the
sales of assault weapons ever. Even with that unprecedented
demand, there is still an enormous supply of these so-called
banned guns available, and its all legal." Stahl, in the same
program, quoted government estimates that there are
approximately 1.5 million "assault weapons" in circulation in
the United States. Despite the increased sales in these
weapons, no corresponding increase in firearms related-violent
crime involving these types of firearms has been reported.
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5) Legitimate Sporting Purpose. This resolution would proclaim
that "semiautomatic assault weapons designed for combat have no
legitimate sporting purpose..." This ignores the long standing
and quite popular international sports of National Match and
Service Rifle Competition. In these sports, the competitors
must use a military surplus or civilian copy of a semiautomatic
military rifle to compete, so that there is standardization in
the respective sports. For those engaged in match competition
and recreational shooting which make up the vast majority of
"assault rifle" owners, the notion that their sport has been
deemed to be "illegitimate" by their elected representatives is
abhorrent. Perhaps this is why President Clinton has stated
that 20 members of Congress were defeated because of their
support of the PSRFPA.
6) Potential Effect. Adoption of this resolution would reflect
the very real public sentiment that Californians are sick of
gun-related violent crime. Are we willing to accept
ineffective firearms legislation as a substitute for real crime
reform from the President and the United States Congress?
SOURCE: Author
SUPPORT: Handgun Control, Inc./Legal Community Against
Violence
Government Relations Oversight Committee
California Medical Association
Anthony D. Ribera, Chief of Police, San Francisco
Frank D. Jordan, Mayor, San Francisco
Scott L. Parsons, Chief of Police, Orinda
James A. Cost, Chief of Police, Campbell
Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator
The Los Angeles City Council
California Association of Health Professionals
OPPOSITION:The National Rifle Association
California Rifle and Pistol Association
Gun Owners of California, Inc.
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The Sports and Arms Show Producers of America
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