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2004 Dangerous Weapons Control Law
12087 thru 12088.9 Firearms Safety Devices
ARTICLE 4.5. FIREARMS SAFETY 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 deaths.
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.
12087.6. As used in this article:
(a) "Firearms safety device" means a device other than a gun safe that locks and is designed to prevent children and unauthorized users from firing a firearm. The device may be installed on a firearm, be incorporated into the design of the firearm, or prevent access to the firearm.
(b) "Gun safe" means a locking container that fully contains and secures one or more firearms, and that meets the standards for gun safes adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2.
(c) "Long-gun safe" means a locking container designed to fully contain and secure a rifle as defined in paragraph (20) of subdivision (c) of Section 12020 or a shotgun as defined in paragraph (21) of subdivision (c) of Section 12020, that has a locking system consisting of either a mechanical combination lock or an electronic combination lock that has at least 1,000 possible unique combinations consisting of a minimum of three numbers, letters, or symbols per combination, and that is not listed on the roster maintained pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 12088.
12088. (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, including costs associated with the development and approval of regulations and standards pursuant to Section 12088.2.
(c) The certified laboratory shall, at the manufacturer'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 or dealer 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 firearms 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.
(f) The department may randomly retest samples obtained from sources other than directly from the manufacturer of the firearms safety device listed on the roster to ensure compliance with the requirements of this article.
(g) Firearms safety devices used for random sample testing and obtained from sources other than the manufacturer shall be in new, unused condition, and still in the manufacturer's original and unopened package.
12088.1. (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 and that is identified as appropriate for that firearm by reference to either the manufacturer and model of the firearm, or to the physical characteristics of the firearm that match those listed on the roster for use with the device.
(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 be accompanied with warning language or labels as described in Section 12088.3.
(c)(1) All long-gun safes commercially sold or transferred in this state, or manufactured in this state for sale in this state, that do not meet the standards for gun safes adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2 shall be accompanied by the following warning:
"WARNING: This gun safe does not meet the safety standards for gun safes specified in California Penal Code Section 12088.2. It does not satisfy the requirements of Penal Code Section 12088.1, which mandates that all firearms sold in California be accompanied by a firearms safety device or proof of ownership, as required by law, of a gun safe that meets the Section 12088.2 minimum safety standards developed by the California Attorney General."
(2) This warning shall be conspicuously displayed in its entirety on the principal display panel of the gun safe's package, on any descriptive materials that accompany the gun safe, and on a label affixed to the front of the gun safe.
(3) This warning shall be displayed in both English and Spanish in conspicuous and legible type in contrast by typography, layout, or color with other printed matter on the 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.
(d) The sale or transfer of a firearm shall be exempt from subdivision (a) if both of the following apply:
(1) The purchaser or transferee owns a gun safe that meets the standards set forth in Section 12088.2. Gun safes shall not be required to be tested, and therefore may meet the standards without appearing on the Department of Justice roster.
(2) The purchaser or transferee presents an original receipt for purchase of the gun safe, or other proof of purchase or ownership of the gun safe as authorized by the Attorney General, to the firearms dealer. The dealer shall maintain a copy of this receipt or proof of purchase with the dealers' record of sales of firearms.
(e) The sale or transfer of a firearm shall be exempt from subdivision (a) if all of the following apply:
(1) The purchaser or transferee purchases an approved safety device no more than 30 days prior to the day the purchaser or transferee takes possession of the firearm.
(2) The purchaser or transferee presents the approved safety device to the firearms dealer when picking up the firearm.
(3) The purchaser or transferee presents an original receipt to the firearms dealer which shows the date of purchase, the name, and the model number of the safety device.
(4) The firearms dealer verifies that the requirements in (1) to (3), inclusive, have been satisfied.
(5) The firearms dealer maintains a copy of the receipt along with the dealers' record of sales of firearms.
12088.15. (a) No person shall keep for commercial sale, offer, or expose for commercial sale, or commercially sell any firearms safety device that is not listed on the roster maintained pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 12088, or that does not comply with the standards for firearms safety devices adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2.
(b) No person may distribute as part of an organized firearm safety program, with or without consideration, any firearm safety device that is not listed on the roster maintained pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 12088 or does not comply with the standards for firearms safety devices adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2.
(c) No long-gun safe may be manufactured in this state for sale in this state that does not comply with the standards for gun safes adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2, unless the long-gun safe is labeled by the manufacturer consistent with the requirements of Section 12088.1.
(d)(1) Any person who keeps for commercial sale, offers, or exposes for commercial sale, or who commercially sells a long-gun safe that does not comply with the standards for gun safes adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2, and who knows or has reason to know, that the long-gun safe in question does not meet the standards for gun safes adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2, is in violation of this section, and is punishable as provided in subdivision (e), unless the long-gun safe is labeled pursuant to Section 12088.1.
(2) Any person who keeps for commercial sale, offers, or exposes for commercial sale, or who commercially sells a long-gun safe that does not comply with the standards for gun safes adopted pursuant to Section 12088.2, and who removes or causes to be removed from the long-gun safe, the label required pursuant to Section 12088.1, is in violation of this section, and is punishable as provided in subdivision (e).
(e) A violation of this section is punishable by a civil fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500). A second violation of this section that occurs within five years of the date of a previous offense is punishable by a civil fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) and, if the violation is committed by a licensed firearms dealer, the dealer shall be ineligible to sell firearms in this state for 30 days. A third or subsequent violation that occurs within five years of two or more previous offenses is punishable by a civil fine of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) and, if the violation is committed by a licensed firearms dealer, the firearms dealer shall be permanently ineligible to sell firearms in this state.
(f) The Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney may bring a civil action for a violation of the provisions of this section.
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 and gun safes to significantly reduce the risk of firearms-related injuries to children 17 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 and gun safes 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 or that the firearm cannot be readily removed from the gun safe except by an authorized user utilizing the key, combination, or other method of access intended by the manufacturer of the device.
(4) Include additional provisions as appropriate.
(b) The Attorney General may consult, for the purposes of guidance in development of the standards, 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. These protocols may be consulted to provide suggestions for potential methods to utilize in developing standards and shall serve as guidance only. 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. 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, 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 guns locked away and unloaded when not in use. If you keep a loaded firearm where a child obtains and improperly uses it, you may be fined or sent to prison.
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