Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends the Business and Professions Code and the Penal Code to apply the same reporting requirements for handgun and non-handgun firearm sales.

Highlights:

• Requires all firearms dealers, including secondhand dealers, to report all sales to the Department of Justice (Sec. 1).

• Requires the attorney general to keep copies of fingerprints of gun owners, licenses and sales records, and to make the copies available during criminal investigations (Sec. 2).

• Requires the attorney general to permanently keep all records filed with the Department of Justice for all types of firearms sales, including those firearms other than handguns, beginning July 1, 2012 (Sec. 2).

• Requires the attorney general to maintain a firearm-owner registry with the following information (Sec. 2):
• -the identifying information of the person purchasing the gun -the identifying information of the person to whom the gun previously belonged, if there is such a person -any waiting period exemption applied to the purchase -the identifying information of the firearm.

• Defines "firearm" as any device, designed to be used as a weapon, from which is expelled through the barrel, a projectile by the force of explosion or any other form of combustion (Sec. 3).

• Defines "handgun" as any pistol, revolver, or firearm capable of being concealed on a person (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes cities and counties to grant firearms licenses lasting for no longer than one year, and requires that the cities and/or counties provide a written explanation of denial when they deny an applicant a license (Sec. 5).

• Requires all dealers to keep records of all electronic and telephonic transfers (Sec. 7).

• Establishes that anyone who knowingly offers false identification information for the register when purchasing a firearm is guilty of a misdemeanor, and anyone prohibited by the Penal Code or the Welfare and Institutions Code from obtaining a firearm who attempts to do so using false information will be imprisoned for no more than one year in a county jail or 8, 12, or 18 months in a state prison (Sec. 8).

• Authorizes the Department of Justice to require dealers to charge a fee of no more than $14 per sale to cover the costs of performing the firearm regulations (Sec. 8).

• Requires the Department of Justice to keep records with information about the weapon and purchaser for all handgun sales and, starting July 1, 2012, for all firearm sales (Sec. 9).

• Specifies that waiting periods will not apply to full-time, paid peace officers who are authorized by their employers to carry firearms while on-duty or to governmental agencies purchasing firearms for agency use (Sec. 11).

• Establishes that any dealer who does not keep an inventory of firearms is not required to process private party transfers of handguns (Sec. 12).

Full Bill Text