CA Senate Bill 1037

[SFShep]

One of the new bills for the 2016 session is SB 1037 which among other things would create the presumption that anyone who is listed in AFS as the owner of a firearm is in possession of that firearm until the DOJ is notified to the contrary.

https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB1037/2015

Correct me, but isn't that how it's always been? If you sell a gun in California, the DOJ will not know about it (in spite of all the background checks and 10-day wait) unless you tell them using the "Notice of No Longer in Possession" form. And there's even a disclaimer on the form that says if you can't provide adequate documentation, DOJ may not be able to disassociate you from the firearm.

So hasn't it always been that if you bought a gun in California, DOJ would know about it immediately; but if you later sold that gun, DOJ would have no idea about it and would assume you still have it unless you send them a form with documentation saying that you no longer own it?

I myself have sold several of my own guns through the years and wasn't aware of the "Notice of No Longer in Possession" form until later. And it would be tough to get documentation for those sales at this point to send in the form now. And I assume there are others in that same predicament.

[RRangel]

Senator Ben Allen wants to make you forgetting to fill out a form prosecutable for life. As in no statute of limitations just like murder. This is the face of the new, heavy handed hard leftists, in the state of California. It's like they're taking their lessons from North Korea.

From FPC:

[RRangel]

This is a bad bill. That could see many get snared, into being charged with a felony, for merely exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

The text of SB 1037 came from this link.

Existing law requires reports of ownership be filed within certain grace periods for firearms brought or imported into the state by a personal firearms importer or licensed collector. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. Existing law provides that failure to submit those reports within the grace period is not a continuing offense.

This bill would provide that those violations committed on or after January 1, 2017, would be a continuing offense. The bill would make a violation of those provisions, in the case of a handgun, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony.

[robertkjjj]

Incredible. Yet another proposed law, to correct a problem that doesn't even exist.

It's very clear now: The Democrats are intent on simply HARASSING all gun owners to death.

It would be as if, in some small town, the mayor decided he was going to put up Speed Limit signs every 50 feet on the main road, with the speed limit changing with each sign: 32,15, 55, 43, 37, 29, 52.

And, then picking 2 random days a month, to post a radar trap along the road.

Any one of these laws alone is annoying.

But, when you take them all in the AGGREGATE, it all adds up to a focused and concerted effort to make gun ownership so onerous, that most owners will simply give up their hobby and cry uncle.

[tazmanian devil dog]

It truly is a bad bill. I don't think it stands a snowballs chance in heck of passing as it's written. You can't go back and charge someone for something like this and actually be able to prove there was a violation anyway. Not to mention how in the heck are they going to find out if you violated this law?? I don't see this as passable or enforceable. They just keep coming up with this stuff to harass us and they hope by sheer dumb luck they'll pass a bill or two.

This is a bad bill. That could see many get snared, into being charged with a felony, for merely exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

The text of SB 1037 came from this link.

[SamsDX]

When Senator Allen and his ilk found out about victims of draconian New Jersey gun laws like Brian Aitken, Shaneen Allen, Raymond Hughes, and countless others, they weren't shocked or offended, they got jealous. How can we make California more like New Jersey, where prosecutors have the freedom and unbridled discretion to prosecute technical violations of the law as serious felonies on the level of murder and rape? He simply designed this law for purposes of harassment so our state can, yet again, be at the center of ridicule and scorn. Except Senator Allen doesn't feel any shame in violating our fellow citizens' rights.

I have but one question for Senator Allen - Why? In invite you to name even one instance of a perceived miscarriage of justice resulting from an inability to prosecute someone who was otherwise a criminal but legally acquired a firearm out of state when he/she was living there, moved to California, and failed to register the gun.

[champu]

Just wrote via his website...

Dear Sir,

I have been a voter for 12 years in the constituency where you currently hold office and I am writing in opposition to SB1037 (which you have authored yet, curiously, do not include on your issues list in this form.) This measure is, as they say, in the weeds. I ask that you abandon it.

V/R,
-

[Swatter911]

This bill is a way to bootstrap a flawed firearms registry and give it a cover of legitimacy and accuracy. Changes to the evidence code are intended to allow LE agencies to more easily establish probable cause for the issuance of search warrants and prosecutors to prove ownership of firearms.

[The Gleam]

This little one here should not be forgotten either. It seems insignificant at first read, but consider the longer residual possibilities.

[Hoooper]

Im not sure I understand the constitutionality of a law that creates a presumtion like this. You either can reasonably be presumed to still be in possession or not, the law cant change that. If a law was passed that said all lawmakers are presumed to be child molesters that wouldnt make it OK to just drop by and search their homes.

[The Gleam]

Bump.

[wjc]

Just got an email from FPC saying the bill was pulled from the next Senate Public Safety Committee Hearing.

SB 1037 has been pulled from the next Senate Public Safety Committee Hearing and we have to thank you for your outpouring of opposition.

The bill, authored by Senator Ben Allen (D-Redondo Beach) will make non-violent firearms related crimes “continuing offenses.” These offenses involve unlawful self-importation or transfers of firearms. These crimes need not have any criminal intent, nor is there a victim involved. These victimless crimes are the act of import or transfer, not possession.

SB 1037 would make this prosecutable for life- the same as capital murder- all for forgetting to fill out a form and mail it to the California Department of Justice with $19.00.

http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/15-16/bill/sen/sb_1001-1050/sb_1037_bill_20160323_status.html

[all-cal]

This is part of the leftist "War on Guns" as revenge for the "War on Drugs" which punished the hippies, who are in control now.

[AceGirlsHusband]

He's probably wondering if its possible to pass a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to have once owned a firearm that was later used in a felony.

[The Gleam]

While I check this page frequently, sometimes several dozens times a day if a bill(s) are being heard, every few weeks while reading the California 2nd Amendment Political Discussion & Activism forum I realize focus is being lost, and I start seeing posts like "what should I get before the ban" and How do I register my AR15?".

This thread succinctly addresses this bill. It may need updates, but that's why it's being bumped and to get the importance of it back on the front page.

SOOooooo many of these bills are being ignored, forgotten or lost in the minutiae of how many Anti-2nd Amendment bills have been introduced this year, that it's exactly what these legislators have been hoping to do since the beginning - to create chaos, distraction, and an avalanche so cumbersome that most gun owners simply burn out, see it as futile, and go full-blown apathetic.

We can't let that happen.