BILL NUMBER: SB 1456	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 6, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Nielsen

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to  amend Section 30625 of   add
Section 30626 to  the Penal Code, relating to firearms.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1456, as amended, Nielsen. Firearms: Assault weapons and .50
BMG rifles: exemptions.
   Existing law generally makes it a crime to possess, manufacture,
distribute, transport, import for sale, keep for sale, offer or
expose for sale, or give or lend any assault weapon or .50 BMG rifle.
Under existing law, these prohibitions on assault weapons and .50
BMG rifles do not apply to the sale to, purchase by, importation
 of   by  , or possession by, the
Department of Justice, the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, or to any police department or sheriff's office,
among other entities.
   This bill would also make the above prohibitions inapplicable to
the  sale to, purchase by, importation of, or possession of,
assault weapons or .50 BMG rifles by   sale of an
assault weapon or a .50 BMG rifle to, or the purchase, importation,
or possession of an assault weapon or a .50 BMG rifle by,  the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.  The bill would
authorize the department to issue an assault weapon or a .50 BMG
rifle to a peace officer employed by the department for use in
performing the officer's duties, as specified. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 30626 is added to the 
 Penal Code   , to read:  
   30626.  (a) Sections 30600, 30605, and 30610 do not apply to the
sale of an assault weapon or a .50 BMG rifle to, or the purchase,
importation, or possession of an assault weapon or a .50 BMG rifle
by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
   (b) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection may issue an
assault weapon or .50 BMG rifle to a sworn peace officer within the
department if the department determines that an assault weapon or .50
BMG rifle is necessary for the officer to perform his or her duties.

   (c) Sections 30605 and 30610 do not prohibit the possession or use
in the course and scope of an officer's duties of an assault weapon
or .50 BMG rifle by a sworn peace officer who is employed by the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 30625 of the Penal Code is
amended to read:
   30625.  Sections 30600, 30605, and 30610 shall not apply to the
sale to, purchase by, importation of, or possession of assault
weapons or a .50 BMG rifle by the Department of Justice, police
departments, sheriffs' offices, marshals' offices, the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Department of the California
Highway Patrol, district attorneys' offices, the Department of Fish
and Wildlife, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the
Department of Parks and Recreation, or the military or naval forces
of this state or of the United States, or any federal law enforcement
agency for use in the discharge of their official duties.