Senate Bill No. 264
CHAPTER 684

An act to add Section 27575 to the Penal Code, relating to firearms.

[ Approved by Governor  October 08, 2021. Filed with Secretary of State  October 08, 2021. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 264, Min. Firearms: the OC Fair and Event Center.
Existing law generally regulates the sale and transfer of firearms, including, among other things, requiring transactions of firearms to be completed through a licensed firearms dealer. Existing law generally makes a violation of the requirements relating to the sale, lease, or transfer of a firearm a misdemeanor.
This bill would prohibit an officer, employee, operator, lessee, or licensee of the 32nd District Agricultural Association, as defined, from contracting for, authorizing, or allowing the sale of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition on the property or in the buildings that comprise the OC Fair and Event Center, as specified. The bill would exempt from its provisions a gun buyback event held by a law enforcement agency, the sale of a firearm by a public administrator, public guardian, or public conservator within the course of their duties, a sale that occurs pursuant to a contract that was entered into before January 1, 2022, and the purchase of ammunition on state property by a law enforcement agency in the course of its regular duties. Because a violation of this prohibition would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Some state properties, such as fairgrounds in District Agricultural Associations (DAAs), lease a portion of their fairgrounds to entities that sponsor marketplaces popularly known as “gun shows,” at which firearms and ammunition and other items are sold to the public approximately five times a year on average among state fairgrounds.
(b) The United States has experienced many gun-related tragedies with increasing severity and frequency in the last 30 years, including mass murders at Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and an increasing rate of suicide by gun among all levels of society.
(c) Various California cities, such as the Cities of Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas have adopted resolutions requesting that their local Del Mar Fairgrounds (DMFG) Board discontinue leasing any portion of its property for use as a gun show. A committee appointed by the Board of Directors of the 22nd DAA to study gun shows conducted research, including inspection tours of the Del Mar Gun Show by members of the committee as well as by several other members of the DMFG Board.
(d) In direct response to this community concern, Assembly Member Todd Gloria passed AB 893 into law, banning gun shows from the DMFG, setting a precedent for gun show legislation in California.
(e) Gun shows bring grave danger to a community, and the following dangerous incidents, among others, have occurred at gun shows, including, but not limited to, an official vendor accused of trafficking illegal firearms, sales of firearms to individuals registered in the Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms Armed Prohibited Persons System, and illegal importation of large-capacity magazines.
(f) Promoters maintain relationships with a core group of vendors, some selling guns and some selling other merchandise, who travel as the schedule dictates from city to city and state to state and in the west, for example, many of the same vendors can be seen at Crossroads of the West Gun Shows from San Francisco, California, to Tucson, Arizona.

SEC. 2.

 Section 27575 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

27575.
 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, an officer, employee, operator, lessee, or licensee of the 32nd District Agricultural Association, as defined in Section 3884 of the Food and Agricultural Code, shall not contract for, authorize, or allow the sale of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition on the property or in the buildings that comprise the OC Fair and Event Center, in the County of Orange, the City of Costa Mesa, or any successor or additional property owned, leased, or otherwise occupied or operated by the district.
(b) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) A gun buyback event held by a law enforcement agency.
(2) The sale of a firearm by a public administrator, public conservator, or public guardian within the course of their duties.
(3) The sale of a firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition on state property that occurs pursuant to a contract that was entered into before January 1, 2022.
(4) The purchase of ammunition on state property by a law enforcement agency in the course of its regular duties.

SEC. 3.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.