CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 3071

Introduced by Assembly Member Mullin
(Coauthor: Senator Wieckowski)

February 21, 2020

An act to add Section 30313 to the Penal Code, relating to ammunition.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 3071, as introduced, Mullin. Lead ammunition: shooting ranges.
Existing law requires the sale of ammunition to be conducted by or processed through a licensed ammunition vendor. Existing law also requires the use of nonlead ammunition when taking big game mammals, nongame birds, or nongame mammals within the California condor range. Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission to maintain, by regulation, a public process to certify ammunition as nonlead ammunition and to establish and annually update a list of certified nonlead ammunition.
This bill would prohibit a sport shooting range or an indoor shooting range, as defined, from selling or giving away ammunition unless that ammunition is certified as nonlead ammunition by the commission. The bill would also prohibit patrons or employees of a sport shooting range or an indoor shooting range from firing ammunition unless it is nonlead certified and would require a sport shooting range and an indoor shooting range to post a specified sign to that effect.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Fifty years of research has shown that the presence of lead in the environment poses an ongoing threat to the health of the general public, whether at the workplace, the home, or in recreational endeavors.
(b) The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines lead as toxic to both humans and animals. Lead can affect almost every organ and system in the human body, including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems. It interferes with the development of the nervous system and is therefore particularly toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning and behavior disorders.
(c) Lead is a potent neurotoxin, for which no safe exposure level exists for humans. The use of lead has been outlawed in and removed from paint, gasoline, children’s toys, and many other items to protect human health and wildlife.
(d) In order to limit wildlife exposure to lead ammunition, California banned the use of lead ammunition for hunting in AB 711 (Chapter 742 of the Statutes of 2013), which was fully implemented on July 1, 2019.
(e) Ammunition that does not contain lead is readily available. Studies have shown that nonlead ammunition performs as well as, or better than, lead ammunition.
(f) A shooting range, especially an indoor shooting range, is a location that is a high-risk area for exposure to toxic lead. There are multiple documented examples of employees, patrons, and people in adjoining properties being exposed to lead dust from shooting ranges.
(g) Lead is spread through the vapor when a gun is fired and by the dust that comes off the bullet when it is fired. While some ranges have filters and other devices to remediate the lead dust, containment of lead dust in shooting ranges varies considerably between facilities. The only means to ensure that there will not be exposure to those inside and outside of the range is to stop using lead ammunition.

SEC. 2.

 Section 30313 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

30313.
 (a) A sport shooting range or indoor shooting range, as defined in Section 3482.1 of the Civil Code, shall not sell or give away ammunition unless that ammunition is certified as nonlead ammunition pursuant to Section 3004.5 of the Fish and Game Code.
(b) Only nonlead ammunition may be fired by patrons or employees within a sport shooting range or indoor shooting range.
(c) A sport shooting range or indoor shooting range shall conspicuously display, in a place where it can be seen by employees and patrons, a notice that reads, “The use of lead ammunition is prohibited in this facility.”