California Senate Bill SB661 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 661AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu FEBRUARY 18, 2011  An act to amend Section 626.9 of the Penal Code, relating to firearms.   An act to add Section 594.37 to the Penal Code, relating to picketing.  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 661, as amended, Lieu.  Firearms: gun-free school zones.   Crime: picketing.   Existing law makes it a crime for a person to disturb, obstruct, detain, or interfere with any person carrying or accompanying human remains to a cemetery or funeral establishment, or engaged in a funeral service or an interment.   This bill would make it a crime, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 6 months, or by both, for a person to engage in picketing, as defined, except upon private property, which is targeted at a funeral, as defined, during the time period beginning one hour prior to the funeral and ending one hour after the conclusion of the funeral. The bill would set forth related findings and declarations.   Because this bill would create a new crime, the 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.   Existing law, subject to exceptions, provides that it is an offense for any person to possess a firearm in a place that the person knows, or reasonably should know, is a school zone, unless he or she has the written permission of the school district superintendent, his or her designee, or equivalent school authority. Existing law defines "school zone" for these purposes as an area in, or on the grounds of, a public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, or within a distance of 1,000 feet from the grounds of the public or private school. Existing law provides an exception to the prohibition for handguns that are unloaded and either in a locked container or within the locked trunk of a motor vehicle.   This bill would revise this exception to instead except from the above prohibition a handgun that is lawfully possessed, and either unloaded and in a locked container inside a motor vehicle or unloaded and inside a locked trunk of a motor vehicle. The bill would increase the size of the zone to include the area up to 1,500 feet from the grounds of the public or private school. By expanding the scope of an existing offense, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would create an exception to the school zone firearms possession prohibition for firearms that are otherwise lawfully possessed or transported in a vehicle on a driveway or parking lot of a school, as specified.   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. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following:   (1) It is generally recognized that families have a compelling interest in organizing and attending funerals for deceased relatives.   (2) The interests of families in privately and peacefully mourning the loss of deceased relatives are violated when funerals are disrupted by picketing.   (3) Picketing of funerals causes emotional disturbance and distress to grieving families who participate in funerals.   (4) Full opportunity exists for the exercise of freedom of speech and other constitutional rights at times other than within one hour prior to or during a funeral and one hour following the conclusion of a funeral.   (b) The purpose of this act is to protect the privacy of grieving families and to preserve the peaceful character of cemeteries, mortuaries, and places of worship during the time one hour before and one hour after a funeral.   SEC. 2.   Section 594.37 is added to the   Penal Code   , to   read:   594.37. (a) It is unlawful, except upon private property, for a person to engage in picketing targeted at a funeral during the time period beginning one hour prior to the funeral and ending one hour after the conclusion of the funeral. (b) Any violation of subdivision (a) is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months, or by both that fine and imprisonment. (c) For purposes of this section: (1) "Funeral" means the ceremony, or memorial service, held in connection with the burial or cremation of a deceased person. (2) "Picketing," for purposes of this section only, means protest activities engaged in by any person within 500 feet of a burial site, mortuary, or place of worship. (3) "Protest activities" includes oration, speech, use of sound amplification equipment in a manner that is intended to make or makes speech, including, but not limited to, oration audible to participants in a funeral, or similar conduct that is not part of the funeral, before an assembled group of people. (4) "Targeted at" means directed at or toward the deceased person or the attendees of a funeral. (d) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.   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.   SECTION 1.   Section 626.9 of the Penal Code, as amended by Section 59 of Chapter 178 of the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read: 626.9. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1995. (b) Any person who possesses a firearm in a place that the person knows, or reasonably should know, is a school zone, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e), unless it is with the written permission of the school district superintendent, his or her designee, or equivalent school authority, shall be punished as specified in subdivision (f). (c) Subdivision (b) does not apply to the possession of a firearm under any of the following circumstances: (1) Within a place of residence or place of business or on private property, if the place of residence, place of business, or private property is not part of the school grounds and the possession of the firearm is otherwise lawful. (2) (A) When a lawfully possessed pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed on the person is unloaded and is in a locked container inside a motor vehicle or unloaded and inside a locked trunk of a motor vehicle. (B) This section does not prohibit or limit the otherwise lawful transportation of any other firearm, other than a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed on the person, in accordance with state law, including the otherwise lawful possession or lawful transportation of a firearm, other than a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, located within a vehicle while the vehicle is on the driveway or the parking lot of a school. (3) When the person lawfully possessing the firearm reasonably believes that he or she is in grave danger because of circumstances forming the basis of a current restraining order issued by a court against another person or persons who has or have been found to pose a threat to his or her life or safety. This subdivision may not apply when the circumstances involve a mutual restraining order issued pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 6200) of the Family Code absent a factual finding of a specific threat to the person's life or safety. Upon a trial for violating subdivision (b), the trier of a fact shall determine whether the defendant was acting out of a reasonable belief that he or she was in grave danger. (4) (A) When the person is exempt from the prohibition against carrying a concealed firearm pursuant to Section 25615, 25625, 25630, or 25645. (B) Nothing in this subdivision is meant to allow an individual to possess a firearm on any school facility without the written permission of the school district superintendent, his or her designee, or equivalent school authority, except as provided in subparagraph (A). (d) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (b), it shall be unlawful for any person, with reckless disregard for the safety of another, to discharge, or attempt to discharge, a firearm in a school zone, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e). (2) The prohibition contained in this subdivision does not apply to the discharge of a firearm to the extent that the conditions of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) are satisfied. (e) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "School zone" means an area in, or on the grounds of, a public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, or within a distance of 1,500 feet from the grounds of the public or private school. (2) "Firearm" has the same meaning as that term is given in subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, of Section 16520. (3) "Locked container" has the same meaning as that term is given in Section 16850. (4) "Concealed firearm" has the same meaning as that term is given in Sections 25400 and 25610. (5) "School facility" means any building or property, excluding driveways and parking lots, located on the grounds of a public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive. (f) (1) Any person who violates subdivision (b) by possessing a firearm in, or on the grounds of, a public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or five years. (2) Any person who violates subdivision (b) by possessing a firearm within a distance of 1,500 feet from the grounds of a public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall be punished as follows: (A) By imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or five years, if any of the following circumstances apply: (i) If the person previously has been convicted of any felony, or of any crime made punishable by any provision listed in Section 16580. (ii) If the person is within a class of persons prohibited from possessing or acquiring a firearm pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 29800) or Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 29900) of Division 9 of Title 4 of Part 6 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (iii) If the firearm is any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person and the offense is punished as a felony pursuant to Section 25400. (B) By imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year or by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or five years, in all cases other than those specified in subparagraph (A). (3) Any person who violates subdivision (d) shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, five, or seven years. (g) (1) Every person convicted under this section for a misdemeanor violation of subdivision (b) who has been convicted previously of a misdemeanor offense enumerated in Section 23515 shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than three months, or if probation is granted or if the execution or imposition of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that he or she be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than three months. (2) Every person convicted under this section of a felony violation of subdivision (b) or (d) who has been convicted previously of a misdemeanor offense enumerated in Section 23515, if probation is granted or if the execution of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that he or she be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than three months. (3) Every person convicted under this section for a felony violation of subdivision (b) or (d) who has been convicted previously of any felony, or of any crime made punishable by any provision listed in Section 16580, if probation is granted or if the execution or imposition of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that he or she be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than three months. (4) The court shall apply the three-month minimum sentence specified in this subdivision, except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served by granting probation or suspending the execution or imposition of sentence without the minimum imprisonment required in this subdivision or by granting probation or suspending the execution or imposition of sentence with conditions other than those set forth in this subdivision, in which case the court shall specify on the record and shall enter on the minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice would best be served by this disposition. (h) Notwithstanding Section 25605, any person who brings or possesses a loaded firearm upon the grounds of a campus of, or buildings owned or operated for student housing, teaching, research, or administration by, a public or private university or college, that are contiguous or are clearly marked university property, unless it is with the written permission of the university or college president, his or her designee, or equivalent university or college authority, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years. Notwithstanding subdivision (k), a university or college shall post a prominent notice at primary entrances on noncontiguous property stating that firearms are prohibited on that property pursuant to this subdivision. (i) Notwithstanding Section 25605, any person who brings or possesses a firearm upon the grounds of a campus of, or buildings owned or operated for student housing, teaching, research, or administration by, a public or private university or college, that are contiguous or are clearly marked university property, unless it is with the written permission of the university or college president, his or her designee, or equivalent university or college authority, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for one, two, or three years. Notwithstanding subdivision (k), a university or college shall post a prominent notice at primary entrances on noncontiguous property stating that firearms are prohibited on that property pursuant to this subdivision. (j) For purposes of this section, a firearm shall be deemed to be loaded when there is an unexpended cartridge or shell, consisting of a case that holds a charge of powder and a bullet or shot, in, or attached in any manner to, the firearm, including, but not limited to, in the firing chamber, magazine, or clip thereof attached to the firearm. A muzzle-loader firearm shall be deemed to be loaded when it is capped or primed and has a powder charge and ball or shot in the barrel or cylinder. (k) This section does not require that notice be posted regarding the proscribed conduct. (  l  ) This section does not apply to a duly appointed peace officer as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, a full-time paid peace officer of another state or the federal government who is carrying out official duties while in California, any person summoned by any of these officers to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while he or she is actually engaged in assisting the officer, a member of the military forces of this state or of the United States who is engaged in the performance of his or her duties, a person holding a valid license to carry the firearm pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 26150) of Division 5 of Title 4 of Part 6, or an armored vehicle guard, engaged in the performance of his or her duties, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 7521 of the Business and Professions Code. (m) This section does not apply to a security guard authorized to carry a loaded firearm pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 26000) of Chapter 3 of Division 5 of Title 4 of Part 6. (n) This section does not apply to an existing shooting range at a public or private school or university or college campus. (o) This section does not apply to an honorably retired peace officer authorized to carry a concealed or loaded firearm pursuant to any of the following: (1) Article 2 (commencing with Section 25450) of Chapter 2 of Division 5 of Title 4 of Part 6. (2) Section 25650. (3) Sections 25900 to 25910, inclusive. (4) Section 26020.