SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The state Assembly approved legislation on Tuesday that would require certain replica guns to be sold in bright colors or transparent to avoid deadly mix-ups with police officers.
SB199 advanced on a 41-34 vote, the minimum needed to pass, after Republican lawmakers and an influential Democrat blasted it as ineffective. It now returns to the Senate.
Democratic Sen. Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles introduced the bill after two California teenagers were shot by law enforcement officers confusing toy guns for real ones.
A similar bill failed in 2011, but SB199 advanced after the fatal October shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez in Santa Rosa, when a sheriff’s deputy mistook the boy’s toy rifle for a real AK-47.
“Boys have been shot and killed by law enforcement carrying these guns,” said Assemblyman Mark Levine, D-San Rafael. “Horrific things happen when a toy gun is confused for the real thing.”
To distinguish the guns, the bill would require certain replica firearms have a brightly colored surface or prominent fluorescent strips.
The bill would apply to air guns that fire pellets or BBs that are six millimeters or eight millimeters, a definition excluding other types of toy guns.
It has support from several law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department.
Opponents say real guns already are sold in bright colors and that criminals could paint their weapons to confuse police. Former Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, also voted against the bill, saying it was the wrong approach to a serious problem.
“Paint is not the solution,” said Perez. “Paint leads to a situation where people who we don’t think should have guns in the first place can go and paint the gun they have.”
Other bills acted on by the Legislature on Tuesday:
-AB1327 by Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, establishes restrictions on the government’s use of drones for surveillance. The privacy rights bill passed out of the Senate on a 25-8 vote. The bill returns to the Assembly.
-AB1673 by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, would ban lobbyists from hosting fundraisers at their homes and offices after one firm was slapped with a record fine. The bill passed 34-0 in the Senate and goes back to the Assembly. A similar bill, SB1441 by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, is in the Assembly after passing the Senate.
-AB1585 by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, allows victims of human trafficking to petition a judge to set aside prostitution convictions. It is supported by Attorney General Kamala Harris. It heads to the governor on a 76-0 vote.
-AB1439 by Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, would crack down on Internet sweepstakes cafes by prohibiting businesses whose customers use casino-style video monitors to play gambling-style games for cash and prizes. It heads to the governor on a 72-0 vote.
-AB1517 by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would set deadlines for crime labs to test rape kits and submit information to a national database. The Assembly approved amendments extending the timelines. It heads to the governor on a 69-0 vote.
-SB29 by Sen. Lou Correa, D-Anaheim, would allow elections officials to count ballots that are received up to three days after an election. The bill passed the Senate on 21-11 vote and goes to the governor.
-SB113 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, would allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote. The bill passed 21-12 and goes to the governor.
-SB838 by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, responds to the sexual assault of a Northern California teenager who committed suicide after a photo of the attack was posted on social media. It would require a juvenile who is convicted of rape, sodomy, oral copulation or an act of sexual penetration to complete a mandatory sexual-offender treatment program. The bill passed 36-0 and goes to the governor.
-SB1174 by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Long Beach, would place a measure on the November 2016 state ballot to repeal Proposition 227, a 16-year-old law that banned most bilingual education in public schools. The bill was passed on a majority vote over the objection of Republicans who say Democrats drafted it in way so that future changes would only require majority legislative vote and bypass voter approval. The bill passed on a 25-10 vote and goes to the governor.
-SB1210 by Lara would establish the California Dream Loan Program in University of California and California State University systems to provide loans to student who are in the country illegally and cannot access federal or private student loans. The bill passed on a 25-9 vote and goes to the governor.
-SB1177 by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, is a student privacy bill that seeks to ban the use of student data for commercial use, require providers to use data for school purposes only and ban the sale of student personal information to advertisers and third parties. The bill passed 36-0 and goes to the governor.
-SB844 by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, requires the Secretary of State to post online the amount of total contributions and the names of the top 10 donors for and against each ballot proposition. It would also require that online voter guides include links to financial disclosure reports for candidates and ballot propositions. The bill passed 36-0 and goes to the governor.
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Associated Press writer Judy Lin contributed to this report.
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