SB 15 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Firearms.

Summary

Existing law requires the Department of Justice to conduct inspections of certain firearm dealers every 3 years in order to ensure compliance with specified requirements. Existing law requires inspections to include a sampling of between 25% and 50% of dealer records of each type. Existing law authorizes the department to assess a fee, up to $115, in order to cover various costs, including the costs of inspections. This bill would instead require the department's sampling of dealer records to include at least 25% of each record type. The bill would also authorize the department to periodically increase the inspection fee, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually inspect the 10 firearm dealer locations, as specified, with the highest percentage of total sales that were recovered by law enforcement and found to be illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime. The bill would require the department to conduct the inspections within 12 months of the release of its annual report unless the dealer location has been inspected within 6 months prior to the release of the report. Existing law directs law enforcement agencies to submit the description of a firearm that has been reported stolen, lost, found, recovered, or under observation directly to an automated Department of Justice system. Existing law requires these law enforcement agencies to report to the department any information in their possession necessary to identify and trace the history of a recovered firearm that is illegally possessed, has been used in a crime, or is suspected of having been used in a crime. Existing law requires the department to analyze this data and to submit an annual report to the Legislature summarizing this analysis, as specified. The bill would also require firearm dealers, commencing January 1, 2028, to maintain inventory records, as specified, at their place of business in a manner prescribed by the department. The bill would additionally require firearm dealers to produce an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, certifying the accuracy of all records, upon request. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to keep a centralized list of all persons who meet the specified requirements of a dealer, licensee, or person licensed, except as specified. Existing law requires the department to remove various persons from this list, including those whose federal firearms license has expired or has been revoked. The bill would additionally authorize the department to remove a person from the centralized list who has willfully failed to comply with specified licensing requirements or who, among other things, failed to remedy violations discovered as a result of an inspection within 90 days of the inspection. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a fine and render a person ineligible for placement on the centralized list for 2 years from the date of removal from the list. 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.

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Dec 2, 2024 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/05/25 - Amended Senate → 03/13/25 - Amended Senate · 8 edits · Mar 13, 2025

MODERATE

The March 13 amendment to SB 15 makes several substantive changes to firearm dealer regulation: it caps civil fines at $1,000 for list removals, removes fixed dollar caps on annual fees (replacing them with 'reasonable fee' language), adds a new 90-day remediation requirement for inspection violations, removes the 50% upper limit on audit sampling, and narrows removal authority by adding a 'willfully' standard. The legislative intent section referencing gun violence prevention was also deleted.

ENFORCEMENT

The penalty for willful failure to comply with centralized list requirements is now specifically a civil fine not exceeding $1,000 (previously just 'a fine' with no stated cap). The ineligibility period language was also broadened from 'work for or engage in business-related functions' to 'own, operate, or be employed by' a firearms dealer or ammunition vendor.

Removal from the centralized list under paragraph (4) now requires that the person 'willfully fails to comply with the requirements of this article,' adding a willfulness standard that was not present in the prior version which simply stated 'failed to comply.'

REQUIREMENT

A new provision in Section 26720 requires a dealer found to have committed a violation during an inspection to remedy the violation within 90 days and submit proof of remedy to the department.

The audit sampling requirement during inspections was changed from 'at least 25 percent but no more than 50 percent of each record type' to 'at least 25 percent of each record type,' removing the upper cap and allowing larger sample sizes.

FISCAL

The fixed $115 annual fee cap for firearm dealers was removed from both Section 26720 and Section 28460, replaced with language allowing 'a reasonable annual fee' to cover costs. The CPI-based fee increase mechanism in Section 28460 was also deleted.

The $250 per year cap on fees for licensed manufacturers producing fewer than 500 firearms was removed from Section 29055, leaving only the limitation that fees shall not exceed actual costs of inspections and list maintenance.

SCOPE

Section 1, which stated the legislative intent to enact legislation regarding gun violence prevention, was removed entirely. The digest title also dropped the phrase 'Gun violence prevention.'

TECHNICAL

The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes' and the state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' reflecting a reclassification of the bill's fiscal impact.

03/13/25 - Amended Senate → 03/26/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Mar 26, 2025

MODERATE

The March 26 amendment to SB 15 narrows the grounds for removing a firearms dealer from the centralized list, specifies the civil fine amount at $1,000, and tightens the language on post-removal ineligibility. The changes make removal criteria more focused on willful noncompliance and failure to remedy violations, while clarifying what activities a removed person is barred from performing.

ELIGIBILITY

Section 26715(b)(4) was changed from removing a dealer who 'failed to comply with the provisions listed in Sections 26700 and 26720' to removing one who 'willfully fails to comply with the requirements of this article, including failure to comply with an inspection conducted pursuant to Section 26720.' This adds a willfulness requirement and narrows the scope.

Section 26715(b)(5) was changed from removing a dealer who 'failed to allow the department to conduct an inspection during business hours, failed to maintain accurate business hours with the department, or failed to provide corrections to violations as a result of an inspection within 90 days' to removing one who simply 'fails to remedy violations discovered as a result of an inspection, within 90 days of the inspection.' This removes the separate grounds for failing to allow inspections and failing to maintain accurate business hours.

The post-removal ineligibility provision was changed from barring a person from working for or engaging in 'any firearms dealer or ammunition vendor business-related functions' to barring them from owning, operating, or being employed by a firearms dealer or ammunition vendor. The new language is more specific about prohibited roles but may be narrower than the old 'business-related functions' phrasing.

ENFORCEMENT

Section 26715(b)(7) now specifies a civil fine 'not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000)' rather than just 'a fine,' making the maximum penalty explicit.

TECHNICAL

Coauthors Senators Limon and Rubio were added to the bill header.

Section 28460(a) had a typo corrected: 'assess an a reasonable annual fee' was changed to 'assess a reasonable annual fee.'

12/02/24 - Introduced → 02/05/25 - Amended Senate · 8 edits · Feb 5, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was transformed from a simple statement of legislative intent regarding gun violence prevention into a comprehensive set of regulatory and enforcement provisions targeting firearm dealers. The amended version adds mandatory annual inspections of high-risk dealers, new inventory record-keeping requirements effective 2028, expanded removal authority from the state dealer list with penalties including fines and two-year bans, and fee adjustment mechanisms tied to inflation.

REQUIREMENT

Requires the Department of Justice to annually inspect the 10 firearm dealer locations with the highest percentage of total sales recovered by law enforcement as illegally possessed or used in a crime (minimum threshold of 20 firearms). Inspections must occur within 12 months of the annual report release unless the location was inspected within 6 months prior.

New Section 26807 requires firearm dealers, starting January 1, 2028, to maintain inventory records at their place of business including manufacturer, model, caliber or gauge, and serial number of all firearms acquired or disposed of within one business day, plus monthly inventory checks.

ENFORCEMENT

Requires firearm dealers to produce a written affidavit under penalty of perjury certifying the accuracy of all inventory records upon department request or during inspections. The perjury expansion imposes a state-mandated local program.

Expands the Department of Justice's authority to remove persons from the centralized dealer list. Adds grounds for removal including failure to allow inspections, failure to maintain accurate business hours, and failure to correct violations within 90 days. Adds penalties: a fine and two-year ineligibility from the list, plus a two-year ban from working for any firearms dealer or ammunition vendor.

FISCAL

Authorizes the department to periodically increase the annual inspection fee (capped at $115) by up to 15 percent over the previous year. For exempted federal firearms licensees under Section 28460, allows fee increases tied to the California Consumer Price Index.

Caps fees for licensed firearm manufacturers producing fewer than 500 firearms per year at $250 or actual costs of inspections and list maintenance, whichever is less (Section 29055).

SCOPE

State-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' due to the perjury expansion. Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes.' The bill now amends Sections 26715, 26720, 28460, and 29055 of, and adds Section 26807 to, the Penal Code.

TECHNICAL

Record sampling language changed from 'between 25% and 50%' to 'at least 25 percent but no more than 50 percent' of each record type during inspections.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

upper

Mar 27, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Mar 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on RLS. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 532.) (March 25). Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

Feb 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Dec 2, 2024

Introduced

Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors