SACRAMENTO –  Senate Bill 140, which calls for more California Department of Justice (DOJ) special agents to tackle the enormous  backlog of armed prohibited people in California, passed the Senate on a 31 to 0 vote, today.

“This is great news for our California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) members who are special agents in the DOJ and need the extra resources to catch up on this growing list of people, who by law, shouldn’t be in possession of firearms,” said CSLEA President Alan Barcelona.  “But it  is also encouraging news for the citizens of California, as SB140 supports taking guns away from dangerous, violent individuals, helping to make California a safer place to live, work and play. I commend the Senate for approving this bill.”

SB 140 , by senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), appropriates $24 million to the DOJ from the Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) account to allow for 36 additional agents to be hired for the Armed and Prohibited Persons (APPS) program.  Currently just 33 special agents are working throughout the entire state to remove more than 35,000 firearms from the hands of more than 19,700 people who are either convicted felons, convicted of a violent misdemeanor,  placed under a domestic violence restraining order or  determined to be mentally unstable.