Senate Bill 140, which calls for more California Department of Justice (DOJ) special agents to wipe out the backlog of people on the armed prohibited persons list was passed by the State Senate, today, in a 37-0 vote.
"There's no question we need additional special agents in the DOJ Bureau of Firearms to continue the dangerous work of taking guns from the hands of convicted felons and the mentally ill," said Alan Barcelona, president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA). CSLEA represents DOJ special agents along with nearly 7,000 other law enforcement, public safety and consumer protection professionals who work for the state of California. "Taking firearms from those who, by law, are not suppose to have them, can only help to make Californians safer."
SB 140, by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), appropriates $24 million dollars from funds that are already available, for the Attorney General to add more than 30 additional agents to the Bureau of Firearms in order to expand gun law enforcement efforts through the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS).
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.
Prior to the Senate vote, Senator Leno thanked CSLEA for supporting SB140.
"DOJ special agents have a program that works and they excel at it," said Barcelona. "CSLEA has supported this bill from the beginning and we urge Governor Brown to sign SB 140 into law."
