(a) (1) In order to assist in the investigation of crime, the prosecution of civil actions by city attorneys pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), the arrest and prosecution of criminals, and the recovery of lost, stolen, or found property, the Attorney General shall keep and properly file a complete record of all of the following:

(A) All copies of fingerprints.

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(B) Copies of licenses to carry firearms issued pursuant to Section 26150, 26155, 26170, or 26215.

(C) Information reported to the Department of Justice pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 18120, Section 26225, 26556, 26892, 27875, 27920, 27966, 28050, 29180, 29830, or paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 32000.

(D) Dealers’ Records of Sale of firearms.

(E) Reports provided pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 27500) of Chapter 4 of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6, or pursuant to any provision listed in subdivision (a) of Section 16585.

(F) Forms provided pursuant to Section 12084, as that section read prior to being repealed on January 1, 2006.

(G) Reports provided pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 26700) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 26800) of Chapter 2 of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6, that are not Dealers’ Records of Sale of firearms.

(H) Information provided pursuant to Section 28255.

(I) Reports of stolen, lost, found, pledged, or pawned property in any city or county of this state.

(J) Reports or information provided to the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 29813.

(2) The Attorney General shall, upon proper application therefor, furnish the information to the officers referred to in Section 11105.

(b) (1) The Attorney General shall permanently keep and properly file and maintain all information reported to the Department of Justice pursuant to the following provisions as to firearms and maintain a registry thereof:

(A) Article 1 (commencing with Section 26700) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 26800) of Chapter 2 of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(B) Article 1 (commencing with Section 27500) of Chapter 4 of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(C) Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 28050) of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(D) Any provision listed in subdivision (a) of Section 16585.

(E) Former Section 12084.

(F) Section 28255.

(G) Section 29180.

(H) Paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 32000.

(I) Any other law.

(2) The registry shall consist of all of the following:

(A) The name, address, identification of, place of birth (state or country), complete telephone number, occupation, sex, description, and all legal names and aliases ever used by the owner or person being loaned the particular firearm as listed on the information provided to the department on the Dealers’ Record of Sale, the Law Enforcement Firearms Transfer (LEFT), as defined in former Section 12084, or reports made to the department pursuant to any provision listed in subdivision (a) of Section 16585, Section 28255 or 29180, or any other law.

(B) The name and address of, and other information about, any person (whether a dealer or a private party) from whom the owner acquired or the person being loaned the particular firearm and when the firearm was acquired or loaned as listed on the information provided to the department on the Dealers’ Record of Sale, the LEFT, or reports made to the department pursuant to any provision listed in subdivision (a) of Section 16585 or any other law.

(C) Any waiting period exemption applicable to the transaction which resulted in the owner of or the person being loaned the particular firearm acquiring or being loaned that firearm.

(D) The manufacturer’s name if stamped on the firearm, model name or number if stamped on the firearm, and, if applicable, the serial number, other number (if more than one serial number is stamped on the firearm), caliber, type of firearm, if the firearm is new or used, barrel length, and color of the firearm, or, if the firearm is not a handgun and does not have a serial number or any identification number or mark assigned to it, that shall be noted.

(3) Information in the registry referred to in this subdivision shall, upon proper application therefor, be furnished to the officers referred to in Section 11105, to a city attorney prosecuting a civil action, solely for use in prosecuting that civil action and not for any other purpose, or to the person listed in the registry as the owner or person who is listed as being loaned the particular firearm.

(4) If any person is listed in the registry as the owner of a firearm through a Dealers’ Record of Sale prior to 1979, and the person listed in the registry requests by letter that the Attorney General store and keep the record electronically, as well as in the record’s existing photographic, photostatic, or nonerasable optically stored form, the Attorney General shall do so within three working days of receipt of the request. The Attorney General shall, in writing, and as soon as practicable, notify the person requesting electronic storage of the record that the request has been honored as required by this paragraph.

(c) (1) If the conditions specified in paragraph (2) are met, any officer referred to in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11105 may disseminate the name of the subject of the record, the number of the firearms listed in the record, and the description of any firearm, including the make, model, and caliber, from the record relating to any firearm’s sale, transfer, registration, or license record, or any information reported to the Department of Justice pursuant to any of the following:

(A) Section 26225, 26556, 27875, 27920, 27966, or 29180.

(B) Article 1 (commencing with Section 26700) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 26800) of Chapter 2 of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(C) Article 1 (commencing with Section 27500) of Chapter 4 of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(D) Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 28050) of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(E) Article 2 (commencing with Section 28150) of Chapter 6 of Division 6 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(F) Article 5 (commencing with Section 30900) of Chapter 2 of Division 10 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(G) Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 33850) of Division 11 of Title 4 of Part 6.

(H) Any provision listed in subdivision (a) of Section 16585.

(I) Paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 32000.

(2) Information may be disseminated pursuant to paragraph (1) only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(A) The subject of the record has been arraigned for a crime in which the victim is a person described in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, of § 6211 of the Family Code and is being prosecuted or is serving a sentence for the crime, or the subject of the record is the subject of an emergency protective order, a temporary restraining order, or an order after hearing, which is in effect and has been issued by a family court under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act set forth in Division 10 (commencing with Section 6200) of the Family Code.

(B) The information is disseminated only to the victim of the crime or to the person who has obtained the emergency protective order, the temporary restraining order, or the order after hearing issued by the family court.

(C) Whenever a law enforcement officer disseminates the information authorized by this subdivision, that officer or another officer assigned to the case shall immediately provide the victim of the crime with a “Victims of Domestic Violence” card, as specified in subparagraph (H) of paragraph (9) of subdivision (c) of Section 13701.

(3) The victim or person to whom information is disseminated pursuant to this subdivision may disclose it as they deem necessary to protect themselves or another person from bodily harm by the person who is the subject of the record.

(d) All information collected pursuant to this section shall be maintained by the department and shall be available to researchers affiliated with the California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis for academic and policy research purposes upon proper request and following approval by the center’s governing institutional review board when required. At the department’s discretion, and subject to Section 14240, information collected pursuant to this section may be provided to any other nonprofit bona fide research institution accredited by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation for the study of the prevention of violence and following approval by the institution’s governing institutional review board or human subjects committee when required. Material identifying individuals shall only be provided for research or statistical activities and shall not be transferred, revealed, or used for purposes other than research or statistical activities, and reports or publications derived therefrom shall not identify specific individuals. Reasonable costs to the department associated with the department’s processing of such data may be billed to the researcher. If a request for data or letter of support for research using the data is denied, the department shall provide a written statement of the specific reasons for the denial.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 251, Sec. 1.1. (SB 368) Effective January 1, 2024.)