(a) The Legislature finds a significant public purpose in exempting pistols that are designed expressly for use in Olympic target shooting events. Therefore, those pistols that are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and by USA Shooting, the national governing body for international shooting competition in the United States, and that were used for Olympic target shooting purposes as of January 1, 2001, and that fall within the definition of “unsafe handgun” pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 31910 shall be exempt, as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c).

(b) Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) and Article 5 (commencing with Section 32000) shall not apply to any of the following pistols, because they are consistent with the significant public purpose expressed in subdivision (a):

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(c) The department shall create a program that is consistent with the purpose stated in subdivision (a) to exempt new models of competitive firearms from Article 4 (commencing with Section 31900) and Article 5 (commencing with Section 32000). The exempt competitive firearms may be based on recommendations by USA Shooting consistent with the regulations contained in the USA Shooting Official Rules or may be based on the recommendation or rules of any other organization that the department deems relevant.

(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 296, Sec. 243. (AB 1023) Effective January 1, 2012.)