California governor signs stringent gun bills, vetoes others

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed new gun control legislation for California, enacting bills that limit magazine capacity to 10 bullets; require a background check for those purchasing ammunition; and restrict the lending of firearms, among other effects.

Brown also vetoed other gun bills Friday, including one that would have required homemade firearms to be registered, and another that would have required the reporting of guns that were lost or stolen.

Democrats in the legislature rushed the measures through in hopes of passing them before their summer break, in part to try to forestall a competing gun control proposal headed for the November ballot.

In a signing statement, Brown said the measures would “enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners”. But they stepped up their push this year following the December shooting in San Bernardino by a couple who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. While well-intentioned, I believe this bill would have the effect of burdening lawful citizens who wish to sell certain firearms that they no longer need.

Ban possession of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds, requiring people who already own them to turn them in to authorities. It extends a 1999 law that made it illegal to buy a high-capacity magazine or to bring one into the state but allowed people who already owned them to keep them. Newsom, a Democrat running for governor in 2018, is promoting a ballot measure that includes some of the same policies approved by the Legislature Thursday.

Bullet button ban (SB 880/AB 1135): California already bans the sale of rifles that have detachable magazines-where pushing a button with a finger can dislodge the weapon’s magazine.

The Assembly voted to regulate ammunition sales and to ban assault rifles with bullet-buttons that allow a shooter to quickly change magazines.

Create regulations for ammunition, including requirements that ammo sellers get a license and that purchases be screened. Transactions will be recorded. In 2014, I signed Assembly Bill 1014 which allowed immediate family members and members of law enforcement to petition for a gun violence restraining order.

“California is too prosperous a state for so many to suffer from homelessness”, said Santiago, in a news release.

Lawmakers approved a bill expanding a six-month-old program that allows courts to temporarily restrict gun ownership rights for people with potential mental health problems.

The governor also vetoed five other gun control bills including one dubbed the “gun violence restraining order” bill.

In rejecting that bill, Brown said he doesn’t believe that making the measure would help stop gun traffickers – and he added that the bill wouldn’t make irresponsible people become responsible.

The move angered the state Senate’s top Democrat, Kevin de Leon, who had been working to pass numerous same measures through the legislature.

In an interview Thursday, Brown declined to comment on the conflict between Newsom and de León, except to say that the dispute is “in the weeds”.