A California Senate committee and an assembly committee passed a total of seven new gun control bills during the past week.
The majority of the bills expand gun controls that are already in place.
The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) reported on the seven gun control bills:
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SB 746 (Portantino) – Passed by the committee with amendments. Expands firearm serial number requirements; modifies existing statutes to allow prohibited persons to transfer firearms and ammunition to a licensed FFL for the duration of the prohibition. FPC opposed the expanded serial number requirements.
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SB 1100 (Portantino) – Passed by the committee. Restricts firearm sales to persons 21 years old and older. FPC opposed.
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SB 1177 (Portantino) – Passed by the committee. Restricts new firearm purchases to one in thirty days (expanding existing handgun restriction to long guns). FPC opposed.
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AB 2103 (Gloria) – Passed by the committee with amendments. Adds new requirements for CCW carry licenses. FPC opposed.
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AB 1968 (Low) – Passed by the committee. Enacts new lifetime firearm prohibition to persons who have been admitted to a mental health facility under certain conditions more than once in a 1-year period. FPC opposed.
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AB 2222 (Quirk) – Passed by the committee. Extends a reporting requirement concerning stolen, lost, found, recovered firearms to all law enforcement agencies. FPC is reviewing for possible support.
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AB 2888 (Ting) – Passed by the committee. Expands categories of persons who can petition for a “Gun Violence Restraining Order” (GVRO) to employers, coworkers, and some school employees. FPC opposed.
Each of the gun control bills was sponsored by Democrats.
The restrictions of firearms sales to persons 21 years old and older mean California law would bar 18-20-year-old citizens from buying long guns even though federal law allows the purchase.
The rationing of firearm purchases to one a month would mean law-abiding citizens who comply with all guns controls — i.e., acquire a safety certificate from the state, pass a point of sale background check, and pass a ten-day waiting period — would face an additional control of being barred from purchasing more than one firearm per month.
The expansion of the Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) confirms what the NRA has warned about again and again when voicing opposition: “Orders can be abused and issued in cases where the police lack sufficient evidence for an arrest and simply wish to deprive an individual of the right to bear arms.”
The NRA does support GVROs, but only if they meet certain strict criteria. That criteria includes that such orders must be of strictly limited duration, that they can only be sought by close contacts such as family members, and that the government bears the burden of presenting evidence to a court of the person’s dangerousness to justify the temporary seizure.
It should also be noted that gun controls barring 18-20-year-olds from exercising their Second Amendment rights are being challenged by the NRA in states like Florida and by private citizens in Oregon.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.