California legislators representing the northern, southern and central geographic areas of the state introduced and had passed in the Senate seven senate bills intended to toughen gun laws in this state. These gun bills are:
Senate Bill 47 (Leland Yee of San Francisco) to update California’s regulation of assault weapons as follows:
- Amends the definition of assault weapon to refer to a firearm that has one of several specified military-style features and does not have a “fixed magazine” rather than a firearm that has one of those features and “has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine”
- Defines “fixed magazine” as “an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action.
- Requires that any person who from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2013, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, register the firearm via online submission before July 1, 2014, with the Department of Justice (DOJ), as specified
- Authorizes DOJ to charge a fee of up to $15 per person but not to exceed the reasonable processing costs for this registration.
Senate Bill 53 (Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles) re ammunition and purchase permits would amend existing law regarding sales of handgun ammunition, as defined, to apply to all ammunition, and would place additional regulations on the sale, transfer, and purchase of ammunition
Senate Bill 374 (Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento) re assault weapons to tighten California’s regulation of “assault weapons” as follows:
- Amends the definition of a rifle considered an assault weapon to specify “a semiautomatic, rimfire or centerfire rifle that does not have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept 10 rounds or fewer, or a semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches.
- Defines a “fixed magazine” as “an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action.
- Defines a “detachable magazine” as “an ammunition feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm without disassembly of the firearm action.
- Requires that a person who, between January 1, 2001, and prior to January 1, 2014, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, including those weapons with an ammunition feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm with the use of a tool, register the firearm by July 1, 2014, with the DOJ as specified.
- Enacts provisions for a Firearm Ownership Record program, as specified.
Senate Bill 396 (Loni Hancock of Berkeley) re magazine capacity as follows:
- Prohibit, beginning July 1, 2014, the possession of any ammunition magazine that is capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, except as specified.
- Amend the definition of “large-capacity magazine” to include a feeding device that had a capacity of more than 10 rounds but has been permanently modified to hold no more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
- Require that any person who, prior to July 1, 2014, legally possesses a large-capacity magazine, as defined, dispose of that magazine by various means, as specified.
Senate Bill 567 (Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara) re shotguns, as follows:
- Amend the definition of “shotgun” to delete language stating that to be considered a shotgun, the weapon must be “intended to be fired from the shoulder,” and add language to state that a shotgun may include a weapon with a rifled bore as well as a smooth bore.
- Require that any person who from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2013, lawfully possessed a shotgun with a revolving cylinder, as defined, register the firearm via online submission before July 1, 2014, with the Department of Justice (DOJ), as specified.
- Authorize the DOJ to charge a fee of up to $20 per person but not to exceed the reasonable processing costs for this registration.
Senate Bill 683 (Marty Block of San Diego) re firearm safety certificate, would extend to all firearms the requirement under current law that requires all handgun purchasers to obtain a safety certificate prior to taking possession of a handgun.
Senate Bill 755 (Lois Wolk of Davis) re firearms and prohibited persons, as follows:
- Add specified offenses to the list of misdemeanors that result in a 10-year prohibition from firearms possession.
- Provide that a violation of two or more specified misdemeanors related to substance abuse result in a 10-year prohibition from firearms possession.
- Provide that persons ordered into outpatient treatment due to mental illness, as specified, are prohibited from possessing firearms while subject to assisted outpatient treatment.
- Require the court to notify the Department of Justice (DOJ) of persons subject to the prohibitions.