Yesterday, California lawmakers held hearings and advanced key gun safety legislation in both chambers. Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers testified in favor of several bills and have been advocating for the gun safety measures sponsored by gun-sense champions since they were introduced at the beginning of the legislative session.
The gun safety bills that were heard and advanced in the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee yesterday were:
- SB 2 (Portantino): legislation to address the dangerous conditions created by the Supreme Court’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision by strengthening California’s laws about who can carry a gun in public and where they can bring their guns.
- SB 452 (Blakespear): legislation to ensure California’s microstamping law is finally and fully implemented, ensuring that firearms sold in California incorporate technology which can help solve crime, stop retaliatory cycles of violence, and bring closure for survivors.
- SB 241 (Min): legislation that will require firearm dealers to train employees on how to avoid selling guns that fuel crime using a new training program which will be developed by the California Department of Justice.
The gun safety bills that were heard and advanced in the Senate’s Public Safety Committee yesterday were:
- AB 1089 (Gipson): legislation that will clarify existing law to ensure 3-D printers and other firearm manufacturing machines cannot be used to circumvent California’s strong ghost gun laws.
- AB 1420 (Berman): legislation that strengthens implementation of existing firearm dealer requirements by expanding California Department of Justice’s authority to inspect firearm dealers for compliance with all applicable state laws and regulations.
- AB 301 (Bauer Kahan): legislation to ensure courts consider recent acquisition of body armor as a risk factor when evaluating whether to issue a gun violence restraining order.
- AB 732 (Fong): legislation to strengthen California’s firearm relinquishment procedures and make sure that state and local law enforcement agencies communicate regularly about removing illegal guns from people who have become prohibited from possessing them.
These votes come just days after a Senate Committee advanced AB 28, the measure sponsored by Asm. Jesse Gabriel which creates the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Fund to provide long-term support for vital initiatives designed to prevent gun violence and support survivors of gun violence. All advanced legislation will go to their next committees and then a full chamber vote before heading to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.
Statistics about gun violence in California are available here, and Everytown’s Gun Law Rankings – which shows how California’s gun laws compare to those of other states – is available here.
If you are interested in speaking with a local Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action volunteer, please reach out to [email protected].