New California gun laws going into effect with start of new year
Gun owners firing their weapons at Second Amendment Sports in Palm Desert are shooting under new state rules in 2019.
Among them SB 1100, which raises the age to buy all legal firearms from 18 to 21.
Californians were already barred from buying handguns until age 21.
Kent Miller, the assistant manager at the gun store calls it a “feel good law”.
“California will now require 18, 19 and 20-year-olds to purchase a hunting license in order to buy a rifle. So, it is not really moving the age, its just requiring a hunting license,” said Miller.
Assembly Bill 3129 creates a lifetime ban on gun ownership for anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. It applies only to convictions after January 1st 2019, and is not retroactive.
AB 2103 requires that anyone wanting to carry a concealed weapon undergo a minimum of eight hours of training on firearm safety, handling and technique. Also, applicants are required to demonstrate the safe use and firing of a gun in a “live fire” shooting exercise at a shooting range. In Riverside County, concealed weapons permits are still issued by the sheriffs department.
In a wrtten statement, the bill’s sponsor, San Diego Assemblymember Todd Gloria wrote, in part, “AB 2103, ensures every person who receives a CCW permit has been through a necessary amount of training and can demonstrate proficiency in handling the weapon.”
Another new law has to do with purchasing ammunition.
That law, Proposition 63, approved by voters in 2016, requires dealers to check with the Department of Justice, when ammunition is purchased, to make sure a buyer is not prohibited from buying ammo.
La Quinta gun owner Richard Hoffman believes the state has enough gun legislation.
“Once you have your firearms card, that should be sufficent,” said Hoffman.
There could be more legislation passed in 2019.
Assemblymember Marc Levine of San Rafael recently introduced AB 18 to establish an additional tax — at an unspecified rate — on handguns and semi-automatic rifles sold in the state.
That could include a tax on ammunition.
