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Governor Jerry Brown signed six stringent gun-control measures that will mandate background checks for ammunition sales and require people to turn in high-capacity magazines. He also vetoed five other bills. USA TODAY
This May 18, 2016 file photo California Gov. Jerry Brown gestures during a community event in Sacramento, Calif.(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP)
REDDING, Calif. — California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed a half-dozen bills from a 12-item package sent by the Legislature a day earlier to enact tougher restrictions on guns in the state.
The bills signed by Brown would require anyone buying ammunition to pass a background check and register the purchase with the California Department of Justice, depending on the outcome of a November vote on a similar initiative, redefine "assault weapons" at the state level to include more types of guns, limit the lending of guns to family members only, and limit gun magazines to 10 rounds or fewer.
"My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners," Brown said in a statement.
The vetoes included bills that would have made stealing a gun grand theft, expanding the definition of a "firearm" to include homemade guns, limit any gun purchases to one per month, expand the range of those who could seek gun violence restraining orders, and require tighter reporting deadlines for victims of gun theft.
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The signed bills take effect Jan. 1.
The bills signed by Brown include:
• Senate Bill 1235: ,Requires background checks on ammunition purchases and creates a statewide tracking system for ammunition purchases. The bill depends on voters passing a similar initiative in November, though absent that approval the bill would ban ammuntion purchases for those barred from buying guns.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Senate Bill 880 and Assembly Bill 1135: Amends the definition of “assault weapon” to include semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Assembly Bill 1511: Limits gun loaning without a licensed firearms dealer to spouses or other family members.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Assembly Bill 1695: Prohibits anyone who files a false gun-theft report to police from owning a gun for 10 years after conviction.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Senate Bill 1446: Imposes fines beginning in July 2017 for anyone who owns a gun magazine that can hold more than 10 bullets.
The vetoed bills include:
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Assembly Bill 1176: Amends Proposition 47 — the voter-approved initiative that reduced to misdemeanors most thefts of less than $950 — to make stealing a gun felony grand theft.
"This bill proposes to add an initiative that is nearly identical to one which will already appear on the November 2016 ballot," Brown said.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Assembly Bill 1673: Expands the definition of “firearm” to include homemade weapons that function the same way as a gun.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Assembly Bill 1674: Extends state law limiting handgun purchases to one per month to every type of gun.
"While well-intentioned, I believe this bill would have the effect of burdening lawful ctizens who wish to sell certain firearms that they no longer need," Brown said in vetoing the bill.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Assembly Bill 2607: Expands the list of people who can petition for a gun violence restraining order from immediate family members of the target of the order to employers, coworkers and mental health workers or school workers who’ve had contact with the person in the last six months.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Senate Bill 894: Requires the victim of gun thefts to report the crime to law enforcement within five days.
"I continue to believe that repsonsible people report the loss or theft of a firearm and irresponsible do not," Brown said. "It is not likely that this bill would change that.”
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