OFF THE WIRE
Ben Bradford
California lawmakers and voters approved major changes to state gun laws this year. Some have already gone into effect, some start at the beginning of the new year, while others don’t kick in until later. Here's a brief rundown of major changes.
ALREADY IN EFFECT
As soon as Proposition 63 passed last month, it required gun dealers to report lost or stolen weapons.
The ballot measure also bars a person convicted of stealing a gun from owning a firearm for 10 years and makes the crime punishable as felony. It also becomes a crime to knowingly sell ammunition to a person the seller believes isn't allowed to own it or he or she suspects may trade it on the black market.
TAKING EFFECT JAN. 1
Starting in 2017, state lawmakers are including rifles with “bullet buttons”—that allow users to detach magazines quickly, using the tip of a bullet or other tool—in the state’s assault weapons ban.
In Midtown Sacramento, the staff at M+J Gun Trade have adjusted the stock they order, but perhaps not in the way one might expect.
"We can’t get enough of it," says Manuel Hernandez, a salesman who also does most of the ordering. "Our sales went up three or four hundred percent on that type of item, so anything that would be affected by the law."
Hernandez calls it a "snowball effect" of the election, Christmas and the new law taking effect.
Owners of rifles that fall under the ban do not have to turn them in, but will have to register them with the state justice department by the end of next year.
Other laws taking effect prohibit gun owners from loaning their firearms, other than to family members, and require conceal carry and law enforcement weapons to be locked away in parked cars.
IN EFFECT LATER
A ban on ownership of magazines that contain more than 10 rounds takes effect in July, while background checks on ammunition will begin in 2018.
Also starting in January of 2018, most Californians will be prohibited from buying ammunition out-of-state and bringing it back across the state line.
Most of these laws include some exemptions.
