California Gov. Brown Signs Sweeping Gun Control Bill Set

Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed new Democrat-sponsored gun control bills into law in his state that restrict magazine capacity to 10 bullets, require background checks for anyone purchasing ammunition and regulate gun lending, among other restrictions.

“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 wrote in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times.

One of the bills addresses those who buy guns legally with the intent to give them away or sell them, a practice known as “straw purchasing,” notes NPR. The law will make it a misdemeanor to falsely report a gun as lost or stolen and will ban violators from purchasing another gun for 10 years.

Two additional bills close what is known as the “bullet button loophole,” which some say gun manufacturers use to avoid California’s detachable magazine ban. Instead of a detachable magazine, the guns in question are built with a button that can be pushed with a small device, like a bullet tip, to release and replace an empty magazine.

Another signed bill would require that those who loan guns to close family members only do so to those who pass background checks.

The introduction of the new laws angered some gun rights advocates, including the NRA, who said that Brown was using the December San Bernardino, California, terrorism-inspired mass shooting, for which many of these bills were a direct response to, for his own political advancement, notes the Times.

“Gov. Jerry Brown today signed a Draconian gun control package that turns California’s law-abiding gun owners into second-class citizens,” said NRA spokesperson Amy Hunter, according to the Times. “The governor and legislature exploited a terrorist attack to push these measures through even though the state’s already restrictive laws did nothing to stop the attack in San Bernadino.”

Brown vetoed five additional related bills, all of which were also sponsored by Democrats.

Sources: NPR, Los Angeles Times / Photo Credit: Neon Tommy/Flickr