For Immediate Release: September 13, 2023
Contact: Lerna Shirinian, (818) 409-0400
Portantino’s Comprehensive Gun Safety Bill Heads to Governor
Sacramento, CA – Senate Bill 368, authored by State Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank), passed the Senate and is headed to the Governor’s desk. The bill is a commonsense gun safety effort that would expand and strengthen firearm ownership prohibition laws and create additional responsibilities for commercial gun stores.
“Data tells us that households with firearms have a higher risk of suicide and accidental firearm injuries,” stated Senator Portantino. “Additionally, violating the 10-year prohibition makes a person incapable of safely owning a gun. An easier path to gun storage and thorough risk assessment will make California safer. I am also very grateful to gun safety activists from Burbank who highlighted raffle giveaways at gun stores and I am pleased to prohibit them in the future.”
When compared to households without firearms, households that have guns face a higher risk of homicide, suicide, and accidental firearm injury. Voluntary, temporary transfer of firearms for the duration of a crisis can save lives. Currently, however, licensed retailers and law enforcement agencies are not required to accept and store firearms during a mental health crisis.
SB 368 would:
“With the firearm suicide rate increasing among young people and now at a 10-year high, the unprecedented surge in gun sales in the U.S., and the already growing rates of firearm suicide across all age groups, SB 368 is a much-needed common sense strategy to help save lives,” stated Margot Bennett, Executive Director of Women Against Gun Violence. “We look are grateful to the Legislature for passing this critical bill and look forward to SB 368 being signed into California law by our Governor.”
Senator Portantino has long been a champion of common sense gun reform policies. During his time in the Assembly, he successfully banned the open carry of handguns and rifles in California and as Senator, he raised the firearm purchase age in California to twenty-one. The Senator has authored legislation related to firearms storage and gun purchase safeguards, as well as a legislation that reduces the number of firearms an unlicensed individual is annually able to sell and the frequency with which they are able to sell. Most recently, he authored legislation aimed at preventing tragic schools shootings and a major gun reform measure that offers a new tool to combat the rise in gun violence and save lives – a private right of action.
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