Safe Gun Storage ~ Less Gun Purchases Portantino’s Gun Legislative Package Passes First Key Committee

Sacramento, California–Today, the Senate Public Safety Committee passed SB 61, SB 172, and SB 376 all authored by Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D–La Cañada Flintridge). The three bills further establish Portantino’s leadership as one of California’s sensible gun control advocates and enhance public safety.

“I am happy that these bills are moving forward in the legislature. Preventing gun violence has always been a priority of mine and I will continue to fight to ensure that California is a safe place. Every day, we seem to read about terrible gun tragedies as innocent lives are taken from families and loved ones. It is my hope that these bills can prevent some of these horrendous situations,” said Senator Portantino.

SB 61 seeks to limit the purchase of firearms to one per month. The bill would limit the preceding 30-day period the purchaser had made another application to purchase a firearm. SB 61 is currently supported by Brady California United Against Gun Violence, the Bay Area Student Activists, the City of Los Angeles, Giffords Law Center, and The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

SB 172 proposes to resolve the problem of improper storage of firearms in the home, which creates sometimes-deadly situations. The vast majority of accidental firearm death, suicide and senseless acts of violence among children are related to easy access of firearms. SB 172 expand on Child Access Prevention laws that lower rates of unintentional firearm deaths among our youth.  It insures firearms are properly locked and stored. SB 172 is currently supported by the Bay Area Student Activists, the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, and Drain the NRA. Specifically this bill broadens the application of criminal storage crimes, adds criminal storage offenses to those offenses that can trigger a 10-year gun ban, creates an exemption to firearm loan requirements for the purposes of preventing suicide and mandates rules related to firearm storage and reporting for residential care facilities for the elderly. 

SB 376, the firearms unlicensed sellers bill standardizes the definition of the term “infrequent” and makes the term’s application uniform. The bill seeks to address the disparity and confusion in the way unlicensed firearms dealers are treated based on the definition of “infrequent.” It would reduce the number of firearms an unlicensed individual is annually able to sell and the frequency with which they are able to sell.  Senator Portantino is working in concert with the California Department of Justice on this much-needed legislative fix.