Key Gun Safety Measures Pass Senate Appropriations Committee
For Immediate Release: June 20, 2022
Contact: Lerna Shirinian, (818) 409-0400
Key Gun Safety Measures Pass Senate Appropriations Committee
Sacramento, CA – State Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – La Cañada Flintridge) is pleased to announce that 11 key gun safety measures passed the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Portantino chairs the committee. Recent tragic shootings across the country have highlighted the need for prudent public safety requirements on campuses and strong gun control leadership. Senator Portantino echoed Governor Newsom’s call to action on gun reform and had the committee fast track action.
“As tragic gun violence continues to plague our communities, California is taking bold steps to adopt common sense safety measures to prevent future violence,” stated Senator Anthony Portantino. “As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I was proud to oversee the passage of so many necessary gun safety bills that will help save lives and combat the gun violence epidemic in our country.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the following Assembly bills:
AB 228 (Assemblymember Rodriguez): requires the Department of Justice (DOJ), beginning in 2024, to conduct inspections of licensed firearm dealers at least every three years. This bill also authorizes the DOJ to inspect a dealer that is also subject to a local inspection program, and specifies minimum sampling standards for the audit of dealer records during an inspection.
AB 311 (Assemblymember Ward): prohibits the sale of firearm precursor parts on the property of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, comprising the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
AB 452 (Assemblymember Friedman): a follow up to Senator Portantino’s safe storage legislation, SB 172. It requires local educational agencies to inform parents about Portantino’s adopted law, regarding child access to and safe storage of firearms; provides complete civil immunity for such agencies, schools, and the California Department of Education for damages caused by, arising out of, or relating to the content of such notices.
AB 1594 (Assemblymember Ting): establishes a firearm industry standard of conduct, which requires industry members to establish reasonable controls, follow the law, and prevent abnormally dangerous weapons from being sold.
AB 1621 (Assemblymember Gipson): revises various definitions relating to firearm precursor parts and unserialized firearms and establish various restrictions on the possession, sale, transfer, manufacture and assembly of unserialized firearms and firearm precursor parts, subject to exceptions.
AB 1769 (Assemblymember Bennett): prohibits the sale of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition on the property of the 31st District Agricultural Association, comprising the Ventura County Fair and Event Center in Ventura County.
AB 1842 (Assemblymember Rodriguez): prohibits licensed firearm dealers from charging a restocking or other return-related fee of more than 5% of the purchase price of the firearm if the buyer decides to cancel the purchase during the 10-day waiting period, with an exception for special order firearms.
AB 1929 (Assemblymember Gabriel): requires the Department of Health Care Services to establish a community violence prevention and recovery program, under which violence preventive services would be provided by qualified violence prevention professionals as a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program.
AB 2156 (Assemblymember Wicks): expands the prohibitions on the manufacture of firearms without a state license including reducing the number of guns a person may manufacture without a license and prohibiting the use of a three-dimensional printer to manufacture any firearm without a license.
AB 2239 (Assemblymember Maienschein): creates a 10-year prohibition on the possession of firearms for individuals convicted of child abuse and elder abuse.
AB 2551 (Assemblymember McCarty): requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to notify local authorities in the appropriate jurisdiction when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a firearm, ammunition or a firearm precursor part.
AB 2552 (Assemblymember McCarty): improves the safety of gun shows, and the communities in which they occur, by improving notices of gun safety laws at gun shows, ensuring proper enforcement of regulations by the California Department of Justice, and updating penalties for violations of gun show regulations by gun show producers and vendors.
AB 2571 (Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan): prohibits firearm industry members from advertising or marketing firearm-related products to minors. (urgency measure)
Senator Portantino has long advocated for smart and sensible solutions to our nation’s tragic history of gun violence. During his time in the Assembly, the Senator successfully banned the open carry of handguns and rifles in California and as Senator, he raised the general gun purchase age in California to twenty-one. In 2019, Governor Newsom also signed Senator Portantino’s SB 172. The bill enacted a slate of significant provisions related to firearms storage by broadening criminal storage crimes, adding criminal storage offenses to those offenses that can trigger a 10-year firearm ban, and creating an exemption to firearm loan requirements for the purposes of preventing suicide. The same year, SB 376 was signed into law, which reduces the number of firearms an unlicensed individual is annually able to sell and the frequency with which they are able to sell. In 2021, Senate Bill 715 was signed into law, which enacts important gun purchase safeguards. This year Senator Portantino authored SB 906 in order to adopt comprehensive gun safety measures to ensure children are safe in schools.
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