https://thinkprogress.org/california-governor-signs-nearly-a-dozen-new-gun-control-laws-5c919157bc01/The bills signed by Gov. Jerry Brown include a ban on firearm sales to anyone under the age of 21.
Seven months ago, a 19-year-old gunman walked into a high school in Parkland, Florida and carried out a shooting that left 17 students and teachers dead. California’s governor just signed into law a numbers of bills to ensure that can never happen in the Golden State.
On Friday, Governor Jerry Brown signed a measure that raised the minimum age for buying a gun from 18 to 21. It was one of nearly a dozen new gun control laws, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Moved by the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February, Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-CA) sponsored the legislation limiting long gun purchases to those 21 and older, which will take effect in the New Year.
“I was determined to help California respond appropriately to the tragic events our country has recently faced on high school campuses. No parent should have to worry that a gun gets in the wrong hands and commits a heinous and violent tragedy on our school campuses,” Portantino said.
Brown also signed into law a bill that places a lifetime firearms ban on people convicted of serious domestic violence, as well as those who have been hospitalized more than once in a year for mental health problems. That law would have prevented numerous mass shootings across the country over the past decade.
Also signed by Brown is a measure allowing family members to ask law enforcement seize firearms from those they think pose a serious risk. Another measure requires applicants for concealed gun permits to complete at least eight hours of gun safety training and take a live-fire exam to prove their competency.
One bill enacted strengthens a law that prohibits bump stocks, which were used by the gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 58 people and left hundreds more injured. Another measure establishes procedures for handling ammunition seized by law enforcement.
The governor vetoed a handful of others including a high profile measure that could have helped keep the gun out of the gunmen’s hand in Parkland. That proposed law would have increased the amount of people who could have intervened in getting a court order firearm confiscation.
The bill rejected by Brown, which was written by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), would have also allowed teachers, college professors, employers and co-workers to petition for a court order.
Another measure that would have limited people to purchasing just one rifle or shotgun in any 30-day period was also rejected by the governor.
