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Gun, ammo bills go to Senate
Assembly passes measures to put new restrictions on firearms
By Ryan Sabalow (Contact)
Friday, June 6, 2008
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In the future, you may have to leave a copy of your driver's license if you want to buy .22-caliber rounds from your local big-box store.
The California Assembly further reinforced the state's reputation as having the most stringent gun laws in the nation by passing two bills late last month that would put more restrictions on buying and selling handguns and handgun ammunition. Both bills must now win state Senate approval.
One bill, AB 2235, would require any new handgun sold in the state to have a device installed that prohibits anyone other than the owner from pulling the trigger.
The caveat is that the technology for such devices isn't yet available for sale and the bill wouldn't take effect until after it is, according to the legislation.The other bill, AB 2206, would require that ammunition sellers copy an ammo-buyer's photo ID before selling them handgun rounds.
The bill also would require that handgun ammunition be stored behind the counter and that retailers have special licenses to sell more than 50 rounds.
Rifle and shotgun rounds are exempt.
However, bullets that work in both rifles and pistols, like the popular .22-caliber round -- small, cheap bullets popular with varmint shooters and target marksmen -- would fall under the regulation, said Dan Reeves, a spokesman for Assemblyman Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, who wrote the bullet bill.
Reeves acknowledged that such provisions won't be popular in rural Shasta County, which has among the highest gun ownership rates in the state.
"It's a major burden to the people of Redding, but if you have hundreds of people being murdered (by handgun ammunition) every year, it seems like a small sacrifice," Reeves said.
Redding City Councilman Patrick Henry Jones, owner of Jones' Fort gun store in Redding, said the legislation wouldn't do anything to stop gun crimes.
Rather, it merely makes it more difficult to buy and sell firearms and ammunition, he said.
"Through incrementalism, they're taking (gun rights) away a little slice at a time and making it harder for dealers to survive," Jones said.
National anti-gun advocates like Brady Campaign President Paul Hemke say the user-identification systems on pistols in AB 2235 will prevent gun crimes if the technology becomes available.
“‘Owner-authorized’ handguns will help reduce injuries, homicides, suicides, school shootings and accidental shootings in California,” he said in a statement.
That bill would take effect 18 months after California’s attorney general releases a report saying the devices are available for sale, according to the legislation.
Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, who voted against both bills, said AB 2235 is particularly offensive because the technology isn’t even available on the market.
He called it “Jetsons” legislation, referring to the futuristic cartoon of the 1960s.
“It’s like trying to pass a law for tailpipe emissions for something, a technology which we don’t even have yet,” he said.
He said he opposed the bullet restrictions because criminals will be able to get bullets regardless of ineffective bureaucratic requirements.
Reeves disagreed, saying the bill also includes provisions that forbid documented gang members from possessing ammo and makes it illegal for someone to buy ammunition and give it to a felon.
He said the proposed ammunition requirements would price criminals and shady gun dealers “out of the market.”
“Right now, criminals, children and gang members are going to Big 5s, Kmarts and gun stores to get ammunition,” Reeves said.
State Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, will vote against the bills in their current form, his spokesman, Bill Bird, said.