California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday signed a sweeping package of gun control bills, banning high-capacity ammunition magazines and expanding the definition of prohibited assault weapons in the wake of mass shootings in San Bernardino and Orlando.
Democrats in the legislature rushed the measures through in hopes of passing them before their summer break, in part to try to forestall a competing gun control proposal headed for the November ballot.
California already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation, but after the shooting spree in the Southern California city of San Bernardino last December, lawmakers began work on measures they said would close unintended loopholes.
“My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Brown said in a signing measure.
The bills signed by Brown ban so-called bullet buttons, which allow quick changes in the magazine of a military-style weapon, and require background checks for purchasers of ammunition.
Ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 bullets at a time will also be banned, and background checks will be needed for people borrowing guns from non-family members.
Brown also vetoed several bills, including one that would have allowed co-workers, educators and mental health professionals to request restraining orders forbidding people deemed dangerous from owning guns.
Leave it to California to always be on the cutting edge of where this country is going.
Of course it's going there at a fucking snail's pace, but I have confidence that we will all get there eventually.
I just hope I actually live long enough to actually see it.
Source http://ift.tt/29eHMGP
