California: Public Safety Committee to Hear Over Half a Dozen Gun Bills

Today at 8:00am, the California Assembly Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on over half a dozen firearm related bills. This comes on the heels of several anti-gun bills being heard in both the Senate and Assembly the previous two weeks.

The following bills will be considered:

Assembly Bill 1006 (AB 1006) makes amendments to the Carry Concealed Weapons (CCW) license application process, including that a person shall be deemed as a disqualified person to receive or renew a license if they provide incomplete or inaccurate information on their application.  AB 1006 would also allow for the consideration of certain offenses committed within the previous 10 years even if they didn’t result in a firearm possession prohibition.

Assembly Bill 1078 (AB 1078) changes several provisions of firearm laws in California, but most notably would limit firearm purchases for California residents to three firearms per 30-day period. The California legislature previously passed a bill limiting purchases to one gun a month, which has since been found as unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court and a stay was issued by the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals to prevent enforcement of law. AB 1078 is an effort to sidestep this ruling and to once again impose prohibitions on firearm purchases for law-abiding Californians.

Assembly Bill 1127 (AB 1127) prohibits firearms dealers from selling certain semi-automatic pistols. While the stated intent is to restrict individuals from converting pistols into automatic “machine guns”, federal law already prohibits devices that convert semi-automatic firearms to fire automatically. AB 1127 is just another attempt to villainize certain categories of firearms to impose further gun bans in California.

Assembly Bill 1187 (AB 1187) imposes mandatory training requirements for individuals seeking to obtain a Firearm Safety Card to acquire a firearm. Current law already requires individuals to pass an exam issued by the Department of Justice, but AB 1187 would now require the completion of an 8-hour firearm training course that includes live-fire shooting at a firing range. This imposes additional costs and bureaucratic hurdles for individuals wishing to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Assembly Bill 1263 (AB 1263) creates a new crime that prohibits an individual from knowingly or willfully causing another person to engage in the unlawful manufacture of firearms.

Assembly Bill 1344 (AB 1344) establishes a pilot program in El Dorado and Ventura Counties to allow a District Attorney to petition the court to issue an ex-parte Gun Violence Protection Order. This expands the list of individuals that can petition to have an individual’s Second Amendment rights removed without adequate due process protections.

Assembly Bill 1488 (AB 1488) clarifies that a person in imminent threat of bodily harm may make lawful resistance. AB 1448, named the “Preemptive Self Defense Act”, follows the introduction and ultimate withdrawal of Assembly Bill 1333 earlier this year that would have restricted self-defense rights in California.

Lastly, the Committee will also consider a motion for reconsideration for Assembly Bill 1092. AB 1092 extends the length of a Carry Concealed Weapons (CCW) license from two to four years for all licenses issued after January 1^st, 2027. This bill failed in committee on April 1^st but is now set for reconsideration.

Your NRA is at the Capitol in Sacramento and actively opposing bills that restrict the Second Amendment rights of California’s law-abiding citizens. Please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for additional updates throughout the session.