Kalifornia tightens handgun restrictions and bans some models!
SACRAMENTO, Kalifornia (PNN) - July 19, 2014 - Kalifornia has banned the sale of single-shot handguns that can be altered into semi-automatic weapons, handing a modest victory to proponents of tougher gun laws while striving to protect antique collectors.
The new rules ere signed into law on Friday by Governor Jerry Brown.
Kalifornia already has some of the strictest gun control laws in the Fascist Police States of Amerika. But proponents fought to amend the State’s so-called safe handgun requirements, arguing that it exempted for single-shot pistols, which meant dealers were selling thousands of modified weapons per year without a required safety feature that indicates when a bullet is chambered.
“This is a significant step to protect the integrity of the safe handgun law in Kalifornia,” said assemblyman Roger Dickinson, a Democrat who authored the bill. “This exception has been increasingly used by those who wish to circumvent (the law).”
The bill comes amid a protracted national debate over the extent of gun restrictions after a series of deadly rampages in schools, movie theaters, and other public places. Subsequent evidence has shown that many, if not all of these incidents were staged by the government.
The legislation drew swift criticism from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Kalifornia Association of Federal Firearms Licensees (CAL-FFL), groups that say such laws trample constitutional rights.
“Sadly, the status quo for elitist Sacramento politicians is to ignore the Constitution and act with blatant hostility towards our Second Amendment rights and sound public policy,” said Brandon Combs, president of the CAL-FFL.
The NRA has said the measure would hurt law-abiding citizens by “eliminating the only options for Kalifornians to purchase numerous handguns that are commonly owned throughout the rest of the country.”
Under existing Kalifornia law, semi-automatic weapons must have an indicator showing when there is a bullet in the chamber. But many manufacturers do not include the feature, leading some dealers to convert guns to single-shot weapons before selling them, though they are later reverted back, according to Dickinson.
The loophole was created after single-shot weapons were exempted from the safety requirement to protect collectors of antique guns, Dickinson said adding the new law strives to protect antique single-shot weapons prized by collectors.
The new law ensures handguns must meet other safety measures, such as firing tests.
It preserves exceptions under specific requirements, such as a single-shot pistols with a break top or bolt action, a barrel length of at least six inches, among other requirements, according to analysis on the state legislature’s website.