NEW GUN LAWS – EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2016

2016 promises to be a bit more challenging for California firearm owners, with three anti-gun proposals becoming effective as of January 1.

AB 1014 (Skinner) authorizes a court to issue a gun violence restraining order (GVRO) if a law enforcement officer asserts and a judge finds reasonable grounds to believe one poses an immediate and present danger to themselves or another by being in possession of a firearm. The restraining order would be issued without prior notice to the individual and without the benefit of a court hearing. GOC opposed this bill which was signed by the Governor in 2014.

The passage and signing of AB 950 by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, however, will lessen the sting of AB 1014, because it will permit a person who is subject to a GVRO to transfer his or her firearms or ammunition to a licensed firearms dealer for the duration of the prohibition, providing the firearms or ammunition have been surrendered to a law enforcement agency.

SB 707 by Senator Wolk amends the Gun-Free School Zone Act with further exceptions to the prohibition on carrying ammunition on school grounds. Even though no CCW holder has ever committed a crime on a California campus, the bill deletes the exemption that would allow anyone with a valid license to concealed carry there.

Assemblyman Mark Stone’s AB 1134 alters the authority regarding the issuance of concealed weapons permits; unfortunately, it will create more of a burden for the applicant, and will add an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy to a process that has become increasingly more convoluted in recent years.

On the positive side, also becoming effective on January 1, 2016 is AB 892 by Assemblyman Achadjian, which exempts from the prohibition, the purchase of a state-issued handgun that is not on the California Certified list of safe handguns by the spouse of a peace officer who died in the line of duty. GOC supported this proposal.