California Voters May Impose New Gun Control Measures This November

This post is a collaboration between Countable and our partners at CALmatters.

California has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country and voters will decide this November whether or not to make them even more restrictive.

What the Proposition Does

Proposition 63 would ban large-capacity ammunition magazines in the state and require individuals to pass a background check before they can purchase ammunition. Large-capacity magazines would be defined as those that have a capacity of more than 10 rounds. These provisions are similar to laws recently passed by the state legislature, although the remainder of the proposition is different.

The state would put new requirements in place for reporting lost or stolen guns and ammunition to authorities. It would also ban individuals that have been convicted of stealing a gun from possessing firearms, and grant new authorities to law enforcement to remove guns from individuals who aren’t allowed to have them.

The proposed law would require California law enforcement agencies to share information about people who are prohibited from owning guns with the federal government’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

This proposition will appear on California ballots on November 8 as "Proposition 63."

In Favor

Something must be done about gun violence, which injures or kills more than 300 Americans each day. Even in California’s Democratic-controlled statehouse, the gun lobby has successfully blocked efforts to pass some policies aimed at keeping guns and ammunition out of the wrong hands. This initiative takes those questions directly to voters.

Opposed

Criminals, by definition, don’t obey the law, so putting more restrictions on guns and ammunition won’t stop them — it will just burden law-abiding gun owners. This measure is merely a way for Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom (D) to boost his image before running for governor in two years.

In Depth

In July, 2016, the California legislature enacted laws to require that individuals and businesses that sell ammunition obtain a one-year license from California’s Dept. of Justice (DOJ) and conduct background checks on buyers through the DOJ as well. Under the new laws, people with concealed carry permits are exempt from background checks and hunters selling 50 rounds or less per month for hunting trips don’t have to get a license. In 2019, it will be illegal to bring ammunition into California from another state without first having it delivered to a licensed California dealer so that a background check can be carried out.

California has only had one other ballot in the state’s history that was related to guns. In 1982, Proposition 15 would have required handgun owners to register their firearms with the state and limited the number of handguns a resident could register to one during the 16 months after enactment. That proposition was rejected by nearly 63 percent of voters.

On the federal level, congressional Democrats have introduced bills into both the House and Senate that would require gun sellers to wait for a completed background check before letting a buyer take possession of the gun. They have also called for expanding the federal background check database by requiring states to provide current data about individuals banned from gun ownership each year.

Read more at CALmatters.