California Gov. Newsom Signs Into Law Multiple Anti-Industry Gun Control Bills
NSSF Worked to Limit Damage, Faced Antigun Supermajorities in Both Legislative Chambers

As you’ve likely learned, California Gov. Gavin Newsom continued on his crusade against the Second Amendment and the firearm industry yesterday by signing into law numerous strict gun control measures. These new laws will have severe impacts on law-abiding gun owners and the lawful firearm industry while doing little to hold criminals accountable or combat rampant crime. In total, Gov. Newsom signed nearly two dozen gun control bills into law yesterday.

NSSF^® – The Firearm Industry Trade Association – worked extremely diligently with our California members and representatives of the firearm industry to limit the consequences of these flawed policies, including testifying in committee hearings in Sacramento numerous times. It was a tough battle, as antigun Democrats currently hold veto-proof supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature, including by a 62-18 margin in the house and a 32-8 margin in the senate.

NSSF is of the opinion that several of the laws Gov. Newsom enacted are unconstitutional and will be considering all legal options. We will continue to keep our members informed and up to date on further developments.

Gov. Newsom signed the following major gun control bills into law:

AB-28: This bill doubles the tax on firearms purchased in California by adding a new 11-percent excise tax on all firearms and ammunition sold in California. The new excise tax would be on top of the existing Pittman-Robertson federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition that is set aside for wildlife conservation. The new state excise tax, though, isn’t for altruistic reasons. The tax would fund state gun control efforts and “gun violence prevention” and only raise the cost for law-abiding gun owners to exercise their Constitutional rights when they purchase a firearm or ammunition.

SB 2: This bill creates a new arbitrary and strict system and criteria for law-abiding Californians to obtain firearm permits, making it immensely harder for citizens to obtain carry permits. The provisions include doubling the required training time needed to qualify for a permit, raising the age limit on those who can possess a concealed carry permit and vastly expanded the locations where it is prohibited to carry a firearm even if the carrier is lawfully permitted to do so. This is Governor Newsom’s legislative response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision.

AB 1587: This bill establishes a state system to track individuals who make firearm purchases using a credit card by using a Merchant Category Code (MCC) specifically assigned to firearm and ammunition-related purchases at firearm retailers. The MCC was established in 2022 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) but major credit card processors Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover have all said they will pause implementation of the tracking code.

SB 452: This bill makes significant and even more restrictive changes to the California handgun roster. Existing law, subject to exceptions, generally makes it an offense to manufacture or sell an “unsafe handgun,” and requires the Department of Justice to compile a roster listing all of the handguns that have been tested and determined not to be “unsafe.” Existing law establishes criteria for determining if a handgun is an unsafe handgun, including, for firearms manufactured after a certain date and not already listed on the roster, the lack of a chamber load indicator, magazine disconnect mechanism and technology that transfers a microscopic array of characters from the firearm to the cartridge case when the firearm is fired, known as a microstamp.

This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation relating to firearm microstamping and requires CalDOJ to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether or not microstamping is feasible.

NSSF has testified numerous times on the unfeasibility and ineffectiveness of microstamping technology and even the sole-source patent holder of microstamping technology has stated in peer-reviewed studies that the technology has severe flaws and limitations.

These bills will have no impact on reducing crime, keeping Californians safe or holding those that break the law accountable for their violent actions. Instead, they will only penalize law-abiding Americans attempting to exercise their Constitutional rights. NSSF will continue to keep you updated.