Enacting the most significant elements of a sweeping package of gun control bills, California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed legislation expanding California’s decades-old ban on assault weapons and regulating ammunition sales.
Acting less than a day after the Democrat-controlled Legislature moved the measures to his desk, Brown signed bills banning the sale of semi-automatic rifles with magazines that can quickly be detached by pressing a button, as well as banning possession of high-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
He also signed legislation subjecting people who buy ammunition to a background check.
Of 11 firearms-related bills taken up by Brown on Friday, he signed six and vetoed five, including Assembly Bill 1673, by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, which would have expanded the definition of “firearm” to curb homemade weapons created without serial numbers, or “ghost guns.”
The Democratic governor’s decisions came amid roiling national debate about gun control following mass shootings in San Bernardino and Orlando, Fla. The bills Brown signed will further restrict firearms in a state that already has some of the nation’s most stringent gun controls.