Governor Signs Six Equality California-Supported Gun Safety Bills

Sacramento - July 1, 2016 - California Governor Jerry Brown today signed into law six gun safety bills that ban possession of high capacity assault rifle magazines, regulate the sale and possession of ammunition, expand background checks, limit loans of firearms and ban the resale of a gun to someone legally barred from purchasing it. The new laws were supported by Equality California and 19 other LGBT and HIV organizations as part of Equality California's Safe and Equal campaign against gun violence.

"The bills signed into law today are a historic step in keeping Californians safe from gun violence," said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California.  "We're grateful to the governor, to Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and to members of the legislature for maintaining California's leadership in enacting tough, commonsense laws that protect all of us."

Governor Brown also returned five Equality California-supported gun violence bills that would have increased penalties for buying or receiving a stolen firearm and for failing to report the theft, sale or recovery of a firearm; closed a loophole allowing for the sale of "ghost guns"; limited the purchase of long guns to one per month, similar to laws already in place for handguns, and; expanded who could request a restraining order preventing high risk individuals from obtaining a firearm. In his veto messages, the governor expressed his commitment to gun safety but raised a number of issues with respect to these bills.     

"The governor has demonstrated his commitment to gun safety reform in California," said Zbur.  "His veto messages reflected careful analysis and raised concerns that we believe can be addressed. We continue to believe that these bills included important protections to strengthen California's gun laws.  We encourage legislators to work with the governor next year to address his concerns and close remaining loopholes in California law.  Equality California, through the Safe and Equal campaign, will continue to lobby for strong gun safety laws at the local, state and federal level, and will mobilize our members and community to ensure that all Americans are safe from gun violence."

Equality California is the nation's largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization dedicated to creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org