Gun Control Bills Aim to Change California’s Gun Culture
The most significant action in the six-bill package Brown just signed makes California the first state to require background checks to buy bullets. The legislation also bans high-capacity magazines — and requires people to turn in ones they already own — as well as banning “bullet buttons,” which make it easy for shooters to detach magazines and quickly reload.
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The NRA, prone to hyperbole, calls the new laws “draconian” and “Stalin-esque.” None threatens the right of law-abiding citizens to own weapons, but the organization does have a legitimate point about one element. It outlaws lending guns to anyone but immediate family members without having the borrower go through a background check. Previously, guns could be loaned between people who are personally known to each other for as long as 30 days without a background check.
The change is a direct response to crimes like the San Bernardino mass shooting in which the guns were purchased legally by one person and then lent to a killer. It clarifies responsibility for how your gun is used. But hunters commonly loan guns to friends to try them out. It’s part of the sport.
