Senate committee OKs bills to outlaw high-capacity magazines

Bills that would outlaw the possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines and assault rifles with detachable magazines such as those used in the San Beardino terror attack won approval from a Califoia Senate committee this week.

In party-line votes Tuesday the Senate Public Safety Committee also gave the go-ahead to other gun control legislation, including bills that would require homemade guns to be registered and gun owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm to law enforcement.

It’s not clear when the bills might go the Senate floor for a vote.

Current law already prohibits the manufacture of large-capacity magazines, defined as devices that can hold more than 10 rounds. But it’s still legal to possess them.

SB 1446, authored by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, would change that and impose fines for possessing the magazines. It would not matter when the magazines were acquired.

“High capacity magazines are not designed for hunting or target shooting,” says a statement from Hancock included in the bill analysis. “They are designed for one purpose only — to allow a shooter to fire a large number of bullets in a short period of time.”

The San Beardino shooters used high-capacity magazines when they killed 14 and wounded 22 at the Inland Regional Center. The magazines also were used in mass shootings in Chattanooga, Teessee and Charleston, South Carolina, according to the bill analysis.

The rifles used in San Beardino by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, also had special buttons that, when pressed by a special tool, ejects the magazine.

A number of tools and devices, some of which are legal, have been devised to either modify the button or make it work more quickly. One such set of illegal devices was allegedly purchased by Enrique Marquez Jr., who is charged with conspiracy to aid terrorists in the Dec. 2 attack.

SB 880, sponsored by Sen. Isadore Hall, D-Compton, seeks to outlaw “bullet button” firearms.

“For years, gun owners have been able to circumvent Califoia’s assault weapon laws by using a small tool to quickly eject and reload ammunition magazines,” says a news release from Hall’s office.

“These types of modifications have no legitimate use for sport hunters or competitive shooters. They are designed only to facilitate the maximum destruction of human life.”

None of the bills have Inland sponsors. Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula, who sits on the Public Safety Committee, voted against all of the bills.

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“The fear of Second Amendment rights advocates has certainly come home to roost in Sacramento today as we witness a new form of eminent domain on gun owners,” he said. “At least with eminent domain, you get paid for your property. But the govement takes your property now and not even compensates you for it.”

Stone added: “We want to do everything we can to stop the horrific mass shootings that we’ve seen at schools and certainly, the incident in San Beardino. But we have to remember that criminals don’t follow the law.”

Other bills approved by the seven-member Public Safety Committee include:

• SB 894, sponsored by Sen. Haah Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, which would require firearm owners to report the loss or theft of a gun to law enforcement within five days of discovering the gun is missing. The goveor vetoed a similar bill in 2013.

With gun owners not required to report lost or stolen weapons, “law enforcement efforts to investigate gun crimes are significantly hindered,” Jackson wrote in the bill’s analysis.

• SB 1006, sponsored by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, seeks to establish a firearms violence research center at the University of Califoia.

Sen. Coie Leyva, D-Chino, supported the bill when it was before the Senate Education Committee, which she sits on. Levya “believes that having research-based data and information is critical to making public policy decisions,” the senator’s spokesman said.

• SB 1235, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, tightens the legal definition of ammunition to address court conces.

• SB 1407, also sponsored by de León, requires homemade guns, also called “ghost guns,” to be apply to the state Department of Justice for a serial number and background check.

“There’s a black market for privately assembled ghost guns because criminals and those with bad intentions can acquire them without background checks, serial numbers and other gun-related laws and regulations,” de León said in a news release.

“Because there is no sales record, serial number or other identifiers no one knows they exist — until they’re used in a crime.”

Brown vetoed a similar measure in 2014.

Sen. Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga, whose district includes San Beardino, said no one asked for his opinion on the gun control bills.

“I strongly support the Second Amendment and I strongly believe that our emphasis shouldn’t be on guns … but rather on criminals,” he said. “If you do a crime and you use a gun, you should be punished severely for that.”

Gun rights advocates and Inland gun dealers also were dismayed by the proposed legislation.

“As a gun owner, I don’t like any govement intervention,” said John Danforth, who has owned Danforth Gunsmithing in Riverside for 15 years. “None of these laws will provide any kind of safety from criminal actions.”

“Every time there is an incident (involving firearms) there is a knee-jerk reaction (in Sacramento) that goes way overboard. It’s knee-jerk politics.”

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of Califoia, said: “We believe most of these laws are unconstitutional and we will challenge them in court, if they make it that far.”

Staff writers Richard K. De Atley and Jim Steinberg contributed to this report.