Gov. Jerry Brown Continues Mixed Track Record On California Gun Control Bills

The minimum age to buy guns from licensed dealers in California is now 21 years old, one of several gun bills acted on Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown signed SB 1100 by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada-Flintridge), raising the required age for rifle and shotgun purchases from 18 to 21. Handgun purchases are already subject to the higher minimum age.

But the governor rejected Portantino’s SB 1177, which would have prohibited a person from purchasing more than one long gun per month. In his veto message, he wrote that his views have not changed since he vetoed a similar bill two years ago.

It continues the governor’s record of signing some gun control bills while rejecting others.

Take, for example, California’s gun violence restraining order program, where a family member or law enforcement officer can ask a judge to temporarily prohibit someone they perceive to be a public safety risk from possessing guns.

On Wednesday, Brown vetoed AB 2888, which would have allowed school personnel, employers and co-workers to also seek restraining orders. He wrote that “law enforcement personnel and those closest to a family member are best situated to make these especially consequential decisions.”

But on Friday, he signed SB 1200 by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). It eliminates fees for requesting restraining orders and allows law enforcement officers who confiscate guns under the program to seize ammunition as well.

The governor still has nearly 200 bills left to act on by midnight Sunday, including measures that address net neutrality, police transparency and the #MeToo movement.