October 11, 2013: Thirteen firearms bills continue to await California Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision. Gov. Brown has until Sunday to approve or veto the pending legislation, which, among other things, would ban all semi-automatic centerfire rifles without fixed magazines, ban lead ammunition, revise some statutory definitions applicable to “assault weapons,” impose further restrictions and increased waiting periods on the purchase of firearms, and create additional criminal penalties for improper storage of firearms. The NRA has already promised a lawsuit should Gov. Brown sign the bills. The only silver lining to the pending legislation is that one of the storage bills includes a provision permitting the purchase/sale of handguns which have not been certified for sale by California’s DOJ by/to “federal law enforcement.”
In Colorado, recent flooding has led to further outcry about the state’s new firearms legislation prohibiting the private “transfer” of firearms without a background check. As drafted, the law provides no exception for the temporary storage of firearms with a friend or family member. Recent flooding, however, has severely damaged many Colorado citizens’ homes leaving them with no alternative but to store their salvaged firearms with a friend or family member. Some of these citizens contacted local District Attorneys to voice concern about being prosecuted for their actions. In response, at least one District Attorney issued a press release criticizing the law as “overbroad and not well thought out” and stating that prosecuting these individuals would be “unconscionable.” Notably, this is not the first time that district attorneys have refused to prosecute cases involving new firearms laws. For example, earlier this year, a district attorney in upstate New York refused to prosecute a man charged with carrying a firearm with a magazine containing more than 7 rounds of ammunition.