New California Gun and Ammo Laws Coming Soon

The sale of guns and ammo will be assessed at an 11 percent excise tax in the State of California as of July 1, 2024, with an expectation that the tax will raise $160 million. A second gun law was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday as well; this one, sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, sets further criteria on concealed carry-licensing as of January 1, 2024.

The author of Assembly Bill 28 for taxation, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D–Woodland Hills), stated the funds would be put toward school safety and violence prevention programs, including ways to prevent mass shootings, improve firearm investigations, and remove firearms from domestic abusers.

“It’s shameful that gun manufacturers are reaping record profits at the same time that gun violence has become the leading cause of death for kids in the United States,” Assemblymember Gabriel said. The American Academy of Pediatrics found that the rate of death by gun for children increased 41 percent from 2018 to 2021.

The new concealed-carry rules in Senate Bill 2 limit firearms in “certain sensitive locations,” and require that concealed-carry licenses must be to the recorded owner of the firearm, as well as increasing safety-training requirements.

Bonta’s office asserted that strong firearm licensing laws were effective, with California’s gun laws credited with reducing the firearm homicide rate to 33 percent below the rest of the United States, where it was once 50 percent above average. The Attorney General’s Office also stated the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the states’ ability to adopt some gun regulations, including certain restrictions on guns in sensitive places, such as schools and airports, and to prohibit “not law-abiding, responsible citizens” from carrying guns in public.