SACRAMENTO — With lawmakers citing the horrors of gun violence, the Legislature gave final approval Monday to a bill toughening California's law against assault weapons and sent it to Gov. Gray Davis, who has promised to sign it.
The bill passed the Assembly by a 46-23 vote and the Senate by 26-13 margin, largely along partisan lines. But a handful of Republicans bolted from their party's position to support the legislation and a smattering of Democrats, whose party controls both houses, voted against it.
The bill, SB 23, by Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda), would ban semiautomatic weapons that hold more than 10 bullets or can be readily concealed and easily maneuvered while firing. It also would make it a crime for any person to manufacture, import, sell or give away in California any magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.
People who own guns covered by the measure would have a year to register their weapons with law enforcement, or face penalties of up to $500 for first-time offenders. Repeat violators could face felony charges.
"The longer we debate this, the longer people will be at risk," said Perata, who carried similar legislation last year that was vetoed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson and has pushed for prohibitions on the military-style firearms for more than a decade.
Anti-gun groups were quick to praise the legislation.
Luis Tolley of the Washington-based organization Handgun Control said the bill goes farther than federal prohibitions on the guns, and will give California "the toughest ban on assault weapons and rapid-fire ammunition magazines in the country.
"We are going to rid our streets of these weapons of war once and for all," Tolley said.
Federal law prohibits the manufacture--but not sale--of large-capacity magazines and guns that fit the federal definition of assault weapons.
Perata's bill would ban not just the manufacture but also the sale of such weapons and magazines. Additionally, his bill imposes a stricter definition of assault weapons than current federal law and includes a larger number of weapons.
The number of weapons affected by the legislation is not known.
"Anybody who gives you a number is making it up," Tolley said. "Nobody knows how many. . . . But it is very, very significant. There won't be any more rapid-fire weapons sold in California."
