The federal assault weapons ban, which was signed by President Bill Clinton with bipartisan congressional support, sunset on September 13, 2004. In the 20 years that Republicans have blocked a renewed federal assault weapons ban, nearly 200 people have been killed in gun incidents at our schools. California currently bans assault weapons — stepping up where Congress has failed. Despite this, without a national ban, guns are often purchased from dealers in states lacking responsible gun laws and then smuggled into California. Over half of the guns associated with a crime that have been seized by authorities in California were traced to out-of-state dealers.

California will continue to advance laws that save lives. This week, Governor Newsom signed a number of bills to further strengthen the state’s robust gun laws. 

California has long led the way in enacting commonsense and effective protections against gun violence. California’s gun safety laws save lives. The Golden State’s laws are ranked #1 for gun safety and last year, California experienced a gun death rate 43% lower than the national average. In comparison, Texas and Florida, who ranked 31st and 24th respectively in gun law strength, had firearm mortality rates more than 1.5 times that of California. Since the early 1990s, California has cut its gun death rate in half. By 2022, California had the 7th lowest gun death rate in the country. If other states’ gun death mortality rates matched California’s, an estimated 140,000 Americans would still be alive today.