With the recent mass shootings in both Colorado and Wisconsin, proposed bill SB-249 is gaining more and more support in the California Senate. The bill, which was proposed last month by San Francisco Senator Leland Yee, seeks to close a loophole in California gun control laws.
California law currently says that it is illegal for manufacturers to sell guns which have a detachable magazine or storage area that allow for repeat firing. Manufacturers have been getting around this law by selling guns with conversation kits that allow such things as “bullet buttons.”
SB-249 would close this loophole by making it illegal to import, possess, make, sell, loan, or transfer a conversion kit. Doing so would result in punishment by a fine of $1,000 or imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year.
SB-249 would give gun owners six months to remove bullet buttons on their firearms and attach a fixed magazine that holds 10 bullets instead.
In the aftermath of the recent shootings, several elected officials have moved support towards the bill, including California Attorney General Kamala Harris. Arguments of the bill are expected to be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee next week.
