On New Year’s Day, SB 1100, authored by State Senator Anthony J. Portantino, became law in California. SB 1100, signed by Gov. Brown, raised the purchase age for all firearms in California to 21. The bill comes after the tragedy at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on Feb. 14, 2018 when a gunman opened fire killing 17 students and staff members and injuring 17 others.

“As the father of a high school aged daughter, I felt it was my parental and legislative duty to answer the pleas from Florida and endeavor to make our schools safer for all our children. Parents shouldn’t have to choose bullet proof backpacks when they send their children off to school,” said Portantino.

Last year, Portantino also authored SB 1177 to prohibit a person in California from purchasing more than one firearm per month. Gov. Brown vetoed the bill after it passed both houses of the legislature. Undeterred by Brown’s veto, Portantino introduced the same measure earlier this month. SB 61 would make it a crime for a Californian to purchase more than one firearm every 30 days.

“Of the 26,682 guns used in crimes that were entered into the California Dept. of Justice’s Automated Firearms Systems database in one recent year, 11,500 were long guns. And in 2015, sales to single individuals ranging from five to 54 long guns per month occurred on 1,787 occasions, totaling 12,090 guns. Too many of these guns end up in illegal sales, posing a serious threat to public health. This issue is just too important not to give it another try,” said Portantino.

Senators Steve Glazer and Scott Wiener are senate principle co-authors of the bill and assemblymember Rob Bonta is co-authoring again with Portantino. Assemblymember Bonta and Portantino worked together on SB 1100 last year.

  Anthony J. Portantino