Gov. Jerry Brown signed gun control bills Friday including measures from Bay Area legislators imposing new storage and background check requirements, but vetoed others that would have allowed new gun laws in Oakland and restricted gun shows at the Cow Palace.
The 11 gun bills signed by Brown on Friday included AB 500 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, which requires gun owners to keep guns safely locked away when they are sharing a home with someone who is prohibited from owning a gun due to a criminal record or mental conditions.
"This bill just helps ensure that only law-abiding gun owners have access to weapons," Ammiano said of the bill. "California has strong laws to keep people safe from gun violence. AB 500 improves those rules in a couple of additional areas."
A bill Brown signed Friday from Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, also imposes new requirements for the safe storage of firearms, while two bills by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, address large capacity magazines and increased gun ownership limits for those who have made threats of violence.
Brown also vetoed a number of gun control bills Friday, however, including one from Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, that would have allowed the City of Oakland to impose gun laws more restrictive than state laws. In addition, Brown vetoed a bill by state Sen. Mark Leno that would have required the Cow Palace board of directors to get permission from local authorities for gun shows in the Daly City venue.
"I encourage all District Agricultural Associations to work with their local communities when determining their operations and events," Brown said in his veto message for the bill. "This bill, however, totally pre-empts the Board of Directors at the Cow Palace from exercising its contracting authority whenever a gun show is involved," Brown said. "I prefer to leave these decisions to the sound discretion of the board."
Brown also vetoed a bill from state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, that would have required gun owners to report lost or stolen weapons. Brown noted that he vetoed a similar bill last year and remained skeptical that the bill would change people's behaviors.
