New state Senate bill would add restrictions on importing guns to California

Those bringing guns into California would have to jump through more hoops if the Legislature passes a new bill.

Senate Bill 948, introduced by state Sen. Jesse Arreguin, D-Oakland, would require more paperwork for gun importers.

A personal firearm importer trying to import a gun into the state would have to get a firearm safety certificate, which would have to be accompanied by a report on the gun owner and the firearm itself. The report is already required by law.

Under the new legislation, anyone trying to bring a gun into the state would have to acquire the certificate within 60 days of coming into California.

The bill would also require an applicant for a firearm safety certificate to take an eight-hour training course that covers firearm safety and handling. The course includes live-fire shooting exercises at a range. This would apply to anyone bringing a gun into California after July 1, 2028.

Antique firearms would not be included in the new regulations as proposed by SB 948.

“With the constitutionality issues that this bill brings up, it is definitely one we are opposing,” Adam Wilson, director of legislative affairs at Gun Owners of California, told The Center Square on Wednesday. “We take the position that any additional restrictions are onerous and burdensome, especially ones that put regulations on what is a constitutional right.”

Other organizations that advocate for Second Amendment rights said they oppose the bill.

“FPC opposes all unconstitutional and immoral restrictions and burdens on the right to keep and bear arms,” said a spokesperson from the Firearms Policy Coalition, a pro-Second Amendment organization, in a written response emailed to The Center Square.

Arreguin was not available this week to talk to The Center Square about his bill. Other Democratic lawmakers in California also did not respond to The Center Square's request for comments.

According to reports from Everytown for Gun Safety and the gun safety organization Giffords, California has the strongest gun laws in the country. A report published earlier this year by Everytown for Gun Safety states that California has some of the lowest rates of gun ownership and gun-related deaths in the country and that California was the first state to enact firearm consumer safety standards.

Giffords, which was founded after former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Arizona, was shot in the head in a 2011 Tucson shooting, issued its own report in 2023 crediting California with enacting the country’s first assault weapons ban in 1989. The organization also points to California being one of the first states to pass laws instituting protections for victims of gun violence, mandating waiting periods to cut down on rates of suicide and violence against others and passing other laws to increase gun safety.

After the shooting that killed six other people and wounded 12, Giffords survived, ultimately stepping down from her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to focus on recovery and start her namesake organization, according to the Giffords website.

Gun safety organizations like Project Child Safe, Moms Demand Action, Giffords and Alliance for Gun Responsibility did not respond to The Center Square this week.