By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Gun owners moving to California would be required to get a firearm safety certificate beginning in July 2028 under legislation introduced this week by state Senator Jesse Arreguin, an Oakland Democrat who claims this will help keep the state safe.
Under SB 948, firearm safety certificate applicants will also need to complete a training course including live-fire shooting exercises. According to an announcement from Arreguin’s office, “Under current state law, anyone who purchases or receives a firearm must have a firearm safety certificate. Applicants of this certificate must pass a test developed by the Department of Justice that covers gun safety laws and handling of firearms. While state law prevents a firearm from being sold or transferred to someone without a firearm safety certificate, a loophole currently exists that does not require firearm owners who move to California to secure a certificate. SB 948 will close that loophole, requiring an owner to obtain a certificate within 60 days of bringing a firearm into the state, with antique firearms exempt.”
Arreguin’s legislation got a quick nod from Kris Brown, president of the Brady gun control group.
“California has the most robust gun laws in the country, and they are saving lives every day. However, there is still work to do,” Brown said. “SB 948 is a life saving bill that requires gun purchasers to undergo education on gun laws and safe gun-handling, as well as live fire training. With this bill, California will continue to prevent gun violence before it happens.”
Kostas Moros, a California-based attorney who serves as director of Legal Research and Education for the Second Amendment Foundation, said this on social media: “You need ID, proof of residence, and a 30 question multiple choice test to buy a gun in California. Then the background check costs $37, and they also levy an 11% excise tax on the gun you buy (in addition to regular sales tax). They also now want to mandate an 8 hour training course, which would cost at least $150. Is that Jim Crow too, or nah?”
Subsequently, via email to TGM, Moros offered further observations on this legislation.
“The California legislature went out of its way to pass a law to stop the City of Huntington Beach from passing a simple voter ID requirement,” he recalled. “Before that, the Attorney General of California had sued the city, stating that ‘[i]mposing unnecessary obstacles to voter participation disproportionately burdens low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.’
“If all of that is true, then the same standard should apply to SB 948,” Moros stated. “Its burden on the Second Amendment is far more than just an ID requirement, as it would require anyone seeking to exercise their Second Amendment right to take an 8-hour training course that includes a live-fire shooting component (which may be hard to do when you don’t have a firearm yet). Such a course would be costly, as equivalent 8-hour CCW courses cost around $200.
“If California politicians are going to argue voter ID requirements are suspect because they can deny people their rights,” he observed, “then SB 948 should be condemned for the same reasons.”
