By Ramneet Singh
SACRAMENTO, CA – California State Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) has cited California’s strict but effective gun laws and focused new legislation on a loophole where police officers are “allowed to buy off-roster guns for their personal use.”
Skinner chairs “the Senate Budget Committee and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, and notes, linking to a 2017 San Diego Tribune article and assembly measure, stating, “It said that if they passed a three-day basic firearms training course they were covered under the exemption.”
The article provided an instance of where guns were seized from a Pasadena police lieutenant which eventually led to a statement of concern to police agencies by the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on illegal sales.
Skinner’s measure, to address that concern, expands on those who purchase illegal firearms, including “officers who work for police agencies, sheriff’s offices, and those employed by a wide-range of other public agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Parks and Recreation Department” among others.
Skinner’s statement accuses police officers of “effectively becoming illegal arms dealers,” citing a 2020 Los Angeles Times article which discussed a police officer pleading “guilty in San Diego federal court to one count of engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a federal license.”
The max prison sentence was five years.
Skinner frames SB 377 by discussing previous California gun related legislation, noting how tough those laws are and that “those laws work.”
The Skinner press release cited CDC data, showing California to have an 8.5 death rate concerning firearm mortality in 2020. The press release claims the state “has one of the lowest firearm mortality rates in the nation,” and includes a link to a list of illegal firearms categorized by the Department of Justice.
SB 377 also would mandate a 10-day waiting period for handgun purchase by law enforcement officials. There may be additional conditions blocking agency purchases of firearms from dealers who have violated laws.
The bill does not impact law enforcement agencies’ ability “to purchase off-roster firearms for official use by officers at work.” But Skinner plans to add a provision that would bar agencies from purchasing guns from dealers who have violated firearms laws.
“There’s no good reason to allow an exception when we know these weapons are unsafe,” said Skinner.
