California SB 880 – Coming Soon to Your State? WTF?

As many of you are no doubt already aware, the rights of law-abiding California gun owners were recently shredded and tossed aside by shady, self-righteous legislators in violation of the procedural process acting in direct contravention of the constitution. One of the measures signed into law was SB 880, which redefined the therm “assault weapon” and criminalized the ownership of pretty much all the semi-automatic rifles in the state.

Recently Gunfighter Tactical wrote an op-ed addressing many of the questions and concerns people have with SB 880 in an attempt to clarify the new law. While it shouldn't be construed as legal advice, if will definitely help you Californians understand the nature of the skullbuggery you've received.

For those of you who do not live in California — take heed. Don't let this idiocy come to your state.

What do California SB 880 and AB 1135 do?

California has been trying to eliminate and/or criminalize possession of AR and AK style rifles for 17 years. Since the Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 California has defined an “assault weapon” as any semiautomatic centerfire rifle with a removable magazine PLUS any of the following evil features (oversimplified for relevance and brevity):

Pistol grip
Forward pistol grip
Adjustable stock
Flash suppressor

For the remainder of this article I will refer to the above list as “evil features”. The key word here is “Removable Magazine.” Since 2007, California AR and AK owners have been able to use a bullet button to avoid the classification of “assault weapon.” Since the bullet button required a tool to drop the mag, it did not qualify as a “removable magazine.” Instead it was considered to be a “fixed magazine.” Since the rifle had a “fixed magazine” it was not an assault weapon. SB 880/ AB 1135 redefine a “fixed magazine” to be something that “cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action.” Since bullet buttons don’t require the disassembly of the firearm action, even a rifle with a bullet button installed is now an “assault weapon.” Rifles with a bullet button are now considered to have a “removable magazine,” not a “fixed magazine.” Basically, we’ve all be using the bullet button loophole in the law to keep our rifles legal and the government just closed that loophole.

You may not purchase a rifle (even a stripped lower) after January 1, 2017 that has any of the above evil features AND a “removable magazine.” After January 1, 2017 you cannot buy a rifle with evil features from either a dealer or a private party. You must also register any “assault weapon” you own with the CAL DOJ BEFORE January 1, 2018. You are guilty of a felony if you do not register your weapon with CAL DOJ before this time or remove the evil features. Registration of an assault weapon will be done via a website and require a fee of $20. The fee is, of course, subject to change. You can only register weapons you owned prior to January 1, 2017 as taking possession of an “assault weapon” after this time is illegal.

There's more, in fact there's much more. You can read the whole thing in its entirety right here.