(SACRAMENTO, CA) – Assembly Public Safety Committee passed AB 2459 today, which would increase transparency in gun sales. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), will increase transparency by requiring all gun transactions to be video recorded, ban residential gun sales, and provide the Attorney General appropriate powers to enforce.
“Video recording is a common practice in all types of retail and provides safety and security for both store employees and customers. By deterring straw purchasers through recording, the community at large is safer as well.” stated Assemblymember McCarty. “This bill takes practices already performed by responsible gun retailers and expands it state-wide.”
“The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence is proud to be a co-sponsor of AB 2459 and extremely pleased that the bill passed out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee today,” stated Juliet Leftwich, the Law Center’s legal director. “Although California has more than 2,300 gun dealers, they are subject to very little oversight. AB 2459 will help ensure that California’s gun dealers act responsibly by requiring them to operate out of a storefront – and not out of a residence – and by requiring them to use security cameras. We applaud Assemblymember McCarty’s leadership in introducing this important legislation to promote public safety.”
"We applaud Assemblymember McCarty for introducing this legislation which will help ensure that gun stores are not a source of illegal guns in California," said Amanda Wilcox, Legislative Co-Chair for the California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "A key component of the bill is the requirement to videotape all gun sales. This would undoubtedly deter straw purchasers, those customers who buy guns for other people who cannot pass a background check. The bill furthers our goal of keeping guns out of dangerous hands and disrupting the flow of crime guns into California communities.”
A study by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, found that 60% of legally purchased weapons found at crime scenes came from 1% of gun dealers. Residential gun sales are gun transactions completed by a licensed gun dealer out of their private residence; they are banned in over 60 cities and counties in California, including Sacramento.
AB 2459 moves next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.