Victims of gun violence—namely members of the California Brady Campaign—are supporting two bills. One measure’s goal is to reduce the illegal transfer of handguns. It would require someone to report a lost or stolen handgun within five days.  The punishment for not doing so would be a misdemeanor. 

Another bill would require new handguns to have micro stamping technology— imprinting each cartridge case when the handgun is fired to identify the weapon. Ken James is the Chief of Police for the City of Emeryville.  He says every bit of information is needed in an investigation.

 “The only leads we have when we come on a crime scene often is just the cartridges. No witnesses, nothing else…”

Opponents—like the California Rifle and Pistol Association say the micro stamping bill assumes the gun owner is the perpetrator of a crime—and will add costs to the purchase of new guns.  

The bill about microstamping is AB 1471.

The bill about reporting lost/stolen guns is AB 334.