State regulators block proposed assault weapon rules
SACRAMENTO (AP) – California regulators announced Tuesday that they have temporarily blocked proposed new rules on assault weapons.
The state’s Office of Administrative Law released a two-paragraph notice, without explanation, rejecting the proposed regulations submitted by the state Department of Justice in May.
Spokesmen for Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who runs the department, did not return multiple requests for comment. Gun-owners’ rights groups said the proposed regulations would include too many firearms in the state’s assault weapons definition.
Lawmakers passed a bill last year to outlaw new rifles that include devices known as “bullet buttons,” which help gun users rapidly reload. The buttons let shooters quickly remove ammunition magazines using the tip of a bullet or other small tool, and were developed by manufacturers to get around a California ban on new rifles with magazines that can be detached without the aid of tools.
The law lets residents keep weapons they already own with bullet buttons, rifles that are often referred to as being “California compliant,” but requires that they register them.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a bill extending the deadline for assault weapons owners to register their weapons by six months, from Jan. 1 to July 1, 2018. The justice department is writing regulations around what weapons and attachments are included and how gun owners would register their weapons, among other things. Those regulations must be approved by July 1, 2018, in order for registrations to begin.
Chuck Michel, attorney for the National Rifle Association and its affiliated California Rifle & Pistol Association, said Becerra’s office inappropriately used a limited exemption in the assault weapons law to avoid public comment on the new regulations.
The Legislature allowed justice officials a limited exemption from the usual public comment for procedural regulations such as how gun owners would register their weapons, what forms would be needed and what fees would be charged.