California ranks first in nation for strongest gun laws, group says

Everytown for Gun Safety, a national nonprofit advocacy group, has ranked California first in the nation for the strength of its gun control laws.

“For over a decade, our grassroots army has worked in lockstep with our gun safety champions to keep California families safe from senseless acts of gun violence — this ranking showcases how far we've come and the road ahead,” said Cassandra Whetstone, a volunteer with the California chapter of Moms Demand Action, in a statement Thursday.

One of the laws, though, is being challenged in court by gun rights groups. The measure bars carrying concealed weapons in “sensitive places” such as libraries, playgrounds, churches and parks.

But some law enforcement agencies, like the Sutter County sheriff and district attorney's offices, have said they won't enforce it while a federal appeals court debates its constitutionality.

Everytown cited three laws the California Legislature passed in 2023 and Newsom signed in September that helped it cement its status as the state with the strongest common-sense gun safety measures:

• Assembly Bill 28 provides permanent funding for school safety and violence intervention and prevention programs.

• Senate Bill 452 will require all guns sold starting in January 2028 to feature microstamping technology.

• Senate Bill 2, the concealed carry law, also raises the permit age from 18 to 21, and adds safety training requirements for license applicants.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Anthony Portantino,

D-Burbank, angered Second Amendment supporters and gun rights groups, who have called it unconstitutional and fought to overturn it in federal court.

Last month, Judge Cormac Carney of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California halted the implementation of the law, calling it too restrictive. Attorney General Rob Bonta appealed Judge Carney's injunction Dec. 20.

“If allowed to stand, this decision would endanger communities by allowing guns in places where families and children gather,” Bonta said. “Guns in sensitive public places do not make our communities safer, but rather the opposite.”

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law to go into effect Monday by pausing the injunction, but the court will take more time to decide whether it's constitutional or not.