Gun Sales Soar As New California Gun Laws Go Into Effect

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The California Department of Justice says sales of semi-automatic rifles have more than doubled since last year from 154,000 to over 365,000. One reason is that some of those rifles will now be classified as an assault weapon, which are banned in California. They are one of many new changes to guns laws coming January 1.

"These laws are pretty egregious, they are pretty deep, so people are in somewhat of a panic," said Walter Ford who owns the Rocklin Armory. He has several concerns over the coming gun laws.

Eight new laws take effect – many beginning January 1.

Among them are new requirements for how handguns are to be stored, requiring gun owners to report lost or missing guns within 5 days - with tougher penalties for falsely reporting a missing weapon.

One of the most controversial laws does away with the "bullet button" – a tool that allows magazines to be quickly replaced. The bullet button ban is part of the state's arsenal of new gun laws aimed at curtailing mass shooting and keeping ammunition away for people intending to do harm. But Ford thinks that will do very little towards reducing gun violence.

"First of all, making it more difficult for me to reload my gun isn't going to help you when you're being mugged in an alley," he said.

He believes the new laws do more to curb gun rights than prevent crime.

"Most of the gun crime in California isn't done with these guns anyway," he said.

"Unfortunately, we are in a society where people do bad things," said Gabriel Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald just moved to California a few days ago and now he has just a few days more to get his guns into compliance. He says, while he appreciates law-makers attempts at reducing gun violence, he doesn't think the laws will do much.

"People who don't follow the rules and going to follow the rules," he stated.

Sgt. Gilbert Farrulla, with Rocklin Police Department agrees that some of the new laws may not bring about a big drop in crime. He also believes some of the he laws may have passed without a full understanding of how these weapons are used. Still, he welcomes any tools help cops fight crime.

"Anytime our legislature can pass a law that restricts convicted felons or certain weapons that are dangerous to the public, that helps," he said.

Not all of the laws start on Jan. 1. Some of them are staggered over the next two years to give gun owners a chance to come into compliance.