Local news
A
federal court has rejected a challenge to California's gun safety law,
possibly paving the way for a requirement that new guns mark the bullets
they fire so they can be traced.
The ruling on Wednesday was a defeat for two gun rights groups
that argued the Unsafe Handgun Act violated the constitutional right to
bear arms.
The law prohibits the manufacture or sale in California of any gun
that doesn't meet certain safety requirements.
It was aimed at
outlawing cheap "Saturday Night Specials" that were disproportionally
used in crimes.
A 2007 amendment added a requirement that new or modified
semi-automatic handguns include technology that microstamps a bullet
casing with a code identifying the gun's make, model and serial number.
That requirement was held up by concerns about patent issues on
the technology but took effect in 2013. However, the federal challenge
continued.
This week's ruling "means that more gun crimes will be solved,
more lives will be saved and California communities will be safer," said
a Friday statement from Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, who
authored the 2007 amendment when he was a state Assembly member.
Debate Magazine
