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Overall, California has the strongest gun safety laws in the nation and has been a trailblazer for gun safety reform for the past 30 years.

California has been the first state in the nation to adopt a number of gun safety reforms, ranging from assault weapons restrictions and strong background check requirements to extreme risk protection orders and domestic violence protections. California has the seventh-lowest gun death rate in the country and the fifth-lowest crime gun export rate. To further strengthen its gun laws, California should dedicate guaranteed permanent funding to violence intervention programs such as the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) program and designate more sensitive public locations as off-limits to firearms.

What California Does Well

  • Universal background checks
  • Strong eligibility standards for firearms
  • Extreme risk protection orders
  • Domestic violence gun laws
  • Firearm relinquishment requirements
  • Assault weapon and magazine restrictions
  • Waiting periods
  • Minimum age laws
  • Public carry laws
  • Gun Industry Liability and Responsibility Laws
  • Safe storage laws
  • Community violence intervention funding
  • Ghost gun reforms
  • Gun dealer regulation
  • Local authority to regulate firearms
  • State firearm sale records retention
  • Gun violence research funding
  • Ammunition Regulation
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REPORT

COMMUNITIES ON THE MOVE

Local communities in California have enacted some of the strongest and most innovative gun safety policies in the nation. Our report, Communities on the Move: Local Gun Safety Legislation in California, highlights the gun safety achievements of municipalities in the Golden State.

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SUPPORT GUN SAFETY

We’re in this together. To build a safer America—one where children and parents in every neighborhood can learn, play, work, and worship without fear of gun violence—we need you standing beside us in this fight.