California Dems Push Bill Requiring Guns to Be Registered Annually, with a Fee

California Democrats are pushing to replace the current one-time gun registration system with a once-a-year registration requirement, coupled with a fee to the state.

In the bill, SB 1160, Democrats pledge to use the fee to fund the state’s gun registration system: “The bill would require the registrant to annually pay a fee, as specified, to be deposited into a special fund that is continuously appropriated to the department for the express purpose of carrying out the administration and enforcement of the firearm registry.”

SB 1160 will also be used to create a new “program” focused on unregistered guns: “This bill would prohibit possession of an unregistered firearm, a violation of which would be punishable as an infraction. By creating a new infraction, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.”

California is already rated the No. 1 state for gun control by Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety. The state has a 1o-day waiting period for gun purchases, a firearm registration requirement, a ban on being armed for self-defense on a college campus, a “high capacity” magazine ban, “ghost gun” regulations, a red flag law, a gun storage requirement, a microstamping requirement, and ammunition controls, among other things.

Additionally, California has had an “assault weapons” ban and universal background checks for over 30 years, yet it led the nation in “active shooter incidents” in 2021.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.