California seized more than 1,400 guns last year. ‘It endangers all of us,’ AG says
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CALIFORNIA DOJ RELEASES ANNUAL GUN SEIZURE REPORT
Last October, California Department of Justice agents contacted a San Luis Obispo County man whom they suspected of unlawfully owning firearms due to a previous mental health commitment. A search of his home yielded 281 long guns, 227 handguns, 117 ammunition magazines (including 25 high-capacity mags), and approximately 28,000 rounds of ammunition.
That was just one example, albeit a sizable one, from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s 2023 “Armed and Prohibited Persons System” (APPS) report, which he presented Monday.
“When firearms fall into the wrong hands, it endangers all of us. We will persist in collaborating with the Governor’s Office, Legislature, and local partners to effectively tackle this issue of gun violence head-on,” Bonta said in a statement.
Since 2006, California has been the only state in the nation to monitor people who legally purchased firearms but later were disqualified from possessing them, such as for a mental health commitment, a felony conviction or a domestic violence or other restraining order.
The DOJ’s Bureau of Firearms is tasked with checking that list and seizing firearms from individuals who fail to lawfully surrender them.
According to the report, which can be read here, the bureau seized more than 1,400 firearms from illegally armed people in 2023, including 88 so-called “ghost guns.”
Agents made approximately 25,500 “contacts” with people in the APPS database in 2023, an increase of 1,500 over the year prior.
The APPS database shrank in 2023, with 9,051 names removed from the list and 8,633 added — a 1.75% decrease from 2022. According to the DOJ, 2023 saw the fewest number of inclusions to the list since 2014.
“This decrease is due in part to the recent emphasis on seizing firearms at or near the time of prohibition, consistent with DOJ’s recent recommendations,” according to a DOJ statement.
FTC WEIGHS COPPA CHANGE, BONTA SIGNS ON IN SUPPORT
The Federal Trade Commission has filed notice that it intends to institute a rule that would update the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), earning praise from bipartisan coalition of attorneys general including California’s Bonta.
“The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule would strengthen our ability to enforce restrictions on companies selling children’s data and protect consumers who seek to manage what information websites can collect from kids,” Bonta said in a statement.
The COPPA rule change would require separate notice and parental consent before a child’s information can be shared with third-parties, would add biometric data to the definition of personal information, would restrict online companies’ ability to “nudge” children to stay online and would strengthen data security, retention and deletion requirements.
This isn’t Bonta’s first time tangling with social media providers.
Last fall, he led a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, alleging that the company’s products have harmed children.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The T.A.M.P.O.N. Act is a crucial step toward protecting the health of millions of women and girls who use menstrual products. By setting a maximum contamination threshold and exploring safer alternatives, we are actively working to mitigate the long-term health risks associated with PFAS.”
- Assemblywoman Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, in a statement promoting her bill, AB 2515, to limit polyfluoroalkyl substances in menstrual products.
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