California is known for having some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, but one San Diego assemblyman wants to add a few more regulations when it comes to how people in the state receive concealed carry permits.
Lawmakers in Sacramento passed Assembly Bill 2103, which would require people who wish to get a concealed weapon permit demonstrate their ability to safely handle firearms. The bill is headed for Governor Jerry Brown's desk and his signature.
Twenty-five other states have passed similar laws that require conceal carry applicants to undergo live-fire training before they receive their permit.
San Diego Assemblyman Todd Gloria defended his bill, and urged the governor to sign it at a town hall on Thursday saying people who want to carry a gun, should know how to be responsible with them.
"I was on the varsity rifle team freshman year of high school, spent four years. I was pretty darn good at doing that. And I did it because I was trained by someone who knew what they were doing," Gloria said. "I was not given a firearm and sent forth out into the world, I was given proper training."
Should Brown sign the law, conceal carry permit applicants would have to go through a minimum of eight hours of training and live-fire shooting exercises to order to legally carry a gun.
"If you want to have a loaded gun in public, you need to show that you know what you're doing and unfortunately there is not uniform rules around this, there are counties that are lax in their distribution of these permits," Gloria said.
Ultimately, Gloria said, passing AB 2103 is about people's safety.
"More importantly than whether or not Todd Gloria knows anything about firearms. You know who does? Law enforcement does. They support this bill, the police chiefs and sheriffs have endorsed a 'yes' position on this bill."
AB 2103 is part of a series of bills passed by the legislature this week focused on guns. On Monday, the Assembly passed AB 1968, which applies to anyone who has been taken into custody and admitted to a hospital because they are at risk of harming themselves or others due to mental illness. That bill would prevent anyone who fell into that category from owning a gun "for the remainder of his or her life."
A third measure, AB 3129, would prevent people convicted of certain types of domestic violence misdemeanors from ever possessing a gun.
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