{"id":394552,"date":"2026-07-11T07:46:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394552\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T07:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:46:25","slug":"ca-gun-safety-laws-in-jeopardy-as-courts-rule-against-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394552\/","title":{"rendered":"CA gun safety laws in jeopardy as courts rule against them"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AA semi-automatic pistol at the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Services Center in Martinsburg, W.Va. on March 2, 2023. Photo by Alex Brandon, AP Photo<\/p>\n

California Democrats are used to defending gun control measures against lawsuits by Second Amendment advocates like the California Rifle and Pistol Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, the state is facing a lawsuit from the Trump administration targeting a new law restricting sales of Glock semi-automatic handguns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since July 1, the state has prohibited the sale of Glock handguns and various off-brand imitators that can be converted to fully automatic guns<\/a> \u2014 which are already illegal under state and federal laws, with some exceptions \u2014 after inserting a converter into the gun.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice is challenging the law, saying it bans the sale \u201cof the most popular handgun in America<\/a>\u201d and that it \u201cobviously violates the Second Amendment.\u201d California can enforce its law while the lawsuit proceeds, a judge ruled Thursday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s another example of the state playing defense to protect the gun control laws it adopted in the decade after the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Take, for instance:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The state is awaiting a decision in another case at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that gutted a 2016 ballot initiative requiring background checks<\/a> before ammunition purchases.<\/p>\n

A new U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down state laws that prohibit people from carrying concealed firearms in private places, such as stores, including California\u2019s. Writing for the majority<\/a>, Justice Samuel Alito said a similar law in Hawaii \u201chobbles \u2026 the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, the high court agreed to hear an Illinois case that could overturn California\u2019s assault weapons ban<\/a>, which limits the sale of AR-15-style rifles.<\/p>\n

State officials are preparing to protect the new handgun law by arguing it is not a categorical ban on Glocks. Rather, they say, it directs gun makers to redesign firearms so they can no longer be easily modified into machine guns.<\/p>\n

Proponents of gun safety also criticized the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and vice president at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence: \u201cThis law addresses the alarming rise in black market conversion devices and home-made machine guns, like the one used in the 2022 Sacramento shooting<\/a>, and aims to keep them off the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The number of semi-automatic pistols recovered in crimes that were modified into machine guns soared 784% nationwide between 2019 and 2023<\/a>, according to the federal Justice Department.<\/p>\n

Get CalMatters text alerts: We can send you our latest investigations, political coverage and more, and you can send us story tips, comments and feedback. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other Stories You Should Know<\/p>\n

What went wrong at the bar exam?<\/p>\n

\"AA California penal code book at the Placer County Superior Court in Roseville on Jan. 23, 2026. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters<\/p>\n

Serious failures in planning and oversight led to the disastrous administration<\/a> of the California State Bar exam last year, according to a state audit released Thursday.<\/p>\n

As CalMatters\u2019 Adam Echelman explains, the State Bar moved its February 2025 exam online in an attempt to save money. But even before aspiring lawyers took the test, the state ran into trouble: Its first contractor, the testing company Kaplan, didn\u2019t provide enough time or information to properly develop the exam, the audit said. The second contractor, ACS Ventures, used artificial intelligence to draft additional questions, some of which had to be exempted from the final grade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the bar exam itself, test takers reported glitches, crashes, delays and a malfunction that allowed them to see other people\u2019s answers, according to a class-action lawsuit filed against the proctor, Meazure Learning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 36% of the 4,200 people who took the exam passed. But as a remedy to its various issues, the State Bar modified the exam\u2019s grading system, which led to a pass rate of about 65%. (For comparison, February 2026\u2019s exam had a 30% pass rate.)<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the \u201cState Bar did not achieve cost savings in its administration of the February 2025 bar exam, which has cost $5.1 million, not including the costs of pending legal matters,\u201d said the state auditor.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Billion dollar boost to higher ed<\/p>\n

\"StudentsStudents walk through campus at UC San Diego on Sept. 22, 2025. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s public universities will receive more than a billion dollars in new public spending<\/a> under the latest state budget, writes CalMatters\u2019 Mikhail Zinshteyn.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s last state budget allocates more than $500 million in ongoing taxpayer support for the University of California and California State University systems in 2026-27. That increase is partly due to the restoration of more than $100 million in funding cuts that lawmakers included in last year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

The money can be used to hire faculty and pay for rising energy, insurance and staff health costs. The budget also fully funds the Cal Grant, which covers tuition at the UC and Cal State, even as both systems raise tuition.<\/p>\n

The year before Newsom took office, both systems each received about $3.7 billion in state support. The latest budget act sends more than $5 billion to each system from the state\u2019s general fund \u2014 a 50% increase since Newsom became governor.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

California Voices<\/p>\n

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Newsom and his family have had a long and complicated relationship with the oil industry, and his newly minted pro-oil stance could hurt his likely bid for the presidency<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

California\u2019s next governor must rein in utility spending by making wildfire spending more efficient and holding utilities to a budget, writes Travis Ritchie<\/a>, energy and climate research fellow at UC Berkeley Law.<\/p>\n

Other things worth your time:<\/p>\n

Some stories may require a subscription to read.<\/p>\n

How to build a CA highway in the age of climate change \/\/ Grist<\/a><\/p>\n

ICE raided LA, taking parents, spouses and friends. That\u2019s not where it ends \/\/ The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n

See LA leaders\u2019 Yelp reviews, including what Sen. Alex Padilla thought of a bad haircut and former Rep. Katie Porter\u2019s take on a sub-par massage. \/\/ L.A. Material<\/a><\/p>\n

How San Joaquin Valley farmers are using AI to boost production and feed the world \/\/ The Modesto Focus<\/a><\/p>\n

Shasta\u2019s recent election signals shift in what CA\u2019s most conservative voters will tolerate \/\/ Shasta Scout<\/a><\/p>\n

Are you one of the 11,000 Californians who got a \u2018retake your test\u2019 letter from the DMV? \/\/ KQED<\/a><\/p>\n

CA judge rejects injunction to halt distributing billions to repair school facilities \/\/ EdSource<\/a><\/p>\n

Indigenous immigrant families in Fresno confront \u2018a hostile immigration system\u2019 without interpreters \/\/ Fresnoland<\/a><\/p>\n

A veterans organization has millions in the bank. Why did it seize a CA chapter\u2019s donation? \/\/ The War Horse<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California\u2019s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters\u2019 flagship daily newsletter…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore by Lynn La\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A semi-automatic pistol at the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Services Center in Martinsburg, W.Va. on March…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-394552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}