SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Legislation was announced Thursday to raise the purchasing age of long guns such as rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21 in California.
The legislation was introduced by Assemblymember Rob Bonta, a Democrat from Oakland.
Assembly Bill 3 would mirror existing laws for purchasing handguns which state that a person must be at least 21-years-old to purchase a handgun.
“California already wisely mandates that someone be at least 21 years of age to purchase a handgun,” said Assemblymember Bonta. “It’s time to extend that common-sense law to long guns in order to enhance public safety.”
"We must take every reasonable measure to protect Californians from gun violence," said Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco), Joint Author of the bill.
According to a 2015 report by the FBI, adults 18 to 20 represent four percent of the population but commit 17 percent of gun homicides.
“Californians under age 21 can’t purchase alcohol, tobacco and other health hazardous items,” said Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), Principal Co-Author of AB 3. ”So why should they be able to buy guns? Our bill fixes that.”
