New semiautomatic rifle laws caused huge surge in sales.
A few days ago, we shared a quick primer on the new changes to California's gun laws here in 2017. These new laws caused quite the surge in sales of semiautomatic rifles in the days leading up to the New Year. Among other restrictions, the new laws, which took effect on New Year's Day, make it illegal to buy, gift or sell a rifle with a "bullet button"—also known as a magazine release.
Gun shops were swamped with customers and calls, as you can see in the report below, and some customers were left wishing they hadn't procrastinated so long.
It seems a lot of people waited until the last minute to try and make their purchase. "We had a lady that came in and she had three daughters and herself," Vince Torres, the owner of Bullseye Sport told KCAL 9. "She bought one for each of the kids and one for herself."
Those are just four of the 260,000 semi-auto rifles California residents have purchased since Governor Jerry Brown signed the bills for new restrictions back in July. That number represents a 300% increase over the same period last year.
As noted in our earlier post on modifications required under the new laws, these rifles can be left as is. However, the rifles must be registered under legal language that classifies them as assault weapons.
If the rifles are registered, they also cannot be transferred or sold and must be destroyed upon the owner's death.
NEXT: A QUICK PRIMER ON CHANGES TO CALIFORNIA'S GUN LAWS IN 2017
