NEWS SCAN

California Governor Jerry Brown signed  a law which would require individuals to apply for a state-issued firearm registration number where they made their own weapons with parts they have purchased or found. Assembly Bill 857 [statute, PDF] will allow the state to keep track of weapons that individuals make on their own, furthering California’s strict stance on gun-control. Over the past month, Brown has signed into law  a variety of restrictions on guns, including a ban on semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines and background checks for individuals purchasing ammunition.

Gun control and the Second Amendment continue to be controversial topics across the US. Last month the US Supreme Court  ruled 6-2 that a state law conviction on reckless domestic assault is sufficient to bar possession of a firearm under federal law. Earlier in June Hawaii Governor David Ige signed a bill requiring gun owners to be listed on an FBI database, notifying police if a Hawaii citizen is arrested in another state and providing a continuous criminal record check on those individuals seeking to possess a firearm. Also in June, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari  in two separate cases challenging bans on assault-style weapons. The court denied the appeals without comment, letting stand lower court rulings that had upheld the bans  constitutional. In response to the mass killing in Orlando in June, the UN’s top human rights official urged  the US to increase its gun control measures. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in June that the right to carry a concealed gun is not within Second Amendment right to bear arms.

As carried in JURIST on 24.07.16