STATE : Assembly OKs Gun Waiting Period
The Assembly today approved a bill that would extend to all firearms the 15-day waiting period for purchasing handguns.
The 43-21 vote on AB497 by Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly (D-Sacramento) came after the Assembly rejected GOP amendments to order the state to automate the check system within 18 months.
Under the law now, anyone buying a handgun has to wait 15 days, while his or her background is checked, before obtaining the weapon. A person with a criminal record or who has been found by a court to be mentally incompetent cannot buy a handgun. The bill would extend that 15-day waiting period to rifles and shotguns. It would also expand the grounds for rejection on mental grounds to people who have voluntarily committed themselves or have been hospitalized for 72 hours for observation.
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