State Gun Sales Set Record, Lungren Says

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren said Thursday that Californians--many of them losing confidence in government’s ability to protect them--purchased a record 665,229 firearms last year, about two-thirds of them handguns.

The total represented an increase of 22% over 1992.

Lungren said the reasons for the rush to arms vary, but “clearly many thousands of Californians feel they are not adequately protected by law enforcement and need a firearm for security.”

The attorney general said he was troubled by what he called “the lack of confidence in our criminal justice system which has convinced so many Californians to buy guns for protection from crime.”

Lungren said that except for 1991, sales of handguns have soared substantially since 1986. In 1992, record sales of 367,375 revolvers and pistols were reported. Sales jumped to a high of 448,247 last year, an increase of 22%, Lungren said.

Sales of all types of guns hit 559,608 in 1992, spurred in part by the Los Angeles riots and establishing another record. But in 1993, the increase soared again, 18.9% to 665,229, the attorney general said.

Lungren also reported that the state law requiring a 15-day waiting period and background check on the purchasers of handguns, rifles and shotguns blocked sales to a record 6,509 applicants last year.

Of those rejected last year, 3,210 applicants had a history of criminal violence, including 51 who had been convicted of murder. The total also included 410 people disqualified because of mental health histories, 268 because of legal restraining orders against them, and 219 because they were minors.

Handgun Sales in California

Handgun sales have been generally on the rise in California since 1986.

* 1986 254,479 * 1987 263,203 * 1988 274,539 * 1989 308,783 * 1990 320,657 * 1991 311,154 * 1992 367,375 * 1993 448,247 Source: State Department of Justice