California hasn't raised age limit for buying rifles. That may change

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even though California has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, an 18-year-old can still buy an AR-15 rifle as long as it lacks a high-capacity magazine or other features that define it under state law as an assault weapon.

That hasn't been a problem for state lawmakers. They've been more focused on banning high-powered weapons and devices that convert rifles into rapid-fire killing machines than on raising the age limit for buying legal weapons.

But after a 19-year-old man used a legally purchased AR-15 to kill 17 students and staffers last month at a high school in Parkland, Fla., California legislators began turning their attention to the age issue.

On Wednesday, state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-Los Angeles County, added language to an existing gun control measure that would raise the legal age to buy a long gun -- a rifle or shotgun -- from 18 to 21.

``As a father of a high school sophomore I can't stop thinking about the unnecessary nightmare that this tragedy caused for the affected families,'' he said in a statement. ``I feel it is imperative that California leads when Washington refuses to act.''

Portantino's bill would also prohibit the purchase of more than one firearm of any kind within a 30-day period.

Other legislators echoed the state senator's call for an increase in the minimum age to purchase long guns.

``Since Parkland, the mass shooting there, we've been talking about it,'' said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda.

The issue is also percolating nationally, including with President Trump -- he supports raising the minimum age for purchase of ``certain firearms'' to 21, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

And on Wednesday, Dick's Sporting Goods chief executive Edward Stack announced the chain would no longer sell any gun to people under 21. The retailer also said it would stop selling assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Bonta said it makes sense to bring the long-gun age limits in California into alignment with rules for buying a handgun. Such sales have long been restricted to people 21 and older.

California restricts the sale of semiautomatic rifles, limiting firepower to 10-round magazines and prohibiting weapons that have both detachable magazines and features that make them easier to handle, like forward grips.

That's where the focus has been in the state -- limiting the capacity to fire ammunition in a short time, said Dan Reeves, chief of staff for state Senate leader Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles.

``I think we've decided to put our priority to getting rid of things that turn guns into high-capacity, military-style weapons,'' he said.

Lawmakers haven't been fixated on age limits because there hasn't been the type of crime that would drive attention to it, Reeves said. Handguns accounted for nearly half of all homicides in California in 2016, while rifles and shotguns were connected to 4 percent, according to the state Department of Justice.

However, ``if someone had a bill (increasing the age to 21) would my boss go for it? Absolutely,'' Reeves said. ``I think my boss would love to make it 35.''

Groups that typically oppose gun control measures plan to fight fight legislation raising the age limit. The National Rifle Association said last week that ``legislative proposals that prevent law-abiding adults aged 18-20 years old from acquiring rifles and shotguns effectively prohibits them for purchasing any firearm, thus depriving them of their constitutional right to self-protection.''

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said that if 18-year-olds are old enough to go to war, they're old enough to buy a shotgun.

``If folks want to take the argument in that direction, it's going to be a huge conversation and it's going to be more than just guns,'' he said.

Perhaps that's a conversation California needs to have, gun-control advocates said.

Historically, long guns have been associated with hunting and sport shooting. But ``it's not your grandfather's hunting rifle that we're talking about anymore,'' said Amanda Wilcox, legislative advocate for the California chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The basic type of gun used in Parkland can still be purchased in California, just without the high-powered features legal in Florida. The bullets that come out of them are the same.

``Whether the gun has the enumerated features or not doesn't matter to the victim,'' Bonta said. ``The destruction and the impact is the same.''