Newsom signs law raising taxes on guns, ammunition to fund California school safety

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed measures on Tuesday to raise taxes on guns and ammunition to improve school safety in the state.

The new law will double the taxes on guns and ammunition and will use that revenue to pay for more security at public schools and to support numerous violence prevention programs. The law will tack on an 11 percent tax on top of the federal taxes on guns and ammunition, which are either 10 percent or 11 percent depending on what kind of gun.

“While radical judges continue to strip away our ability to keep people safe, California will keep fighting — because gun safety laws work,” Newsom said in a statement. “The data proves they save lives: California’s gun death rate is 43 percent lower than the rest of the nation. These new laws will make our communities and families safer.”

The governor’s office described the legislation, AB 28, as a “first-in-the-nation effort to generate $160 million annually on the sale of bullets to improve school safety and gun violence intervention program.” This will include initiatives to prevent school shootings, strengthen firearm investigations and take away guns from domestic abusers.

“It’s shameful that gun manufacturers are reaping record profits at the same time that gun violence has become the leading cause of death for kids in the United States,” said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), who sponsored AB 28.

Newsom also signed other gun reform bills, including one overhauling California’s rules for carrying concealed weapons. It will now ban people from carrying guns in nearly all public places, including public demonstrations, churches and anywhere where alcohol is sold.

He also signed a law that would require all semiautomatic pistols sold in California to have a microstamping technology starting on July 1, 2028 — meaning that each bullet would have a unique marking that would make it easier to trace the gun it was fired from to the owner.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.