California sees sharp spike in gun ownership. Why new buyers are arming themselves

A surge in gun sales — fueled by economic insecurity, racial and political unrest and the pandemic — isn’t slowing down in California, home to some of the strictest gun laws in the country.

About 1.17 million new guns were registered in California in 2020, and as many as 369,000 people went through the state’s firearms background check process for the first time, according to newly released state data filed in federal court. The numbers are the latest evidence that Californians went on a gun-buying spree last year.

It was the most gun sales since 2016. State data shows that 1.28 million guns changed hands that year in California as buyers stocked up on firearms in advance of a host of new laws voters and the state legislature approved that year and amid fears that Democrat Hillary Clinton would win the presidency and pass new gun regulations.

The state’s report, released Monday as part of a lawsuit in the U.S Southern District of California, shows that reliably Democratic California wasn’t immune to the national surge in firearm and ammunition sales that at times left shelves and cases empty at firearms shops across the country.

Californians in 2020 registered 317,257 rifles, 161,330 shotguns, 585,409 semi-automatic pistols and 94,194 revolvers, according to the court filing. Of those buyers, 369,511 were run through the state’s “Dealer Record of Sale” background check system for the first time, indicating that they were likely first-time gun buyers, though some could have been registering weapons that they already had in their possession.

A federal judge ordered the California Department of Justice, which tracks gun purchases and runs the state’s background check program, to release the figures as part of a federal lawsuit that challenges the state’s ban on people from possessing certain types of guns classified as assault weapons.

Why these Californians bought guns

Gavin Jeffries, 28, of Fair Oaks was a first-time buyer last year. He said he’d been meaning to pick up a 9 mm Glock for home defense for a while, but the rush on guns in 2020 had him worried he’d lose out.

“I was nervous that there was going to be a big delay in purchasing firearms just because of the backlog with popular guns like Glock pistols,” he said. “And I’d always planned on getting a Glock; it was just more of a timing thing.”

Stacy Williams, 44, of Fresno also bought her first gun last year — also a 9 mm — but for drastically different reasons.

She’s a local progressive activist who says she got worried last year after seeing a surge in white supremacists in the Fresno area, and she said she has been troubled by police officers appearing to side with the Proud Boys, suspicions that were confirmed Monday when the mayor said one of them was under investigation for being a member of the group.

“Because of them kind of infiltrating those systems, we don’t feel safe calling the police,” she said. “So how does a single woman protect herself? If the police won’t help, you know?”

The 1.17 million gun transactions in 2020 represented a substantial increase from the previous two years, according to the Department of Justice. There were around 745,000 gun transactions in 2019 and 758,000 in 2018.

Gun sales aren’t slowing

The state, meanwhile, also provided the federal court figures for the first part of 2021.

Gun sales show no signs of slowing down, likely due in part to Democrats now controlling the federal government. Gun sales historically surge when there’s a new Democrat president in office, as gun buyers race to get out front of any potential new federal firearms regulations from the liberal party.

More than 42,000 people in just two months have been run through the background check system for the first time. The state’s already sold 87,945 semiautomatic pistols and 51,800 rifles this year.

Gun rights advocates at the Firearms Policy Coalition say the surge in buyers helps make their case that the state’s assault weapon ban targets law-abiding gun owners.

“These Department of Justice data confirm our claim that semiautomatic firearms are constitutionally protected arms and are commonly possessed and used for lawful purposes,” Adam Kraut, the group’s senior director of legal operations, said in a statement. “Our evidence, experts, and the state’s own data prove that the ban on so-called ’assault weapons’ is unconstitutional and irrational.”

The state is defending the 2019 lawsuit, filed by three San Diego gun owners and a local gun-rights group, arguing that the 2nd Amendment allows the state to place restrictions on who can possess dangerous firearms.

“Contrary to the … legal conclusions and boilerplate allegations, California can, consistent with the Second Amendment, prohibit the possession of assault weapons by minors and prohibited persons,” reads one of the state’s briefs.

The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez, who has a history of overturning the state’s gun laws, most recently, its ban on high capacity magazines and the state’s new ammunition background check programs.

Both of those cases are under appeal.

This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 11:59 AM.