The measures would ban semi-automatic rifles that accept
detachable magazines, ban large capacity magazines, and require
permitting for ammunition purchases.
Several people who spoke in support of the legislation were
directly affected by gun violence. Paulette Brown held up a picture
of her son who was killed from 30 rounds of bullets. "This is my
boy," she said, "and I love him, and I miss him, and I need
something done about this. I'm tired of hurting."
But many law enforcement officers called the measures
"unenforceable." "Gun laws and gun bans would have done
nothing to save me or my classmates that day that Patrick Purdy
came onto our campus and he would have likely chosen another means
to conduct his evil deed,"nsaid Rob Young, a police officer who was
also a student at a Stockton elementary school where a mass
shooting occurred in 1989.
The bills next move to another committee.