New California laws 2024: Expanded gun restrictions

The new law raises the carry permit age from 18 to 21 and prohibits legal firearm carriers from carrying in "sensitive" areas such as schools, hospitals and parks. Once you get a permit, individuals will not be able to carry in most places without signage indicating so.

LOS ANGELES - Starting Jan. 1, SB 2 goes into effect in California.

This law raises the carry permit age from 18 to 21 and prohibits legal firearm carriers from carrying in "sensitive" areas such as schools, hospitals and parks. Once you get a permit, individuals will not be able to carry in most places without signage indicating so.

The new law focuses on establishing a stronger vetting program for obtaining a concealed carry weapon (CCW) license, limiting the possession of firearms in certain sensitive locations and requiring more robust training and safe handling storage of firearms for those seeking a CCW license.

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

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SB 2 provisions include:

Advance safety through stronger storage and training requirements on the proper handling, loading, unloading, and storage of firearms;
Safeguard the public by identifying certain sensitive public places where guns may not be carried;
Include due process protections to allow anyone denied a CCW license based on a finding that they are not qualified to carry firearms in public to a hearing before a superior court judge.

"Addressing gun violence is critical to protecting public safety; we cannot pretend that they are distinct problems," said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "In California, we won’t settle for inaction when it comes to saving lives. Senate Bill 2 will help prevent violence by ensuring that dangerous individuals may not carry concealed guns in public and prohibiting the carry of dangerous weapons in sensitive places where our children gather. With this law, we are boldly advancing California’s successful, data-driven strategy to prevent gun violence and save lives.

Since the early 1990s, California has cut its gun death rate in half. If other states shared California’s gun death rate, an estimated 140,000 Americans would still be alive today, Newsom's office said in a statement about the pasing of the law.