Governor Brown signs stringent gun control bills, vetoes others

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (FOX 11 / AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown signed six stringent gun-control measures Friday that will require people to turn in high-capacity magazines and require background checks for ammunition sales, as California Democrats seek to strengthen gun laws that are already among the strictest in the nation.

Brown vetoed five other bills, including a requirement to register homemade firearms and report lost or stolen weapons to authorities.

The Democratic governor's action is consistent with his mixed record on gun control. Some of the bills enacted duplicate provisions of a ballot measure by Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom that will appear on the November ballot.

One bill he vetoed would have asked voters to strengthen penalties for stealing a gun, because he said voters will already be deciding it through Newsom's initiative. Newsom's ballot measure also will ask voters to require reporting of lost and stolen firearms - an idea Brown rejected Friday and has rejected least twice before.

"I continue to believe that responsible people report the loss or theft of a firearm and irresponsible people do not; it is not likely that this bill would change that," he wrote in a veto message.

Gun control measures have long been popular with the Democratic lawmakers who control the California Senate and Assembly. But they stepped up their push this year following the December shooting in San Bernardino by a couple who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The bills angered Republicans and gun-rights advocates who say Democrats are trampling on 2nd Amendment rights, creating new restrictions that won't cut off the flow of guns to people intent on using them for nefarious purposes.

The measures Brown signed will:

He vetoed bills that would:

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