A bill introduced in the California State Legislature last week will strip the exemption enjoyed by peace officers in the Golden State that allows them to buy "off-roster" handguns for personal use. 

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley-area Democrat, filed SB 377 on Feb. 9. The measure will both prevent law enforcement officers from being able to purchase pistols that are not on the state's Roster of Certified Handguns, and eliminate the LE exemption from California's controversial 10-day waiting period. In Skinner's eyes, both are loopholes that are being exploited. 

"Law enforcement officers are not allowed to purchase other illegal products in the state," said Skinner in a statement. "Guns should be no different."

Why the big deal? 

Well, California in effect froze the types and models of semi-automatic handguns that consumers could purchase when then-state Attorney General Kamala Harris arbitrarily announced in 2013 that new pistol models would have to meet the state's long-dormant microstamping requirement, one that the firearms industry has said is impossible to meet. 

Subsequent lawsuits against the policy have gone in the state's favor, while the number of approved pistol models on the list has shrunk from 1,152 in early 2014 to just 832 today. However, that figure is deceptive as it includes revolvers, a type of firearm currently exempt from microstamping requirements. The true number of semi-automatic pistols on the list is small and notably excludes all Generation 4 or 5 Glocks, as they were introduced after 2013. Likewise, no SIG Sauer P320s or P365s are on the list. It isn't that they are "unsafe," as the state maintains, but that they do not comply with the microstamping mandate. 

In short, about the only chance consumers had to buy a pistol model introduced in the past decade was on the secondary market from a law enforcement officer. A few high-profile instances have subsequently seen peace officers turn such off-roster resales into a side hustle that, when uncovered, left authorities unimpressed. Hence the "loophole" the bill is meant to close. 

As detailed by Skinner's office, current LE members who can buy such "off-roster" guns include not only police and sheriff’s deputies but also some members of the "Department of Motor Vehicles, the Parks and Recreation Department, Fish and Wildlife, county welfare fraud investigators, and college campus and K-12 school police."

SB 377 has been referred to the Senate Rules committee and may be acted upon after March 12.

Banner image: The classic B-27 50 Yard Police Silhouette Shooting Target. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

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