California has made little progress in reducing the number of felons and mentally ill people who improperly own firearms even as state agents have confiscated thousands of weapons from prohibited owners, according to a new report from the state Department of Justice.
The new report was released at a time when Los Angeles County and other local jurisdictions have ordered gun stores closed over concerns about crowds of gun buyers gathering to stock up on firearms and ammunition during the shutdown over COVID-19.
The FBI this week separately reported a 41% jump last month in background checks for people seeking to buy guns in the U.S., compared with March 2019.
The number of people in the state’s database who have guns though they are barred from owning them totaled 22,424 as of Jan. 1, down just 798 from 23,222 a year earlier because nearly as many people were added to the list as were removed by state DOJ agents.
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