Thumbs up: Keeping track of homemade guns

Firearms manufactured in the U.S. must carry a serial number. The same rules apply to imported firearms. Those rules don’t apply to homemade firearms, a loophole that has grown larger with the advent of 3-D printing.|
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Firearms manufactured in the U.S. must carry a serial number. The same rules apply to imported firearms. Those rules don’t apply to homemade firearms, a loophole that has grown larger with the advent of 3-D printing. Don’t expect Congress to address this issue anytime soon, but California is again taking the lead on commonsense firearms laws.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation requiring a state Department of Justice-issued serial number on any homemade firearms, beginning in 2018. Beginning in 2019, anyone who possesses a homemade firearm will be required to obtain and apply a serial number. The law also will prohibit the sale or transfer or ownership of homemade weapons. Violators could be sentenced to up to one year in county jail.

This law won’t prohibit law-abiding citizens from owning or making their own firearms, but it provides a valuable tool for law enforcement. Thumbs up.

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