Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989

Firearms that were legally owned at the time the law was passed were grandfathered if they were registered with the California Department of Justice.

[3] The act was a direct response to the deaths of five schoolchildren in the Cleveland Elementary School shooting in Stockton that year.

[4][5] The co-author of the legislation, California State Senate President pro tem David Roberti, found himself the subject of a recall attempt by the gun lobby in 1994.

[9] From the website of the California Attorney General's office: Effective January 1, 2000, Senate Bill 23, Statutes of 1999, establishes new criteria for defining assault weapons based on generic characteristics.

(a) The following specified rifles: (b) The following specified pistols: (c) The following specified shotguns: Other firearms are banned from sale or possession by certain characteristics or configuration as determined by parts or features.

[citation needed] These are as given in Penal Code section 12276.1 and 30515:[11] The amended legislation included the following: The California Supreme Court handed down its decision in Kasler v. Lockyer in August 2000.

The Court found in favor of the defendants, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the State of California; one resulting aspect of this decision was that the AWCA '89 "series" terminology used for AR and AK type weapons applied to all similar weapons, regardless of nomenclature (manufacturer, model number, version, variant, etc.).

These firearms include the Armalite AR-15, Bushmaster XM-15, Colt AR-15, Kalashnikov USA Hunter Rifle, MAADI CO AK-47, ARM, MISR, and MISTR, to name a few.

[14] While the SB23 "by features" assault weapons registration window was open throughout 2000, the Kasler decision (whose case was filed several years prior) triggered DOJ to open a 90-day overlapping registration window for "series" guns - regardless of configured features suite - ending 31 Dec 2000.

However, due to a printing error in the Secretary of State's office - related to "12/31" morphing into "01/23" - the Kasler registration window with California DOJ for AR/AK "series" guns was administratively extended to 23 Jan 2001.

Prohibited weapons in AR/AK "series" must be specifically identified by make and model, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) must promulgate this list.

[citation needed] [15] With the advent of SB880 in 2016 (and a required registration window in 2017), guns using a "bullet button" as a compliance device transitioned into 'assault weapon' status.