Rifle Sales Up Ahead Of New Gun Control Laws In California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Officials say sales of semi-automatic rifles have more than doubled in California over last year.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the California Department of Justice shows 364,643 semi-automatic rifles had been sold by Dec. 9 whereas 153,931 rifles were sold last year.

Rifles with bullet buttons for the quick swap of ammunition magazines and other soon-to-be banned features have also skyrocketed. Statewide sales are up 40 percent by early December.

The new gun control legislation, six bills signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in July, likely drove up gun sales this year.

Nearly one million firearms were purchased in California as of Dec. 9, the most recent state data available, compared to more than 700,000 guns sold in all of 2015. Sales have likely soared beyond one million guns since then, the newspaper reported.