SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 2 (Our California Times) — California’s new law banning the sale of certain semiautomatic pistols that can be quickly converted into machine guns took effect July 1, and the Justice Department sued the state the same day to try to block it.
Assembly Bill 1127 bars licensed firearms dealers from selling, offering for sale, exchanging, giving, transferring or delivering pistols covered by the law, according to the state legislative record. The record defines the firearms as semiautomatic pistols with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted by hand or with common household tools into a machine gun using a pistol converter.
The measure also expands California’s definition of machinegun to include a machinegun-convertible pistol equipped with a pistol converter and prohibits the manufacture, sale, possession or transportation of such a pistol equipped with a converter, the legislative record shows.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1127 on Oct. 10, 2025, after it was authored by Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel of Encino and Catherine Stefani of San Francisco, according to an Assembly press release. The release said the law does not affect current owners and includes exemptions for gun dealers, law enforcement and military agencies.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Justice Department filed suit in federal court on July 1, seeking a court order to stop California from enforcing the law.
